PAPER CENSORS CHIEF JUSTICE CRITICISM

The Times Sunday newspaper in Swaziland has once again censored itself and in so doing has completely misrepresented is regular columnist Musa Hlophe.

Hlophe, who is the coordinator of the Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisations, a prodemocracy group, writes for the newspaper every week. On 8 June 2014 the Times deleted references about Swazi Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi from the article.

Hlophe wrote a critical assessment of the CJ, who is from Lesotho and is under increasing pressure from democrats to stand down as the judiciary in the kingdom is in crisis.

However, the only part of the assessment the newspaper published was this: ‘You know, I have always admired and respected the person of Chief Justice Ramodibedi.  I have always considered him a good lawyer and a person who just happens to serve a wrong master in the name of the Government of Swaziland, but always trusted him because of his Christian background: he is a devout Catholic, and Catholics preach social justice from their pulpits!’

Here is the full text from the article that the Times Sunday felt its readers were not entitled to see.

‘Secondly, I wish to express my grave concerns about what one newspaper attributed to His Lordship, the Chief Justice of the Kingdom of ESwatini. If the paper has correctly quoted him, it is alleged that he made this startling allegation that there is a conspiracy to overthrow the king of Swaziland, His Majesty King Mswati 111!  Headlined:" Secret Mission to dethrone King:" the articles talks of plotters to have even polluted the judiciary, and that he is ready to deal with these. I have waited for reactions from both the Prime Minister, in his capacity as Minister of Police and the Minister of Justice, who is the political head the judiciary, but, sadly, there has been no comment or correction of this mischievous statement.

‘Why do we, as Swazis, have to be told by a foreigner about the security threats to our King? Does the Chief Justice, who seems to have more problems in his own country, challenges he should be concerned with, wish to tell us, the loyal citizens of this kingdom, that he is so informed about the security of our Monarchy, than our security agencies? What is his motive in saying these allegations soon after he was said to be facing impeachment in his own country, for alleged serious misconduct on his part? If at all there are citizens who are having these plots, why hasn't he shared these fears or perceptions, quietly with the police? And how can we defend him against those allegations that he has a warrant to arrest, at least, three if not four judges, including Justice Qinisile Mabuza, who recently surprised this nation, by refunding Government, the monies she considered not deserved for the kind of work she was being paid for? IF at all, there judges who are part of a plot to dethrone the king, why has this not been handled by the Judicial Service Commission? Why is the Chief justice seemingly having problems with competent local judges? Should we smell intimidation here? This is worrying to me. I am sorry.

‘You know, I have always admired and respected the person of Chief Justice Ramodibedi.  I have always considered him a good lawyer and a person who just happens to serve a wrong master in the name of the Government of Swaziland, but always trusted him because of his Christian background: he is a devout Catholic, and Catholics preach social justice from their pulpits! I thought that given this background, that he would approach issues of justice in the way our God commands: doing justice to the poor and weak and not to favour the rich and powerful. Thus says The Lord our God.

‘If the Honourable Chief Justice wants Swazi citizenship, which I believe he deserves, he must first respect the common Swazi such as I and those Swazis he is privileged to be their master. The moment he is seen to be demonizing anyone of them, then he will have lost our respect. He just needs to know that the Swazi system has been known to misuse the services of foreigners to suppress the Swazis, and once done, and then throw these foreigners in a manner rather too shameful to imagine! Be warned.

Thirdly and lastly, one applauds the judgment in the appeal case won case won by Bheki Makhuu and The Nation Magazine from the Supreme Court.’

The original article was published in the printed newspaper and on the Times of Swaziland website. It has now been removed from the website.

This is not the first time the Times Sunday has censored Musa Hlophe. In March 2014 it refused to publish his article about the trial of Bheki Makhubu and Thulani Maseko, who are on trial for contempt of court after writing and publishing articles critical of the CJ Michael Ramodibedi and the judiciary in Swaziland. He wrote at the time that ‘On trial now is no longer Thulani Maseko and Bheki Makhubu, for whatever they might have been accused of, but on trial now is the country and its institutions of power.’

In April 2013, Hlophe was also censored when he made a mild criticism of King Sobhuza II, father of the present King. Hlophe wrote, ‘In 1973, His Majesty, declared a state of emergency that has never been openly repealed.  He set up an army that is only capable of threatening or harming its own people. 

‘Worst of all, he set in motion a series of events that has led to Swaziland being among the sickest, the poorest, the most corrupt and the unhappiest nations in the world.  Swaziland is no longer a place of African heritage and pride, it is now a place that most other Africans either pity or scorn.’

Media in Swaziland have long history of self-censorship, especially when reporting on King Mswati III, who rules the kingdom as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. The Swazi Observer newspaper group is in effect owned by the King and all but two of the broadcast media in Swaziland are state controlled.

See also

PAPER DISTORTS STORY TO PROTECT KING

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2012/10/paper-distorts-story-to-protect-king.html

 

MORE MEDIA SELF-CENSORSHIP OVER KING

http://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/more-media-self-censorship-over-king.html

 

CENSORSHIP OVER KING’S LATEST BRIDE

http://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/censorship-over-kings-latest-bride.html

 

CRITICISM OF SWAZI KING CENSORED

http://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/criticism-of-swazi-king-censored.html

EDITOR IS A SECRET SECURITY RISK: GOVT

The Swaziland Government says it has to put Bheki Makhubu, the magazine editor charged with contempt of court, in leg-irons because he is a ‘security risk’.

