By Kenworthy News Media
Swazi civil
society warns diplomats of government clamp down
During meetings with diplomats from the embassies of
several Western countries, held in Pretoria last week, representatives from
Swaziland’s civil society warned that Swaziland’s government was actively
trying to obstruct their work and shut them down, writes Kenworthy News Media.
Representatives from Swaziland United Democratic Front
(SUDF), Foundation for Socio-Economic Justice, Swaziland National Union of
Students, Swaziland Ex-Mineworkers Association and Rural Women’s Assembly told
diplomats from Denmark, England, Sweden, Japan, Russia, Norway, South Africa,
the USA, SADC and the EU that they are deeply worried that the Swazi
authorities are trying to make a case against FSEJ for supporting terrorism.
If the Swazi authorities manage to connect FSEJ with
terrorism – a concept that is defined very loosely and broadly in Swazi law –
the organization, that is an important part of the democratic movement’s
capacity building and civic education on democracy, could be banned and have
its finances confiscated.
FSEJ Project Coordinator, Dumezweni Dlamini, believes
that the government is trying to use all and any means to shut them down. “FSEJ
is a legally registered organisation that works peacefully for the
democratization of Swaziland through civic education on democracy,
constitutionalism and human rights. We believe the government is focusing on us
because of our increasing success in building strong movements, especially in
the rural areas. Our meetings are stopped by the Royal Swaziland Police and
currently the state is also working around the clock to shut us down before
elections as the state fears that we are a force that might destabilize the
forthcoming elections,” Dlamini says.
Political parties are illegal in Swaziland and the
largest of these proscribed parties, the People’s United Democratic Movement
(PUDEMO), is repeatedly charged under Swaziland’s vaguely worded anti-terrorism
laws. A newly formed trade union federation, TUCOSWA, has also been
deregistered or banned, an act that is seen by police as a legitimate reason to
clamp down on any TUCOSWA activities.
SUDF Coordinator, Wandile Dludlu, believes that the
upcoming elections in Swaziland will see a further clamp down on the democratic
movement. “FSEJ and SUDF, amongst others, have voiced their criticism of the
elections. We see the elections as being undemocratic and have called for a
boycott. King Mswati III has responded by labeling anyone who calls for an
election boycott a criminal.”
And according to Dumezweni Dlamini, “there is no freedom
of speech and association, no opposing voice to the present Tinkhundla system
is allowed on air in particular on the national radio, and political gatherings
are clamped down by the state security police.”
Danish NGO, Africa Contact, who has had partnership
projects in Swaziland for many years, is also worried about the increasingly
repressive and tense situation in Swaziland.
“The money that we channel into various movements in
Swaziland is from the Danish state,” says Africa Contact’s Head of Secretariat,
Morten Nielsen. “The projects and the funds that go with these follow the
guidelines approved by the Danish Foreign Ministry who are adamant that their
support is only used for peaceful democratization of Swaziland.”
Morten Nielsen believes that banning NGO’s or progressive
movements such as FSEJ, TUCOSWA or SUDF will only exacerbate an already tense
situation in Swaziland, further undermining the credibility of Swaziland’s
government internationally.
During the meeting with the foreign diplomats in Pretoria
last week, the Swazi civil society organisations explained how the political
space in Swaziland was becoming ever smaller, and that meetings and gatherings
of the civil society were subsequently virtually impossible to hold.
Diplomats from the EU embassies informed the Swazis that
as the EU was currently discussing how to deal with the Swazi “situation”, it
would readily listen to suggestions as to how the EU was to act in regard to
the upcoming elections in Swaziland as a means of pressing for the
democratization of their country. The diplomats also stated that SADC, the EU
and particularly South Africa had a vital role to play in this process.
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