swaziland times

PIEGGS PEAK — Police reportedly used excessive force, firing tear gas and rubber bullets at workers on a bus in Nkoyoyo.

The report prepared by the Human Rights and Public Administration/Integrity Commission states that 18 members of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) were interviewed individually and were unanimous in their views on the outcome of the incident. The report said the teachers’ accounts were also corroborated by the driver of the Classic Bus Service they were travelling on.

The report states that members of the Operational Support Services Unit (OSSU), which is attached to the Royal Swaziland Police Service (REPS), drove at high speed towards the location where the bus was parked and drove into the wrong lane, colliding with oncoming vehicles. The report states that there was no communication or order for the bus to turn around. Instead, the report states that the police fired tear gas canisters randomly once they approached the bus.

Accept an interview

“In the words of the respondents, it was ‘raining’ tear gas. As all the respondents tried to flee, they were hit by rubber bullets. The respondents did not take any steps to take the injured to hospital. Most were cared for by people from nearby farmsteads, where they sought shelter,” the preliminary findings read in part. The report said the state commissioner did not object to the use of tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse SNAT members and force the bus to turn around.
The only difference among police was that they did not throw tear gas canisters into the bus, the report said.

The report notes that article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Swaziland ratified in 2004, protects freedom of assembly and association, and that article 25 of the Swaziland Constitution incorporates the Covenant into domestic law.The Human Rights Council reportedly provided guidance on protecting the rights to freedom of association and assembly in its General Comment No. 37 (2020) on the right of peaceful assembly (Article 21), stating: “Protecting this right requires States to allow such assemblies to take place without undue interference, to facilitate the exercise of this right and to protect participants.

“Article 21, second sentence, sets out possible grounds for restrictions, but any such restrictions must be strictly limited. In practice, there are limits to the restrictions that may be imposed.”The report further states: “Law enforcement officials should seek to de-escalate situations that could lead to violence. They have an obligation to exhaust nonviolent means and to give advance warning when the use of force is absolutely necessary, unless both options are clearly ineffective.”

The report states: “Any use of force must comply with the fundamental principles of legality, necessity, proportionality, precaution and non-discrimination, as applied by articles 6 and 7 of the Covenant, and those who use force must be held accountable for each use of force. 106. Domestic legal regimes on the use of force by law enforcement officials must comply with the requirements of international law and be guided by standards such as the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials and the United Nations Human Rights Guidance on the Use of Non-Lethal Weapons in Law Enforcement.” The report also states that non-lethal weapons with wide-area effects, such as tear gas and water cannon, often have indiscriminate effects. The report states that when such weapons are used, every reasonable effort should be made to limit risks, such as causing stampedes or injuring bystanders.

arms

The report reads in part: “Such weapons should be used only as a last resort, after a verbal warning and after giving assembly participants ample opportunity to disperse. Tear gas should not be used in confined spaces.” The Human Rights and Public Administration/Integrity Commission is a constitutional body established under Section 163 of the Constitution Act 2005 of the Kingdom of Swaziland. The Commission has the power under Article 164(1) to investigate complaints of violations of fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed under Chapter III of the Constitution. The report was prepared following a complaint filed against the National Commissioner by the NSO in its capacity as the head of REPS, and the second defendant being the police.

Members of the complainant (SNAT) from the northern Swazi town of Piggs Peak, about 42 kilometres north of Mbabane, boarded two buses bound for Mbabane with the intention of marching with other members and delivering the petition. The complainant members claimed that when they were travelling by bus along MR42 towards Mbabane and were about to pass Nkoyoyo, they found a traffic roadblock set up by the police at the ramp leading to Nkoyoyo Palace, 9 km from the capital. The complainants reported that the police stopped the bus which they suspected was overloaded. The complainants reported that their leaders decided that those standing on the bus should re-board on foot after passing the roadblock.

distance

They allegedly walked for some distance but later decided to return to the bus as it looked like they had started a march. They also claimed that when they returned to the bus, they suddenly found police firing tear gas and heard a group of policemen in a van with the OSSU logo on it shooting indiscriminately at them.The police car reportedly drove towards the bus from the roadblock and used the opposite lane as it was travelling in the wrong direction from the oncoming traffic. SNAT members allegedly began running for cover; some returned to the bus, while others ran to nearby houses and forests for shelter. Those hiding in the bus reportedly claimed that police arrived in front of the bus and ordered the driver to open the doors, which were closed and with passengers inside, but the driver was reluctant to do so because the passengers asked him not to do so.

Unlocked

“Finally, the police opened the unlocked driver’s door, dragged the driver out of the vehicle and threw a tear gas canister into the vehicle while another police officer stood at the passenger door with guns drawn and ordered the passengers to get out. As the passengers were getting out of the vehicle, the police officers standing outside the vehicle allegedly opened fire on the complainants. “As a result, the complainants claimed that 18 members were shot during the incident,” reads part 6. The report further states that the complainants’ members also claimed that they dispersed to seek shelter in different houses and forests until an ambulance (an emergency vehicle) from 977 and a SNAT funeral van arrived to rescue them and took them to hospitals, Mbabane Government Hospital and Pigg’s Peak Government Hospital, where they were treated and discharged with varying degrees of injuries.