In a submission to the United Nations they also call for an end to media censorship in the kingdom.
They also call for more independent newspapers and
media houses to be allowed to operate in Swaziland, where King Mswati III rules
as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.
The call comes jointly from CIVICUS, a global network of civil society organisations and
activists dedicated to strengthening citizen action and civil society around
the world, and Lawyers for Human Rights (Swaziland) (LHRS), a non-partisan group of lawyers
that advocates for the
respect of human rights and promotes good governance, the
rule of law and democracy.
The report
is to the United Nation’s Human Rights Council’s Working
Group on the Universal Periodic Review of Swaziland that is to investigate Swaziland’s record on human rights next
April and May 2016.
The report listed a
number of media freedom violations in Swaziland over recent years.
In the report they stated the Swazi Government,
which is not elected but appointed by the King, ‘strictly controls freedom of
expression and the media’.
They added, ‘Reporting on royal and political matters is severely
restricted. Further,
regular threats emanating from senior government officials and
the royal family to
journalists also lead to government censorship and self-censorship
by the media further
curtailing democratic freedoms’.
The report detailed a number of media freedom
violations.
It stated, ‘On 28 April 2014, Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi
threatened the Managing Editor of the Swazi
Observer, Mbongeni Mbingo over reports on court proceedings in the case involving the editor of Nation magazine Bheki Makhubu and human rights
lawyer Thulani Maseko.
‘In
the 30 March 2014 edition of the newspaper, Mbongeni
expressed concerns that
Bheki and Thulani were in jail even though the prosecuting
team had not concluded its
investigations. The Chief Justice ordered Mbongeni to
stop reporting on the case
and warned that he would be subjected to the same fate
as the accused.
‘The
Swazi Observer is owned by King
Mswati’s business holding Tibiyo taka Ngwane but the newspaper had been
reporting regularly on the case. After the threats from the Chief Justice the
newspaper adopted a more cautious approach in its reporting on the case.
‘On
17 April 2013, Bheki Makhubu, editor of Nation
magazine was found guilty of
contempt of court for “scurrilous abuse of the Chief Justice” based on
articles he wrote in November 2009 and February 2010 in which he
criticised Swazi Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi.
‘One
of the articles commended Justice Thomas
Masuku for his views in
cases which focused on the evictions of Swazis from lands
held by the King in contrast to views held by two other Supreme
Court Judges. The other article criticised Justice Ramodibedi over
comments he had made. Bheki Makhubu was handed a fine of E200,000 (approximately US$14,750) and informed
that he would serve a two
year jail term if he failed to pay the fine within three days.
‘On
30 May 2014, he won an appeal with the Supreme Court and the sentence was
reduced to three months fully suspended on condition that he is not
convicted of any offence of scandalising the court for a period of
three years.
‘On
17 and 18 March 2013 human rights defender Thulani Maseko and journalist
Bheki Makhubu were arrested
and charged with “scandalising the judiciary” and for
being “in contempt of
court” after they published articles critical of the Swazi
judiciary.
‘In
February 2014, Thulani wrote an article in the Nation magazine titled “where the law has no place” and in March 2014 Bheki
wrote an article titled “speaking my mind”. Both articles were critical of the arrest of
government vehicle inspector Bhantshana Vincent Gwebu.
‘Thulani
Maseko is a member of the Lawyers for Human Rights (Swaziland) and Southern Africa
Human Rights Defenders Network. Bheki Makubu is a journalist and editor of Nation magazine. They were both
sentenced to two years in
jail on 25 July 2014 without bail. On 30 June 2015 the
Supreme Court ordered the release of both journalists on the basis that they had not
received a fair trial.
‘The
Supreme Court argued that the trial judge was one of the
persons criticised in the articles
and had not recused himself from the case.
‘On
15 January 2014, the government-controlled Swazi
Observer newspaper suspended its editor Thulani Thwala and weekend
editor Alec Lushaba after they were accused of failing to adhere to the mandate of the
newspaper by publishing negative news stories about the King.
The journalists
were accused of failing to heed several warnings not to publish damaging reports
about the King. Prior to the suspension, they published reports indicating that
the Swazi government had solicited a financial bailout from South Africa.
Eight months after their suspension, the Board of Directors of the Swazi Observer
Newspaper Group reinstated them.
‘The
Swazi Observer newspaper is controlled by the Tibiyo Taka Ngwane
conglomerate, which is owned by the King. News items published are
highly censored.
‘In
January 2012, Musa Ndlangamandla was relieved of his duties as Chief Editor of
the Swazi Observer newspaper after publishing interviews in his
Asikhulume column of leaders of pro-democracy movements in Swaziland.
Prior to that
he had published a report about the expropriation of state
land by Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini. The police confiscated his computer and in
February he was forced to flee to South Africa after attempts by security forces to
arrest and charge him under the Suppression of Terrorism Act.
‘On
11 April 2012, Tumaole Mohlaoli and Meshack Dube, journalists from the private
South African television
channel e-TV, were detained by the Swazi authorities at a road block in Oshoek and their passports and
equipment were seized after the authorities accused them of not having the proper
accreditation to cover events commemorating the 39th
anniversary of King Sobhuza
II’s 1973 decree which outlawed political parties in Swaziland.’
CIVICUS
and LHRS made the following recommendations to the UN working group.
‘The
environment in which the media operates in Swaziland should be opened up to
allow the registration and
operation of more independent newspapers and media
houses.
‘The
government should stop using the Sedition and Subversive Activities Act and the
Suppression of Terrorism
Act to impede media freedoms.
‘Swazi
authorities should respect and fulfil the right to freedom of expression and
stop the practice of intimidating and persecuting
journalists using unlawful legal processes.
‘Journalists
and media representatives should be protected by the law at all times.
‘Public
figures should stop threatening journalists and desist from interfering in
state-owned newspapers.
‘Obsolete
laws that restrict freedom of expression such as Sedition and Subversive
Activities Act Suppression
of Terrorism Act should be reviewed and repealed.
‘The
Swazi authorities should stop censoring the contempt of newspapers and refrain
from interfering in the
editorial policies of newspapers to eliminate censorship.’
See also
GOVT
HAS TOTAL CONTROL OF TV NEWS
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2015/06/govt-has-total-control-of-tv-news.html
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