Police in Swaziland / Eswatini are video recording and
keeping data of protest marches by political parties and labour federations.
They then use the information to deprive people of college scholarships, jobs
in the army, police, and correctional services or promotions in government
departments, an online newspaper
reported.
The protestors who are usually seeking democratic
reforms or workers’ rights are seen as ‘a major threat to the state’. Swaziland
is ruled by King Mswati III as one of the world’s last absolute monarchs.
Political parties are banned from taking part in elections and people
campaigning for democracy are prosecuted under the Suppression of terrorism
Act.
The Swaziland
News reported (25 July
2018) the Police Intelligence Unit had been captured filming a protest march
organised by the Trade Congress Union of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) in June 2018. It
said this was a common practice.
The newspaper reported, ‘It is alleged that the
information is further used to identify and subsequently conduct surveillance
on protesters who are seen to be a major threat to the State.’ It added many
people ‘believe the information is manipulated to victimize members of the
various banned political movements’.
It quoted Vusi Shongwe, President of the Swaziland
People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) saying, ‘The recording of the TUCOSWA march
proceedings by members of the regime’s forces although a standard practice in
the policing fraternity, in Swaziland it seeks to serve two main objectives. To
instil a cloud of fear and intimidation to the marchers. It is also used to
single out the ringleaders when the videos are reviewed later.’
Mfanafuthi Tsela, Deputy President of the People’s
United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) said the purpose of recording protesters
was to intimidate and keep information about protesters with the intention of
victimizing them.
“The purpose is both intimidate and to keep
information about protesters, in order to victimized them. It’s a thing that
they have been doing for some time” he said.
The newspaper said the information was ‘used to
deprive Swazis scholarships, jobs in the army, police, and Correctional
Services or promotions in government departments’.
There is a long history of police and state security
forces spying in Swaziland. In September 2017 police
in Swaziland disguised themselves as news reporters at a
march of public servants in Mbabane.
The Sunday Observer in
Swaziland at the time called it ‘spying’ and said it had happened before at
other public demonstrations, ‘They [police] are always plain clothed and carry
traditional journalistic tools including cameras and notebooks,’ the newspaper
reported.
It added police took video and still photographs of marchers. The
newspaper speculated that these might be used to later track down and
intimidate participants. The march was legal. A police spokesman said they were not spying because the march took
place in a public place.
In August 2017 it was reported that police infiltrated a Pensioners’ Association meeting to make notes
on proceedings.
In June 2017 some senior politicians in Swaziland reported fears their phones were being tapped. One also thought his car might be bugged.
In June 2017 some senior politicians in Swaziland reported fears their phones were being tapped. One also thought his car might be bugged.
In July 2013 it was reported that police in Swaziland were spying on the kingdom’s members of
parliament. One officer disguised in plain clothes was
thrown out of a workshop for MPs and one MP reported his phone had been bugged. Ntondozi
MP Peter Ngwenya told the House of Assembly at the time that MPs lived in fear
because there was constant police presence, in particular from officers in the
Intelligence Unit.
The Times of Swaziland newspaper reported at the time that at the
same sitting of the House Lobamba MP Majahodvwa Khumalo said his cellphone had
been bugged ever since he started being ‘vocal against some people’.
In May 2013 the Media Institute of Southern Africa reported that police spies had infiltrated journalism
newsrooms in Swaziland, which had led to a heightened
climate of fear.
It is legal in certain circumstances to tap phones in Swaziland. The
Suppression of Terrorism Act gives police the right to listen in on people’s
conversations if they have the permission of the Attorney General.
When the Act came into law in 2008 Attorney General Majahenkhaba Dlamini said
that anyone who criticised the government could be considered a terrorist
sympathiser.
In 2012 it came to light that the Swaziland Army had attempted to buy cameras and phone monitoring equipment worth US$1.25
million. The Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force (USDF) – the
formal name of the Swaziland Army – was sued
in the Swaziland High Court because it ordered the equipment, but did
not pay for it.
In 2011 a journalist working in Swaziland for the
AFP international news agency reported on her blog that her phone calls were
being listened in to.
In August 2011 Wikileaks published a cable from the
US Embassy in Swaziland that revealed the Swazi Government had tried to get
MTN, the only mobile phone provider in the kingdom, to use its network for
‘surveillance on political dissidents’.
Tebogo Mogapi, the MTN chief executive officer (CEO) in Swaziland,
refused to comply and later did not have his work permit renewed and so had to
leave the kingdom.
See also
TOP SWAZI
POLITICIANS’ ‘PHONES BUGGED’
STATE
POLICE SPY ON SWAZI MPs
POLICE
SPIES INFILTRATE MEDIA
AFP
JOURNALIST’S PHONE BUGGED
STATE
POLICE SPY ON SWAZI MPs
POLICE
SPIES INFILTRATE MEDIA
http://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/police-spies-infiltrate-media.html
SWAZI POLICE NOW A PRIVATE MILITIA
SWAZI POLICE NOW A PRIVATE MILITIA
http://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/swazi-police-now-private-militia.html
SWAZILAND ‘BECOMING MILITARY STATE’
SWAZILAND ‘BECOMING MILITARY STATE’
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/swaziland-becoming-military-state.html
KING USES MILITARY FOR OWN FEUD
https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/king-uses-military-for-own-feud.html
KING USES MILITARY FOR OWN FEUD
No comments:
Post a Comment