- No member of the Eswatini security forces has been held accountable for deploying tasers, teargas, rubber bullets, and live ammunition against participants and passers-by in the June 2021 pro-democracy protests.
- Over four years have passed since scores of students, activists, and passers-by were killed, and hundreds more injured, and many victims are in difficult situations but have been denied access to remedies.
- The government of Eswatini should strengthen its policies and procedures to guard against, and prevent, further unjustified and disproportionate use of force by security and law enforcement, and provide prompt and effective remedies to victims and survivors.
Eswatini has failed to conduct an effective investigation and to ensure justice and accountability for the students, activists, and passers-by killed and injured by security forces’ use of disproportionate and lethal force during the June 2021 pro-democracy demonstrations, Human Rights Watch said today. Instead, the government has intensified its crackdown on dissenting views by arresting government critics on spurious charges, hindering peaceful assembly, and ignoring longstanding calls for democratic reforms.
The 26-page report, “You’ll Die Waiting for Justice,” confirms that the Royal Eswatini Police Service and the Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force improperly used tear gas, and rubber bullets, and physically assaulted civilians during the June 2021 unrest. The security forces also shot indiscriminately at protesters and passers-by with live ammunition, killing scores of protesters and injuring hundreds more, including children. The findings shine a spotlight on the absence of accountability since then and the precarious and desperate situation for the victims, requiring urgent action to remedy their situation.
“It is appalling that more than four years later, the victims and survivors are living with the consequences of the brutality they suffered without any remedies for their rights violations” said Nomathamsanqa Masiko-Mpaka, Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The government of Eswatini should promptly embark on effective and comprehensive investigations into all unjustified and disproportionate use of force against civilians by police and military officers implicated in the June 2021 protests.”
Human Rights Watch interviewed 15 people in-person, 6 women and 9 men, in April 2025. The individuals interviewed are all Swati nationals, ages 18 to 68, who were 14 to 64 at the time of the protests. Three of those interviewed had lost loved ones, while 8 were direct victims of security force violence.
Human Rights Watch also interviewed four key stakeholders in Eswatini’s political landscape, including a trade union representative, a representative of a political party, a businessperson, and a human rights lawyer. These four stakeholders, and one of the victims interviewed, fled Eswatini to escape persecution for their political activism and are living in exile in South Africa.
One of the victims opened a case with authorities after police shot and killed her husband in 2021, but has heard nothing from them since and has no indication if the case is still open or progressing. Her situation is emblematic of many of the victims and survivors.
The findings also highlight the impact of the killing of Thulani Maseko, a human rights lawyer and champion for democratic reforms, on justice for victims and survivors. Maseko was fatally shot on January 21, 2023, while at his home in Luhleko. Maseko often took cases that other lawyers considered too risky, including the woman who opened a case about her husband’s killing, and often did so pro bono. Maseko’s killing has left victims and survivors whom he was representing feeling disillusioned with the criminal justice system and hopeless that they will ever see justice.
In October 2021, the Eswatini Commission on Human Rights and Public Administration had released a report stating that 46 people were killed —2 of whom were children — and 245 people had gunshot injuries, including 22 people with multiple gunshot injuries. According to the Commission, all victims identified the Eswatini security forces as having shot them, but the Commission itself made no conclusions on the identity of those responsible. The Commission recommended a full, independent investigation into the June 2021 unrest. No such investigation has since taken place. Civil society in Eswatini believe the report downplays the number of civilians killed. Some of these groups estimate that the number of people killed may be over 100.
International human rights law obligates countries to ensure accountability in cases of security forces’ use of force, in particular lethal force, by conducting effective investigations capable of identifying those responsible and leading to prosecutions and remedies for victims.
“Eswatini authorities should initiate formal support mechanisms for the June 2021 unrest, victim and survivor networks, and work with such networks to build a victim-centred program of reparations,” Masiko-Mpaka said. “There needs to be effective investigations into the use of lethal and other excessive force with public reporting on the findings, and appropriate prosecutions and other sanctions for those responsible.”
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Human Rights Watch (HRW).
