SWAZI TERROR ACT FREEDOM THREAT

The Suppression of Terrorism Act (STA), which was signed into law in August 2008, gravely threatens freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, rights which were already compromised under Swaziland’s legal system. The new law’s sweeping and imprecise provisions render a wide range of organizations and individuals who are critical of the government potentially open to prosecution.

These are the opening words to a damning report just published into the way Swaziland’s STA has been used as a brutal tool against democrats in the kingdom.

In a detailed analysis of the STA, Amnesty International states, ‘A number of provisions in the STA are sweeping and imprecise while the penalties for breaches are severe. The definition of a “terrorist act” in the STA is not limited to the threatened or actual use of violence or to acts committed in pursuit of an underlying political or ideological goal. In addition, many key provisions of the STA rely on the Act’s definition of “terrorist act”, so that the breadth and vagueness of that definition also renders them excessively broad in their effects.

‘The STA gives the government wide discretion to declare an organization a “terrorist group”. The law limits the role of the courts in reviewing such decisions, and effectively requires the organization to persuade the court that the government’s decision was “not reasonable”.

‘Being designated a “terrorist group” by the government carries grave consequences. Not only is the property of the group subject to seizure and forfeiture, but membership of the group also becomes a criminal offence. Other organizations and individuals who have virtually any kind of contact with the group risk being caught up in very broadly defined criminal offences.

‘For example, “giving support” is an offence, even where the support is unrelated to any particular “terrorist act”. As all such offences are defined by the STA as “terrorist acts”, the range of people potentially liable to criminal prosecution is virtually unlimited.’

Amnesty reports that police harassment of civil society organizations has increased since the STA came into force, ‘with organizations reporting more surveillance, including monitoring of their emails and telephone calls.

‘The police have sometimes insisted on being present at closed civil society meetings, which has led to meetings being cancelled out of concern for the security of participants. The authorities have prevented some marches from going ahead.’

To read the full report click here.