The African Union (AU) mission that observed Swaziland’s
national elections has called for fundamental changes in the kingdom to ensure people
have freedom of speech and of assembly.
In a preliminary report
on the election just released, the AU said the Swaziland Constitution guaranteed
‘fundamental rights and freedoms including the rights to freedom of association’,
but in practice, ‘rights with regard to political assembly and association are
not fully enjoyed’.
The AU said this was because political parties were not
allowed to contest elections in Swaziland. The most recent took place on 20
September 2013.
The AU’s comments follow those of the Commonwealth
Observer Mission that also observed the election. In
its report on the election, the Commonwealth called for Swaziland’s Constitution
to be rewritten to reduce the powers of King Mswati III, who rules as an
absolute monarch.
The AU urged Swaziland to review the Constitution,
especially in the areas of ‘freedoms of conscience, expression, peaceful assembly,
association and movement as well as international principles for free and fair
elections and participation in electoral process.’
The AU called on Swaziland to implement the African
Commission’s Resolution
on Swaziland in 2012 that called on the Government, ‘to
respect, protect and fulfil the rights to freedom of expression, freedom of
association and freedom of assembly.’
The AU also said women constituted more than 50 percent
of the population of Swaziland and called on the kingdom to take measures and
develop mechanisms to achieve increased representation of women and physically
challenged persons in elective public positions in accordance with the
Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights
of Women in Africa and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of
Discrimination against Women.
See also
POLL OBSERVERS: REWRITE CONSTITUTION
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