FUNDAMENTAL
FREEDOMS CONTINUE TO BE CURTAILED IN SWAZILAND
Centre for Human Rights and Development - Swaziland statement
31 October 2012
The full realization of fundamental rights and freedoms
continue to be a myth in Swaziland as the Swaziland government is in the
process of adopting a code of practice for protesters. According to the Times Sunday,
this code is allegedly being drafted in conjunction with the International
Labour Organization (ILO) and trade unions. With the code, the government seeks
to regulate protected protest and industrial actions. Once promulgated, it will
be adopted as an amendment to the Public Order Act of 1963 which ILO and the
international community have called for review.
The Public Order Act regulates the holding of public
meetings in Swaziland and requires police permission for the holding of certain
categories of meetings and authorizes the police to control or prevent public
meetings. The order authorizes among others the gathering or assembly of
members of lawfully registered trade unions solely for purposes of that trade union’s
lawful activities. Also the Act permits a gathering convened and held
exclusively for social, cultural, charitable, recreational, religious,
professional and commercial or industrial purposes. It is important to note
that the Act does not include meetings or public activities for political
purposes and as a result of this deficiency many political activists and
members of political parties have been arrested in the past for engaging in
such meetings. This Act has also been used by the government to restrict labour
movements from holding public gatherings and protest marches for collective
bargaining.
The government has intensified restrictions on freedom of
association and assembly in the past few years despite the constitution which
guarantee same. According to section 24 of the Constitution, a person has a
right to freedom of expression and opinion and such shall not be hindered
without the free consent of such person. Furthermore, the Constitution
guarantees the rights to freedom of assembly and association in section 25.
Under the proposed code workers would be required to obtain permission of the
route they will use for their protest from the municipality and further notify
the police of the starting time and the estimated number of participants. Notably
is the discretion that is vested on the police to determine if a protest action
will be a danger to public peace and deny permission for holding such event.
According to the code, the police have a general duty to uphold the law and may
intervene if there is reasonable apprehension of breach of peace and
particularly if there is anticipated violence.
In Swaziland, the police have been very brutal on
protesters resulting to deaths and severe injuries. Workers have been beaten
and arrested by the police for wearing and carrying promotional material for
the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) which was deregistered by the
Swaziland government early this year. The Swazi government has used the police
and other security agents to intimidate and punish protesters who challenge the
current regime. During Swaziland’s human rights status review in March this
year, the international community recommended that the Public Order Act and
other repressive laws be reviewed to allow the enjoyment of fundamental freedoms.
This proposed code is therefore nothing but a reaffirmation of the Public Order
Act since it does not include activities by political parties and bestow a wide
discretion on the police. If the code is eventually adopted by stakeholders we
anticipate the continued refusal by the police and local authorities to grant
permission for protest marches and the strategic deployment of mass security
agents who at times even outnumber protesters.
+268 2504 0913
ALERTS@DignityFirst is a periodic update on global issues
touching on human rights, good governance and democratisation, issued by the
Centre for Human Rights and Development operating out of Swaziland
(www.dignityfirst.org). Recipients are urged to circulate information and share
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