PM WITHDRAWS ‘STRANGLE’ THREAT

Swaziland’s Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini has apologised ‘unconditionally’ for saying workers’ leaders should be ‘strangled’ for opposing his government. This followed an international campaign of condemnation. 

Dlamini told the Observer on Saturday, a newspaper in Swaziland in effect owned by King Mswati III, that he did not mean to be taken literally. 

‘Basically, I withdraw the comments I made on the union leaders. I withdraw them unconditionally,’ the newspaper reported him saying.

This came after the United States Department of State called Dlamini’s comment ‘threatening’.

In a statement it said, ‘Such remarks have a chilling effect on labor and civil rights in the Kingdom of Swaziland.’

It added, ‘The United States continues to support and defend fundamental freedoms, including freedom of association, and the human rights defenders who fight for these values each day. We call upon the Government to renounce the Prime Minister’s remarks and to ensure respect for the constitutionally enshrined rights of all citizens.’

According to a report in the Times of Swaziland newspaper, the Prime Minister had said that Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) General Secretary, Vincent Ncongwane and human rights lawyer Sipho Gumedze, should be strangled because they spoke against his government in Washington.

Dlamini made the comment in a parliamentary debate about the African Growth Opportunities Act (AGOA). Swaziland has lost its preferential trade status with the United States under the Act because of its poor human rights record.  Dlamini blamed workers’ leaders for not supporting his government and the King. King Mswati rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, political parties cannot stand in elections and the King appoints the Prime Minister and the government.

Swaziland has a history of state violence against prodemocracy campaigners and in 2010 Sipho Jele died in custody after being arrested for wearing a T-shirt with the name of PUDEMO (a banned political party) written on it.

A campaign against Dlamini was launched on the Internet and the United States powerful union bloc the AFL-CIO also condemned him.

In a statement it called on the ‘Swazi government to immediately end threats and attacks against unionists and human rights activists, release imprisoned leaders and take the needed steps to comply with international commitments’.

Explaining the U-turn, the Observer reported, ‘He briefly explained, however, that he had realised that his comments were taken in the literal sense and therefore had caused unnecessary attention.’ 

See also

PM SAYS ‘STRANGLE’ WORKERS’ LEADERS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/08/pm-says-strangle-workers-leaders.html

PM SAYS ‘STRANGLE’ WORKERS’ LEADERS

A reported threat by Swaziland’s Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini that workers’ leaders should be strangled when they return to the kingdom from the US Africa Summit has been condemned by prodemocracy campaigners.

According to a report in the Times of Swaziland newspaper, the Prime Minister said that Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) General Secretary, Vincent Ncongwane and human rights lawyer Sipho Gumedze, should be strangled because they spoke against his government in Washington.

Swaziland is not a democracy and Dlamini was not elected PM. He and all his government ministers were directly appointed PM by King Mswati III, who is sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

In June 2014, Swaziland lost its preferential trading status under the US Africa Growth Opportunities Act (AGOA) because of its appalling human rights record.

The Times reported that Dlamini told the Swazi Parliament in a debate about AGOA that the workers’ leaders had gone to Washington to discuss workers’ rights without first telling the government they were going. He was reported saying, ‘They leave your constituencies and do not even inform you where they are going and once they come back and you find out that they are from your constituency you must strangle them.’

Prodemocracy activists reacted with anger to the statement. In Swaziland campaigners are routinely beaten and arrested by police. In May 2010 Sipho Jele was killed in custody by state forces. He had been arrested for wearing a T-shirt with the name of the banned political party PUDEMO written on it.

Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), said, ‘We call on governments to immediately urge the Swazi government to publicly withdraw its threat and to ensure the safety of these courageous activists upon their return. Further, we urge other countries which grant trade preferences to Swaziland to join the US in initiating procedures to withdraw them until such time as fundamental worker rights are respected in law and practice in Swaziland.’ 

Burrow added, ‘Mr Dlamini has absolutely no one to blame for the potential loss of these [AGOA] benefits but his own government.’

Labour Start has started an online letter writing campaign to PM Dlamini calling on him to ‘publicly and immediately rescind the threat and ensure the safety of those leaders upon their return’. 

Dlamini has made violent threats against political enemies before. In 2010 Dlamini faced condemnation from within Swaziland and the international community after he said that he wanted to use ‘sipakatane’ (otherwise known as ‘bastinado’, a form of torture that involves flogging the bare soles of a person’s feet with a spiked wooden or metal implement to temporarily or permanently cripple them) on people who campaigned against his government.

Dlamini had been annoyed that trade unionists from South Africa had visited Swaziland to show solidarity with Swazis fighting for their human rights as part of a Global Day of Action for democracy in Swaziland.

See also

SWAZI TORTURE PM DECLARES WAR

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2010/09/swazi-torture-pm-declares-war.html