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Tuesday 18 August 2015

SWAZI GLOBAL WEEK OF ACTION LAUNCH

Organisations campaigning for multi-party democracy in Swaziland will stage an international campaign next month (September 2015).

Protests will be conducted both inside Swaziland and in South Africa. 

The Global Week of Action for Democracy in Swaziland that will be in the first week of September. The event is held each year.

King Mswati III rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. Political parties are barred from taking part in elections and organisations campaigning for democracy are banned under the Suppression of Terrorism Act. No members of the Swaziland Senate are elected by the people and the King chooses the government. In June 2015, Swaziland was named among the ten worse countries in the world for workers’ rights.

Provincial secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) in Mpumalanga, Fidel Mlombo, told a media conference, ‘We are going to lead protest actions inside Swaziland from the 1st to the 4th September. There will be protest actions inside Swaziland as a build up for the ultimate Mother of All battles that will be held on the 9th of September 2015.’

Communist Party of Swaziland’s General Secretary, Kenneth Kunene, said, ‘The world must be fully aware that Swazi suffering also requires support. The isolation of the regime will make sure that (King) Mswati does not breathe, because the more he breathes, the country suffers, because he thinks he can manipulate the world by claiming there is a process towards democratisation in Swaziland, yet there’s much repression.’

Mlombo added, ‘We call on the world to isolate Swaziland and its autocratic monarchy through sanctions. We further demand that a conducive environment be created for genuine political dialogue regarding the future of Swaziland.’


See also

SWAZI HUMAN RIGHTS WORSEN: AMNESTY
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2015/02/swazi-human-rights-worsen-amnesty.html

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