Swaziland is ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.
Amnesty in a statement highlighted how the Swazi regime
used pre-independence laws to crack down on dissenting voices.
It said,
‘The Swazi government is continuing to use repressive laws, including the 1938
Sedition and Subversive Activities Act (SSA Act) and the 2008 Suppression of
Terrorism Act (STA) as a tactic to silence its critics and suppress their
rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.”
In
Swaziland political parties are banned from taking part in elections and all
groups that advocate for multi-party democracy have been branded ‘terrorist
organisations’ under the STA.
Deprose
Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for Southern Africa, said, ‘It is
ironic that as Swaziland celebrates 47 years of independence from Britain it
continues to use legislation to shut down dissenting voices used by the
colonial regime for the same purpose.
‘Swazi
authorities must stop persecuting human rights defenders and political
opponents in the country and allow them to carry out their work without
harassment and intimidation.’
Critics
of King Mswati’s regime are put in jail or face other forms of harassment,
including persecution and surveillance. ‘The government is also misusing its
criminal justice system to criminalize and stigmatise their activities,
imposing charges like contempt of court or sedition,’ Amnesty said.
Mario
Masuku, leader of the banned opposition party, the People’s United Democratic
Movement (PUDEMO), and 13 other political activists continue to face
prosecution under these repressive laws, Amnesty said.
The
rights organisation highlighted the cases of Mario Masuku
and youth leader, Maxwell
Dlamini, who spent more than a year in prison after being arrested at a
worker’s day rally on 1 May 2014. Mario Masuku was denied access to adequate
and independent medical care, which he needed urgently, throughout his 14
months in detention.
Human
rights lawyer, Thulani
Maseko, is also currently facing charges under the SSA Act. Although he was
released in June 2015 after serving 17 months in prison for contempt of court,
sedition charges were re-instated in September 2014 after first being raised
against him in 2009. Amnesty International considered him to be a prisoner of
conscience as he was imprisoned solely for peacefully exercising his rights.
See also
SCRAP SWAZI TERROR ACT – AMNESTY
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