Police in Swaziland have
broken up two meetings of the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) in as
many weeks in a clampdown on groups advocating for democracy.
More than 300
plain-clothed police forced participants to end a union executive board meeting
in the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Center on 14 March
2014 and blocked the gates to the building. Muzi Mhlanga, SNAT secretary
general, was assaulted and had to seek medical care, according to TUCOSWA.
TUCOSWA Secretary General
Vincent Ncongwane said, ‘The police came in as if they were coming to fight an army. They
actually manhandled us, stopping anyone coming in or going out of the venue.’
Ncongwane added, ‘We were
squashed between various policemen who were trying to read the emails we were
sending [to international labour allies]. Police also demanded their phones
because union leaders were taking photos of the police “without their
permission. They said their orders are to crush any TUCOSWA meeting.’
Swaziland police also broke up a national union
meeting on 28 February,
on the grounds that workers were discussing ‘democracy’.
The Solidarity Center reported,
‘Over the past three years, Swaziland authorities have refused to grant legal
registration to TUCOSWA, most recently denying the federation’s December 2014
application under the country’s recently amended Industrial Relations Act. In
August 2014, some in the Swazi government falsely accused Ncongwane and human rights lawyer Sipho Gumedze of
taking a stand against trade benefits for Swaziland when they were in
Washington to attend the US Africa Leaders’ Summit Civil Society Forum.
The Solidarity Center said,
‘TUCOSWA is receiving key support from the country’s religious leaders. A
coalition of Christian churches called for the
registration and recognition of TUCOSWA as part of its broader call for multiparty
democracy to address the Swaziland’s political, social and economic crises.
‘In June 2014 the US
government took the rare step of suspending African Growth and Opportunity Act
(AGOA) trade benefits for Swaziland, citing the Swazi government’s systematic
violations of fundamental worker rights, including refusal to legally recognize
TUCOSWA. Swaziland’s trade unions support AGOA, but maintain that the country must meet
benchmarks of the agreement, which include respecting human rights and labour
rights.
‘The 2014 US State
Department human rights report cited serious human rights violations in
Swaziland, including arbitrary or unlawful killings by the government or its
agents; severely restricted freedom of assembly, including violence against
protestors; jailing of trade union leaders; the deregistration of TUCOSWA and
the banning of strikes.’
See also
SWAZI POLICE HALT DEMOCRACY MEETING
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