A protest in support of human
rights in Swaziland is planned for King Mswati III’s 50th
birthday.
It will be in London on 19 April
2018 at the Commonwealth Heads of Government summit.
Organisers ACTSA (Action for
Southern Africa) said in a statement, ‘19 April is actually the
King’s 50th birthday – but for many Swazis the occasion won’t be one
to celebrate. Swaziland is deeply unequal and corruption at all levels is rife.
Yet those who peacefully challenge the King and his government face
repression.’
It added, ‘The Commonwealth has
singularly failed to hold the Swazi authorities to account. The Commonwealth
Secretariat does not appear to have a strategy for applying pressure on the
King. The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group must now review Swaziland’s
status and the Commonwealth Secretary General must explicitly support this
action. The Commonwealth’s credibility is on the line.’
ACTSA said the protest would be
outside the Commonwealth Secretariat (Marlborough House, Pall Mall, London SW1Y
5HX) from 11.30 am to 1.30 pm. Swazi diaspora groups and international trade
unionists, among others, would be participating in the protest, it said.
ACTSA, the successor to the
Anti-Apartheid Movement, has a long history of advocacy for human rights in Swaziland.
One briefing paper Swaziland’s
Downward Spiral: The International Community Must Act Now warned that Swaziland might plunge into a
protracted crisis unless the international community, including the UK, applied
serious pressure on the Government of Swaziland so that it respected human
rights and developed a genuinely democratic constitution. UNISON and other UK
trade unionists have also been supportive of the development of a Swazi Rural
Women’s Charter, which is discussed in another ACTSA publication Women’s Rights in Swaziland.
The paper reported that King Mswati III, the absolute
monarch in Swaziland, was one of the main reasons why women in the kingdom
remain oppressed. ACTSA reported that despite claims that Swaziland was a
modern country, ‘the reality is, despite pledges and commitments, women
continue to suffer discrimination, are treated as inferior to men, and are
denied rights’.
ACTSA
added, ‘The King has demonstrated he is unwilling to change the status quo and
promotes multiple aspects of the patriarchal society.’
See also
UK UNIONS
BACK SWAZI RIGHTS CAMPAIGN
KING ‘TO
BLAME’ FOR WOMEN’S INEQUALITY
CALL FOR
GLOBAL PRESURE ON GOVT
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