Police Fire at PWA Protesters in South Africa

Thursday, July 14, 2005 - In an unprecedented confrontation between police and AIDS activists on Tuesday, police in the Eastern cape town of Queenstown fired rubber bullets and smoke grenades into a crowd of 1,500 demonstrators at a protest organized by the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC). The incident followed a breakdown of talks between TAC and the local health department over the failed rollout of HIV meds; fewer than 10 percent of local PWAs who need treatment are getting the promised—and available—drugs.
    At the Frontier Hospital demo, 40 TAC members, including 10 HIVers, were injured, according to the group, with ten treated for their wounds and one in serious condition. “The majority…were women,” a TAC press statement said. “At no stage was there violence, threat of violence or any form of provocation; no warning to disperse was issued…. After the assault, as people ran away, the police opened fire…and then used teargas.”
    The local head of police insists that, while rubber bullets and smoke grenades were deployed, there were “no injuries” among the protesters, who had entered the hospital’s outpatient clinic. There has been no comment on the violence so far from South African Health Minister Manto Tshabalala Msimang or President Thabo Mbeki—both of whom have come under international censure for what is perceived as insistent foot-dragging, if not outright sabotage, of efforts to get lifesaving treatment to desperately ill people with HIV.
    Initial reports by the local Daily Dispatch, allAfrica.com and the Associated Press are sketchy and conflicting, but POZ will continue to track this tragic milestone in the history of the global HIV community’s fight for survival.