ANGER AT SWAZILAND CENSORSHIP

The following is a statement issued by the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), an organisation banned in Swaziland, today (5 January 2010).

PUDEMO STATEMENT ON THE BAN OF COMRADE MARIO MASUKU

FROM THE SWAZI MEDIA

We wish to address ourselves to the recent outrageous abuse of human rights by the Swazi regime.

Through the Attorney General, who happens to be a prince, the regime issued a stern instruction to the Editor of Times Sunday, a local publication, to stop publishing articles authored by the PUDEMO President [Mario Masuku]. This was an unfortunate incident indeed.

It is only a state that still languishes in backwardness and survives through oppression and suppression that can come to such a stupid decision. In modern societies, all human beings enjoy the right to freely express their opinions.

That the Swazi regime at this day and age still dictates as to who should or should not freely express their opinions is a direct challenge and an insult to the world community as represented by the United Nations Organization. An organization that unapologetically promotes the fundamental rights of humans that include the freedom to express one’s opinion. PUDEMO strongly condemns such and urge the international community to take the Swazi regime to task and be harshly disciplined for undermining the rights of its citizens.

It must be noted that this does not only undermine the rights of citizens, also the rights of the media itself. In many instances, the Swazi regime has come out to deceive its people and the world that its press is operating in a free environment, but this has proven to be an untruth! It must further be noted that this is not the first time that the press in the country has been threatened and intimidated for publishing stories and ideas that are perceived by the state to be in ‘bad taste.’

The people of Swaziland under this oppressive regime urgently need a free media that will inform as well as educate them on critical issues and situations around them. However, this is impossible in Swaziland where the media is constantly intimidated, harassed and threatened by the state.

We feel it makes no sense why the international community should still recognizes the Swazi regime as part of it when the same regime continues abusing human rights with impunity. Surely this must be condemned and the regime be disciplined for the sake of the oppressed people of Swaziland.

However, as PUDEMO we remain unfazed by this senseless ban for we know that our ideas have long permeated into all sectors of Swazi society and no amount of political trickery will by the regime will reverse the situation.