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SWAZILAND’S government moved to shut down Facebook today, just a day after its armed forces opened fire on protesting nurses and teachers.
Soldiers attacked protesters demanding fair pay, with the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union, National Public Services & Allied Workers Union, Swaziland National Association of Teachers calling on their members to stay at home.
“Close to 50 protesters were heavily assaulted in various places in the city and outskirts. There are fears that there may have been some killed or that some may succumb to their injuries,” the Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS) said.
Protests continued in the capital Mbabane today despite the clampdown as pressure mounts on Swaziland’s absolute monarch, King Mswati III.
At least 70 people have been killed and around 700 detained during a brutal clampdown on a youth-led democracy movement which started in June.
They are demanding the unbanning of political parties and a raft of democratic reforms, with some calling for Mswati’s resignation.
The Communist Party of Swaziland has called for the monarch to be charged with crimes against humanity.
It says that community councils are necessary along with an armed people’s militia to defend the population against the violence of the regime.
The communists called for international solidarity with the people of Swaziland and their fight for freedom and democracy.
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