It said international institutions should take the lead in condemning workers’ rights abuses in the kingdom where King Mswati III rules as one of the world’s last absolute monarchs.
Swaziland was ranked four
out of five in a 2018 survey of the worst nations in the world for workers’
rights published
by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), indicating a ‘systematic
violation’ of rights.
In the most recent example
of abuse, on 29 June 2018 police in Swaziland fired
stun grenades, teargas and water cannon at workers trying to deliver a
petition to the Swazi Government against poor service delivery, misuse of state
pension funds and other issues.
Tanya Warlock, TUC Policy and
campaigns support officer, writing
on the TUC website, said, ‘In
the aftermath of that shocking violence, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady wrote
to the High Commissioner of Swaziland to condemn the Swazi
government’s actions.
‘Now we’re calling on the
Commonwealth to suspend Swaziland until the Swazi government stops breaching
fundamental human rights and ends the repression of workers.’
She added, ‘Swazi trade
unions continue
to suffer from brutal repression just for standing up for
workers’ rights.’
The TUC will call for the
Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (the disciplinary committee of the
Commonwealth) to suspend Swaziland, ‘until the government stops breaching the
fundamental principles and values that Commonwealth members have a duty to
respect’ she said.
Human rights are severely curtailed
in Swaziland where political parties are banned from taking
part in elections and opponents are charged
under a number of laws, including the Suppression of Terrorism Act.
See also
UK Solidarity With Swazi Workers
No comments:
Post a Comment