AllAfrica.com<\/a> is reporting that, “In a dramatic turn of events, more than 200 people, including journalists, union members and members of political parties, are reported to have been detained in various police stations across the country. There have also been reports of police brutality and ‘abductions’ of protesters. “These events reportedly unfolded in Mbabane and Manzini – where at least half of the total urban population reside.”<\/p>\nThis is an unusual move for the government of Swaziland and is sure to insight further protests and inflame the situation.Things are very tense and it’s difficult to determine which direction this will take.<\/p>\n
Swazi’s are committed to reform the reports says that, “What is clear is that Swazi society is changing very rapidly and the potential triggers of conflict are now manifest. The tension between adherence to traditional ethos and norms and the increasing yearning for a democratic breakthrough looms large and will need to be resolved in a timeous fashion. The imperative for reforms that allow Swazi citizens to govern themselves and exercise their economic, political and social rights undoubtedly serves as the future model of political governance – and can no longer be postponed.”<\/p>\n
The financial issues are deep and as long as the economy continues to move in the negative direction, there will continue to be opposition against the current leadership.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It’s difficult to get clear information on exactly what’s happening in Swaziland regarding the protests. One thing is certain, the government is dealing with these protests harshly. A state of emergency has been declared and we know from our people on the ground that bus routes, schools, and many businesses are closed. AllAfrica.com is reporting…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[209,199,160],"class_list":["post-1514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-africa","tag-africa","tag-swaziland","tag-swaziland-protest"],"yoast_head":"\n
Swaziland Protests Are Met with Crackdowns By Government - Red Letters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2011\/04\/swaziland-protests-are-met-with-crackdowns-by-government.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Swaziland Protests Are Met with Crackdowns By Government - Red Letters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It’s difficult to get clear information on exactly what’s happening in Swaziland regarding the protests. One thing is certain, the government is dealing with these protests harshly. A state of emergency has been declared and we know from our people on the ground that bus routes, schools, and many businesses are closed. 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One thing is certain, the government is dealing with these protests harshly. A state of emergency has been declared and we know from our people on the ground that bus routes, schools, and many businesses are closed. AllAfrica.com is reporting…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2011\/04\/swaziland-protests-are-met-with-crackdowns-by-government.html","og_site_name":"Red Letters","article_published_time":"2011-04-14T16:16:58+00:00","author":"Tom Davis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2011\/04\/swaziland-protests-are-met-with-crackdowns-by-government.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2011\/04\/swaziland-protests-are-met-with-crackdowns-by-government.html","name":"Swaziland Protests Are Met with Crackdowns By Government - Red Letters","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-04-14T16:16:58+00:00","dateModified":"2011-04-14T16:16:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/#\/schema\/person\/c78d22af30aa2e0860a621fadf855b92"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2011\/04\/swaziland-protests-are-met-with-crackdowns-by-government.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2011\/04\/swaziland-protests-are-met-with-crackdowns-by-government.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2011\/04\/swaziland-protests-are-met-with-crackdowns-by-government.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Swaziland Protests Are Met with Crackdowns By Government"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/","name":"Red Letters","description":"Christian, Christian Inspiration, Christian News, Christian Activism News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/#\/schema\/person\/c78d22af30aa2e0860a621fadf855b92","name":"Tom Davis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/b5c\/b5c5842c5b6dd6c51062873d0bb1dfafx96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/b5c\/b5c5842c5b6dd6c51062873d0bb1dfafx96.jpg","caption":"Tom Davis"},"description":"Tom Davis currently serves as CEO of Children's HopeChest (www.hopechest.org), a global orphan care ministry headquartered in Colorado Springs. A tireless advocate for fatherless children, Davis has spent most of his adult life calling U.S. believers to become the hands and feet of Jesus Christ to the 143 million orphans living around the world. Through those connections, thousands of orphans now have the bright and hopeful future--one that is filled with opportunities and the love of the one true Father. Davis speaks hundreds of times each year at churches and conferences, mobilizing the church to action on behalf of the poor. He is the author of four books. His most recent novel, SCARED is a fictionalized account of his first-hand experiencing living and working with orphans in Swaziland, Africa. Davis' blog is the premier resource for the latest developments in Christian orphan ministry. Davis also currently teaches courses as adjunct professor at George Fox University in Newberg, OR. When not traveling the globe, Davis resides in the mountains of Colorado in the small community of Palmer Lake. He and his wife Emily have seven children, including two adopted daughters from Russia.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/author\/tdavis"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/87"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1514"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1514\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1516,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1514\/revisions\/1516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}