Kenworthy News Media
May 23, 2013
Swazi government
trying to crush union movement, says Amnesty report
“The rights to freedom of expression, association and
peaceful assembly [in Swaziland] continued to be violated, with arbitrary
arrests and excessive force used to crush political protests,” Amnesty
International write in their 2013 Annual
Report that was published today [23. May]. “Torture and other ill-treatment
remained a persistent concern,” writes Kenworthy News Media.
Swaziland is an absolute monarchy where a 40-year-long
state of emergency and oppressive anti-terror laws have meant that the space
for peaceful political protest is virtually non-existent. The political space
there is has been filled mainly by the unions, who Swaziland’s government have
attempted to neutralize by de-registering the newly formed Trade Union Congress
of Swaziland (TUCOSWA).
“On the eve of its participation in planned
demonstrations in April, TUCOSWA was informed by the Attorney general that it
was unlawfully registered, despite registration having been confirmed by the
Acting Commissioner of Labour under the Industrial Relations Act,” the report
says.
The report also describes how this de-registration has
been seen by the police as a reason to arrest, assault and threaten union
officials and activists who in any way display affinity to TUCOSWA. “Police
disrupted their gatherings, confiscated banners displaying TUCOSWA insignia,
conducted arbitrary arrests and threatened union officials and activists.”
Amnesty’s report also describes the ill-treatment and
unfair trials that union members and others face in Swaziland, including the
“repeated allegations by accused in criminal trials that they had been
subjected to torture, which included beatings and suffocation. Deaths under
suspicious circumstances and the failure of the authorities to ensure
independent investigation and accountability continued to cause concern.”
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