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Police action unacceptable - AIDS activists

    JOHANNESBURG

    South Africa's Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) on Monday condemned the government's response to peaceful protests for a national HIV/AIDS treatment plan.

    TAC on Thursday launched a series of civil disobedience actions in a campaign called "Dying for Treatment" which includes peaceful demonstrations near police stations.

    "Police [in the port city of Durban] used water cannons and teargas on 70 campaigners. Some were also physically attacked," TAC national manager, Nathan Geffen, told the UN news service PlusNews.

    Geffen said TAC was currently discussing legal action against the police responsible for the attack.

    Meanwhile, human rights activists have issued a statement in response to the police action.

    "There is no justification for violence on the part of the authorities in the face of peaceful protest," Human Rights Watch HIV/AIDS program director, Joanne Csete, said in a statement.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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