REGIME DENIES HUMAN RIGHTS

This is from the Swaziland Democracy Campaign, released today (12 April 2011) at 10.20 am local time.

Massive Security Mobilisation Fails to Deter Protesters! The Struggle Continues

What follows below is an on the spot report from the Coordinators of the Swaziland Democracy Campaign and the Swaziland United Democratic Front in Swaziland.

What we are witnessing is an unprecedented mobilization of the security cluster of the Swazi regime. Despite the statements of the Foreign Minister on SAFM this morning, and other spokespersons of the regime, the Swazi regime is flaunting all the universally accepted civil rights of its people to organize, gather and peacefully express their desire for a democratic Swaziland.

The Minister said this morning that the government are ‘in dialogue’ with civil society and they are hoping to reach an understanding. Clearly as the statement below shows, ‘dialogue’ in Swaziland actually means illegal detention! It is now reliably reported that more than 50 leading activists have been detained including journalists from South Africa.

The regime believes that by arresting the leadership of the democracy campaign they can undermine the protest actions that are planned for today and the rest of the week. This is a regime that is desperately clinging to power. By acting in this way they will attract further condemnation by the international community, and fuel further the mobilization of the Swazi people themselves. Now is the time for SADC governments and especially the SA government to come off the fence and decisively side with the people of Swaziland. Waiting diplomatically in the wings is serving the regime, not the people.