THE United Nations on Tuesday called for an independent investigation into reported rights abuses, including by law enforcement, following the eruption of deadly violence during protests in Eswatini.
Demonstrations first erupted in May following the death of a 25-year-old law student, reportedly at the hands of police.
The UN human rights office pointed to reports of “disproportionate and unnecessary use of force, harassment and intimidation” by security forces sent in to quell the protests that escalated last week in the tiny southern African kingdom.
Twenty people were killed in the protests, the human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) confirmed, although there are reports that as many as 52 protesters died in the crackdown.
“At the same time, close to 200 protesters have been hospitalized for injuries, including gunshot wounds sustained from live ammunition fired by the police and others,” Deprose Muchena, AI director for East and Southern Africa, told
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