Swazi Media Commentary: ‘OBSERVER’ NAMES ANOTHER RAPE VICTIM

Wednesday 25 October 2017

‘OBSERVER’ NAMES ANOTHER RAPE VICTIM

The Swazi Observer newspaper has once again named a rape victim in violation of her human rights and journalism ethical codes.

It also disclosed her HIV-positive status.

The Sunday Observer (22 October 2017) reported on a woman it called ‘mentally unstable’. It named her and published two photographs of her as well as a picture of where she lived and of her aunt. It also published a photograph of her youngest daughter. This had her face blanked out but she would be easily recognisable to people in her community.

The newspaper said the woman had been repeatedly raped by men in her community and was now HIV-positive.

By publishing the name of the women, the Observer broke Article 15 of the Swaziland National Association of Journalists (SNAJ) code of ethics on Survivors of Sexual Assault which states, ‘Journalists shall avoid identifying survivors of sexual assault or any information that may lead to the identification of the survivor.’

Journalists across the world generally agree that it violates the rights of rape victims to publish their names without their consent.

This is not the first time the Swazi Observer has named alleged rape victims. In February 2015, it published the names of eight alleged rape victims without their consent.

The Observer published the names as part of a report on the start of a trial of an alleged serial rapist. In its report the Observer listed the women’s names and details of their attacks in what it called ‘a sneak preview’ of the case. It gave their names and details of how each attack took place. The newspaper named one woman and revealed she was a virgin.

In all of the attacks violence including a knife was used. In all cases the alleged rapist did not use a condom.

When the publication of the report caused an outcry the Observer gave a half-hearted apology, saying it had made a ‘boo-boo’.

In its apology, the Observer said, ‘Indeed, the only decent thing we could do after mixing up the rules is to draw our own sword and hang ourselves.’

The editor nor any other journalist involved in the story was disciplined and the women involved received no compensation. Now, the offence has been repeated it remains to be seen what action will be taken.

The Swazi Observer newspapers are in effect owned by King Mswati III who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. Its journalistic credentials have been called into question many times. In a review of press freedom in Swaziland, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) called the Observer, a ‘pure propaganda machine for the royal family’.

The Observer regularly breaks Article 1 of the SNAJ code Article 1which deals with people’s right to information. The article says, ‘The duty of every journalist is to write and report, adhere to and faithfully defend the truth. A journalist should make adequate inquiries, do cross-checking of facts in order to provide the public with unbiased, accurate, balanced and comprehensive information.’

The newspaper is on public record to say that its ‘collective stand as a newspaper is that the integrity of Swaziland as a democratic State and His Majesty King Mswati III as the legitimate leader of the Swazi nation, must never be compromised in any way.’

It also publishes false reports about Asians in Swaziland that are capable of string up racial hatred. In October 2016, it claimed that 600,000 people in Swaziland are of Asian origin (14 October 2016). A website called countrymeters that constantly updates statistics recorded Swaziland’s total population at that time as 1,312,881.

That would mean that about 45 percent of the entire Swazi population were of Asian origin. In fact, every reputable source shows that about 97 percent of Swazi people are African. The sources include the CIA factbook and indexmundi.

The Observer reported on 14 October 2016 that a parliamentary committee set up to investigate Asians in the kingdom was told Asian people had occupied, ‘every available space in the urban areas’. The newspaper did not name the source of this statement.

The Observer reported as if fact that 90 percent of shops in the kingdom are owned by Asian people (14 October 2016). It said, in Manzini, the main commercial city in Swaziland, ‘almost the entire city is reportedly in the hands of the Indians’ (14 October 2016).

Other reports it made without giving readers evidence included: Asian people are rushing to acquire Swazi Nation Land to open up small businesses (15 October 2016); wealthy Asian businessmen are evicting Swazis in massive scales in the areas of Manzini (17 October 2016); Asians are associating themselves with the Swazi Royal Family because it would secure their investments (17 October 2016).

The constant trashing of Asian people runs against Swazi journalists’ own code of ethics. It amounts to hate speech. The Swaziland National Association of Journalists in Article 13 of its code states, ‘Hate speech. (Journalists shall avoid by all means the publication of speech that might promote hatred, spite and conflict amongst the Swazi or any other nation.)’

Richard Rooney

Swazi Media Commentary

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Wednesday 25 October 2017

‘OBSERVER’ NAMES ANOTHER RAPE VICTIM

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