LGBTI PRIDE GETS GLOBAL ATTENTION

International media extensively reported Swaziland’s first ever LGBTI Pride on Saturday. The tone of coverage about the pride parade and its organiser Rock of Hope was overwhelmingly positive, but King Mswati III, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, and the traditionalists who support him came under criticism.

CNN reported, ‘In Swaziland, same-sex relationships are illegal and the country maintains a colonial-era law against sodomy. The US State Department’s report on global human rights practices in 2017 stated that Swazi people open about their sexual orientation “faced censure and exclusion from the chiefdom-based patronage system.”

‘The pride celebration was not endorsed by King Mswati III.’

It added, ‘The small southern African country, recently renamed the Kingdom of eSwatini by its king, is Africa's last absolute monarchy and has a bleak record on LGBT rights. The country of 1.4 million also has the world’s highest HIV/AIDS rates and suffers from severe poverty.’

The BBC reported, ‘King Mswati III is widely reported to have called homosexuality “satanic”, while the country’s chief police communications officer, Khulani Mamba, who doubles up as a preacher, told his congregation last weekend that “this country will not tolerate the LGBTI community”, according to the Swazi Times.’

The Huffington Post reported, ‘Sodomy is illegal in eSwatini, which is also Africa’s last absolute monarchy. King Mswati III, who has ruled the country since 1986, has reportedly described homosexuality as being “satanic.”

It quoted Pride organiser Melusi Simelane who said threats and discrimination were a constant for Swaziland’s LGBTI community. 

It said, ‘There is persecution each and every day,” he told BBC last week. “We are harassed, we are violently abused, we are emotionally abused.”’

The Huffington Post added, ‘Matt Beard, All Out’s executive director, praised activists like Simelane for their courage and their ambition to hold the pride parade despite the risks and threats they’ve faced.

‘“The community and their allies painted the streets of this country rainbow, with a beautiful, colorful parade that was literally exploding with joy,” Beard wrote of the historic event in a Medium blog post. “At certain moments... the infectious joy of this community was so intense, it was difficult to hold back the tears. We were loud, proud and dignified. Nobody came to hurl hate, abuse (or worse) at us, as had been feared. Instead, this was a moment of community and personal empowerment.”’

By contrast, in the run up to the event on Saturday (30 June 2018), the Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, ran three articles calling LGBTI people ‘a curse’ and ‘evil’ and likening them to child sex molesters and people who have sex with animals. 

The international news agency AFP quoted Swaziland Government spokesperson Percy Simelane denying the kingdom had an anti-homosexual stance and said ‘it would be unfair to view the state as homophobic.’

Buzzfeed reported, ‘As far as Pride parades go, eSwatini’s [Swaziland’s] is less about flashy floats and flag-waving, and more about showing the public that LGBT people value family and community just as much as anyone else.’

See also

KINGDOM’S FIRST LGBTI PRIDE TAKES PLACE

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/07/kingdoms-first-lgbti-pride-takes-place.html

OBSERVER STEPS UP LGBTI HATE CAMPAIGN

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/06/observer-steps-up-lgbti-hate-campaign.html

LESBIAN AND GAY MURDERS IN SWAZILAND

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2015/03/lesbian-and-gay-murders-in-swaziland.html 

CONFUSION OVER KINGDOM’S AGOA STATUS

There is confusion surrounding the United States’ announcement on the future of Swaziland’s status under the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA). 

On Friday (16 May 2014) the AFP news agency reported Makila James, the US Ambassador to Swaziland, saying the kingdom had lost its status because it failed to meet five conditions relating to workers’ and human rights.

 

Swaziland had been given until 15 May 2014 to comply or risk losing AGOA status, which allows Swazi goods to be sold in the United States under preferential terms.

 

But, the following day media in Swaziland reported that James denied talking to the AFP.

The Observer on Saturday, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati III, reported Ruth Newman the Swaziland US Embassy spokesperson, saying, ‘I have checked with her [the Ambassador] and she is surprised where AFP got the report, because they never called her in the first place. The quote attributed to her, were not hers.’

Newman was also reported saying, ‘There is no decision yet.’

The Swazi News, an independent newspaper, reported Newman saying a statement on Swaziland’s AGOA status would be made, ‘when they are ready’.

A press conference due to be held by the US Embassy on Monday (19 May 2014) to make the announcement was called off at the last minute. No reason for the cancellation or alternative date for the announcement was given.

The United States had given Swaziland, which is ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, an ultimatum to implement the full passage of amendments to the Industrial Relations Act; full passage of amendments to the Suppression of Terrorism Act (STA); full passage of amendments to the Public Order Act; full passage of amendments to sections 40 and 97 of the Industrial Relations Act relating to civil and criminal liability to union leaders during protest actions; and establishing a code of conduct for the police during public protests.

It appears the Swaziland Government has failed to meet the requirements and it is widely anticipated that when the announcement is made it will say Swaziland will lose its AGOA benefits from the start of 2015.

An editorial in the Swazi Observer, another newspaper in effect owned by the King, on Monday (19 May 2014) said, ‘it was just a matter of time’, before AGOA benefits would be lost.

It added, ‘We are also aware that the AGOA axe has been hovering above our heads for some time.’

An editorial in the Times Sunday, an independent newspaper, gave two reasons why the Swazi Government was to blame for the loss of AGOA. It said, ‘One; for the first time in the history of Cabinet, we had ministers in office who were highly incompetent to a point of costing thousands of people their jobs. Two; there never was any intention to meet the demands in the first place, because retaining the status quo supersedes the livelihood of thousands of citizens or even the Constitution.’

