Police in Mauritius imposed an overnight curfew overnight to quell the worst riots to break out on the Indian Ocean island in decades.
Protests over water shortages and the high cost of living that started a week ago erupted into violence on Friday when a woman was shot and wounded by police at a roadblock.
The circumstances of the shooting are not clear, but the officer has since been arrested and remanded in custody.
Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam ordered the curfew on Tuesday, warning against those “acting against the interests of the country”, which is a tourism and financial services hub.
“Those who have carried out these actions will have to face the very heavy consequences warranted by their anti-patriotic acts,” he said in an address to the nation.
The government said it was extending the curfew until Friday morning as part of the measures agreed on during a special cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
It detailed looting, possession of explosive substances, arson and damage to police stations, traffic lights and CCTV during the protests, with seven police officers being injured.
In a separate notice, the education ministry said it was cancelling classes on Thursday and Friday in school facilities, extending the suspension which had begun earlier. It said it was monitoring the situation and would issue a statement later regarding their reopening.
At least 94 people have been arrested since the riots began, and the government says they could face prosecution under the prevention of terrorism laws.
Out of the those arrested, 16 are minors.
“In view of the number of minors involved in the riots”, the government said it would consider lowering the age at which minors can be detained and prosecuted from 14 to 12.
It said cyber-crime police officers were constantly monitoring social media and would investigate people posting hate speech and inciting violence.
Protesters burned tyres and blocked roads as the unrest escalated over the weekend, with police stations and other public infrastructure properties being vandalised.
The mayhem prompted the closure of schools and public transport, with foreign embassies issuing alerts warning its nationals to be cautious.
Police had reported incidents and arrests despite the initial curfew. According to the latest government statement most of the arrests were made on Tuesday.
When protests over the shortage of water initially started, the government had responded proactively by providing more water to households, according to Zoë McCathie, an analyst at South Africa-based Signal Risk.
The escalation had presented a more “unusual situation for the country’s security situation”, with the government resorting to closing schools and imposing a curfew, she told the BBC’s Newsday programme.
“Protests to this scale and to this extent haven’t been seen… since around 1999. So the government’s response to this in that case is logical and is necessary,” she said.
While the government had managed to “curtail the worst of the unrest” there was still a possibility that protests could return in some areas, with water shortages expected to persist until the rainy season in December, she said. – BBC
