PORT LOUIS — Mauritius is answering its street riots with the threat of terrorism charges and a plan to consider detaining and prosecuting children as young as 12. The Cabinet, meeting in special session on Wednesday, also extended the island’s night curfew through Friday morning.
The new order runs from 8:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. on Wednesday and Thursday nights, according to the Cabinet. Xinhua reported that public buses across the island republic off the coast of Africa were due to stop at 6 p.m. Wednesday, childcare centres close Thursday and schools and colleges shut Thursday and Friday.
Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam set the tone in a televised address on Tuesday. He condemned the violence as “unacceptable” and, Xinhua reported, said police and other sources indicated a group “funded and sent by drug traffickers who feel threatened by police actions” was behind it. Neither Xinhua’s report nor the Cabinet’s record offers evidence for that claim.
Anadolu Agency called the violence the worst unrest the island has seen in nearly three decades in certain areas. In its highlights of the special meeting, the Cabinet cited police figures: 84 arrests on Tuesday and 94 since the riots began, among them 16 minors and one police officer, with seven officers injured. Those are police counts relayed by ministers, and none of the reports carries an independent tally.
The Cabinet also said persons arrested “will be charged under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, where applicable,” that the police Cybercrime Unit is watching social media for hate speech and incitement, and that regulations are being promulgated to prohibit retail sales of petrol. After consulting the Chief Justice, the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Commissioner of Police, it put a mechanism in place to fast-track the lodging and hearing of cases.
What the record omits is the grievance. Anadolu reported that the unrest began over water shortages and the cost of living, and Xinhua linked it to anger over the shooting of Elodie Thomas, 27, by a police officer on Friday, adding that reports say she was shot without apparent justification. The Cabinet’s highlights mention neither water shortages, the cost of living nor Thomas.
The age proposal also cuts against UN child-justice guidance. In General Comment No. 24, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child noted that the most common minimum age of criminal responsibility internationally is 14 and urged states not to reduce it “under any circumstances.” The Cabinet speaks of the age for detention and prosecution, and its record does not say how that maps onto the legal age of criminal responsibility.
Is the police officer among the 94 detained the one who shot Elodie Thomas? The record does not say.
