Two more men have been sentenced to hang in Swaziland
this past week.
This comes after Chief Mgwagwa Gamedze, Minister of
Justice and Constitutional Affairs, told a United Nations group that although
the kingdom retained the death penalty it was ‘abolitionist in practice’.
The men, both named Simelane, were involved in separate
cases before the courts. David Simelane had his conviction for killing 28 women
and children over a period of about 10 years upheld by the Supreme Court.
The other man, Mciniseli Jomo Simelane, was convicted by the Swazi High Court of killing a seven-month-old baby when he set fire to a
house.
The death sentences once again put the spotlight on Swaziland’s
human rights record.
In October 2011, Swaziland was heavily criticised at the
UN Universal Periodic Review
into human rights in the kingdom for continuing to have the death penalty. Gamedze
told the UN that although the death penalty existed in Swaziland the last execution
had been in 1983. He said this showed that the kingdom was abolitionist in
practice.
But, in April 2012, Gamedze told the Times of Swaziland
the kingdom would not follow the Second Optional Protocol to the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and abolish the death penalty. Gamedze
said for the time being, the kingdom was not ready to accede to the convention.
He said at the time that David Simelane would not hang,
unless the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal against the death penalty. Simelane
has now lost that appeal.
International anti-capital punishment groups estimate
that about seven people are waiting for execution on ‘death row’ in Swaziland.
Contrary to Gamedze’s assertion that Swaziland is
abolitionist, the kingdom has been advertising on and off for years to appoint
a hangman. But so far, no one has been given the job.
See also
SWAZILAND ‘CAN’T AFFORD RIGHTS’
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/11/swaziland-cant-afford-rights.html
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