In Swaziland the Government is not elected, it is hand-picked by King Mswati.

See also

SWAZI HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD KILLS AGOA

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/05/swazi-human-rights-record-kills-agoa.html

 

KINGDOM FACES HUMAN RIGHTS PROBE

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/02/kingdom-faces-new-human-rights-probe.html

US PRESSURE FOR SWAZI REFORMS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/02/us-pressure-for-swazi-reforms.html

POWER STAYS WITH KING - WORLD’S MEDIA

The world’s media spoke with one voice on Friday (20 September 2013) as they reported on Swaziland’s nondemocratic election.

Major news organisations including the Associated Press, AFP, BBC and al-Jazeera all reported that the elections for 55 members of the Swazi House of Assembly was irrelevant because King Mswati III, who rules his kingdom as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, will keep all the power for himself.

The BBC reported, ‘Voters in Swaziland are choosing a new parliament, even though political parties cannot take part and the king retains absolute power.’

The AFP news agency said the election was, ‘dismissed by critics as a rubber stamp for King Mswati III's absolute rule’.

AFP quoted a recently-released report from Freedom House, a human rights group, saying, ‘Although the Swazi government boasts trappings of a modern state. The monarch, King Mswati III, chooses and controls all significant office bearers. These must obey his commands at all times.’ 

Al-jazeera TV reported, ‘Mswati holds ultimate sway over the government: he can veto new laws, dissolve parliament and may not be sued or charged.’ 

The Dow Jones agency called it a ‘predetermined election’. It said, ‘Voters in Africa's last remaining absolute monarchy go to the polls to elect a new parliament Friday, and the outcome is all but assured to buttress the reigning king’s rule.’

The Associated Press (AP) news agency quoted the Southern African People’s Solidarity Network, a civil society group, which described the polls as a ploy to delay genuine democracy.

‘There is no political change we can expect as a result of these elections,’ Dr. Collins Magalasi, general secretary of the network, told AP. ‘The traditional system in place supports the king.’ 

Closer to home, the media in South Africa, Swaziland’s closest neighbour and political and economic ally, also highlighted the non-democratic nature of the election.

Business Day reported, ‘While the Swazi system of Tinkhundla allows for political parties, candidates for parliament are allowed to stand for election only in an individual capacity and are banned from campaigning. Rising pro-democracy voices are being heard on the sideline but that is where they will remain for now, as the nonparty elections will not change King Mswati’s position as ruler.’

The Independent group of newspapers in South Africa reported, ‘Africa’s only unelected national leader, King Mswati III, will remain firmly in charge whatever the outcome of Friday’s parliamentary elections.’ 

The Mail and Guardian, from Johannesburg, reported, ‘Regardless of who gets into Parliament, King Mswati III – who inherited the throne from his father, King Sobhuza II, in 1986 – holds all the power.’ 

The international media are unavailable to most Swazi people who are too poor to have access to them via the Internet. They are forced to rely on local media where broadcast news is under state control and one of the kingdom’s only two newspaper groups is in effect owned by the king.

An editorial in the Swazi Observer, the king’s newspaper published on the eve of the election, said, ‘Tomorrow presents us, Swazis, with an opportunity to put our unique democracy into full motion.’ 

The newspaper which is widely regarded as a propaganda sheet for the monarchy claimed, ‘Tomorrow ushers in that whole new era of a new government being formed - the promise of a better Swaziland for all.’

The Observer also said, ‘The eyes of the international community [will be] firmly fixed on us.’

In that, the newspaper was correct.

FURY AT AMOS MBEDZI SENTENCE

Amos Mbedzi was spared the death penalty by Swaziland High Court Judge Bheki Maphalala because he had not intended to kill his two companions with a bomb.

Mbedzi, aged 48, was instead sentenced to a total of 85 years in jail on two counts of murder, unlawful possession of explosives, sedition, and illegal entry into Swaziland. The sentences will run concurrently and he will serve 25 years of this time, backdated to the time of his arrest on 20 September 2008.

Maphalala in his judgement said the Swazi constitution allowed for the death penalty in cases of murder but the court had discretion on whether to impose it.

He said, ‘Taking into account all the circumstances of this case, I am persuaded that this is not a proper case in which I should impose a death penalty.  In particular the evidence proves that the direct intention of the accused was not to kill the deceased but to bomb the bridge.’

In sentencing he refused to accept Mbedzi’s mitigation that he is married with three minor children to support and that his children stand to suffer for any punishment imposed by the court.

Instead, he accepted the prosecution’s case that the crimes were very serious. He said, ‘Their seriousness outweighs the personal circumstances of the accused’. 

Mbedzi was described by the AFP news agency as a part of the Umbane People's Liberation Army, ‘a secret militant group linked to the People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), which sought to undermine elections that year [2008] until Swaziland allowed a multi-party vote’.

He had been convicted of attempting to bomb a bridge near the Lozitha royal residence in September 2008. King Mswati III had been expected to use the bridge later in the day. Maphalala said Mbedzi, a South African, ‘was engaged in violent revolution to overthrow the State’.

The sentence has caused outrage among pro-democracy groups, who see Mbedzi as a victim of King Mswati, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

The People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) called Mbedzi’s sentence, ‘an open expression and declaration by the royal regime of its unwillingness to accommodate diverging views on the country’s political direction and future’.

The Communist Party of Swaziland called the attempt to blow up the bridge, ‘a brave and principled act of struggle against the illegal Mswati regime’

The Swaziland Solidarity Network said of the sentence, ‘This is a clear declaration of war to the forces of democracy in Swaziland. When people are left with no option to protect their human rights, they are bound to explore all possible means to realise them.’