Police under fire for deaths of two students during protests

The Lesotho Mounted Police Service is under fire for allegedly shooting and killing two student activists who were part of a group protesting against the reduction of student grants at the National University of Lesotho last week.

The protest on 16 June was sparked after the National Manpower Development Secretariat cut students' monthly stipends by more than 50%. Two students were shot and killed while numerous others were injured and arrested.

Speaking to News24, advocate Mokitimi Ts'osane from the Human Rights and Access to Justice programme at the Transformation Resource Centre said the actions by the police were in violation of the UN basic principles on the use of firearms by law enforcement agents. Student activists, who spoke to News24, said the police opened fire on them without warning. Students usually receive about ZAR1,050 (US$62) per month but for reasons not explained to them, they got about ZAR500.
Full report on the News24 site