But, it will not say why he is a risk because it is a ‘secret’.

There has been an international outcry against the jailing on remand of Makhubu and human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko. The two men wrote and published articles critical of Swazi Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi in the Nation, a monthly magazine with a tiny readership that circulates in Swaziland, where King Mswati III rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

But, the outcry grew louder when it was disclosed that the men were chained in leg-irons every time they appeared in court. They were arrested on 17 March 2014 and after a series of court appearances are now remanded until 9 April.

Government spokesperson Sanele Mngotmetulu Nxumalo defended the treatment. ‘It is one of the things that remain a secret. Security is very secretive. Therefore, if I can disclose to you when, how, why and to who we use leg irons, that could compromise our security. Security is very important to us,’ she said.

Musa Hlophe, the coordinator of the Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisations, who writes a weekly column in the Times Sunday newspaper in Swaziland was one of the chief critics of the use of leg-irons. 

In an article that he wrote for the newspaper, but was not published because the Times feared reprisals from the state, he wrote, ‘This was the most humiliating, degrading and embarrassing treatment we, as a country, could subject a decent citizen to.
 

‘The embarrassment did not reflect just on the individual we thought we were humiliating, for whatever reason, but it reflected how barbaric we can be as a nation. While it must be humiliating to have two prominent law abiding citizens being incarcerated as the two have been, to put them on leg irons as though they were not only dangerous, but violent common criminals is totally inexcusable and insulting in the extreme.’

He added, ‘What an insult to those Swazis who cherish the ideal of the respect for human dignity? Section 18 of our Constitution has this to say about protection from inhuman or degrading treatment: (1) the dignity of every person is inviolable. (2) A person shall not be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.’

Meanwhile, more international organisations have given support to Makhubu and Maseko. The European Union delegation in Swaziland said the arrests ‘might hamper freedom of expression and the media in the country’. It called on the kingdom’s authorities to respect and promote the freedom of expression in line with Swaziland’s legislation and international commitments and obligations. 

The Right2Know Campaign called for their immediate release and charges to be dropped. It said the two men had been jailed without trial. 

It added their cases were heard in a ‘private court’ without their lawyers present. ‘So they were effectively denied a fair trial. Under such conditions, their arrest and detention without a trial is authoritarian, politically motivated and designed to threaten other journalists who write critically of the government and of the monarchy.’

The Media Institute of Southern Africa reported that Maseko was expected to bring a case against Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi. It said Swazi media reported that Maseko would argue that the Chief Justice did not have the legal power to issue the warrant of arrest, alleging further that his actions were unconstitutional and irregular. 

See also

EDITOR APPEARS IN COURT IN LEG IRONS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/03/editor-appears-in-court-in-leg-irons.html

 

 CENSORED: CRITICISM OF SWAZI STATE

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/03/censored-criticism-of-swazi-state.html

CENSORED: CRITICISM OF SWAZI STATE

In Swaziland a magazine editor and a human rights lawyer are sitting in jail awaiting trial on ‘contempt of court’ charges. The ‘crime’ of Bheki Makhubu and Thulani Maseko, was to write and publish articles in the Nation magazine critical of the Swazi judiciary. The full force of the state was unleashed on them and they now await trial. 

The jailings were meant to intimidate journalists and other critics of the non-democratic kingdom of Swaziland, which is ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

The intimidation has worked and newspapers are censoring themselves and tempering their criticism of the government, the judiciary and the King.

The Times Sunday, a member of the only independent newspaper group in Swaziland, has declined to publish an article this week (30 March 2014), written by its regular columnist Musa Hlophe on the subject.

Hlophe, who is a leading human rights activist in Swaziland, wrote in his article, ‘On trial now is no longer Thulani Maseko and Bheki Makhubu, for whatever they might have been accused of, but on trial now is the country and its institutions of power.’

Below is the full article, published with Musa Hlophe’s permission.

What a Boomerang!

By Musa Hlophe

A fortnight ago, we woke up to headlines that said Mr. Thulani R. Maseko, a prominent human rights lawyer in Swaziland, had been arrested, and that the Nation's Managing Editor, Mr. Bheki Makhubu was also wanted by  the police. That was soon to be followed with their appearance at the High Court, on allegations of contempt of court.

At this point, no one expected what was to follow. First, they were not brought before  an open court - hence we are not privileged to  know what exactly happened, except to say that we then heard that they had been remanded to prison for another week. Much as this did raise questions, but we said to ourselves, this is Swaziland wherein the rule of law and the respect, protection and promotion of human rights count for nothing. Therefore accept this as it is:  justice Swazi style.

But we were soon to be outraged by the pictures of Bheki Makhubu going to court in leg-irons. What an insult to those Swazis who cherish the ideal of the respect for human dignity? Section 18 of our Constitution has this to say about protection from inhuman or degrading treatment: (1) the dignity of every person is inviolable. (2) A person shall not be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment".

This provision of our Constitution was totally violated when Mr. Bheki Makhubu was brought to court, in a van, in leg-irons. This was the most humiliating, degrading and embarrassing treatment we, as a country, could subject a decent citizen to.  The embarrassment did not reflect just on the individual we thought we were humiliating, for whatever reason, but it reflected how barbaric we can be as a nation. While it must be humiliating to have two prominent law abiding citizens being incarcerated as the two have been, to put them on leg irons as though they were not only dangerous, but violent common criminals is totally inexcusable and insulting in the extreme.

Unfortunately, for the Government, which is currently worried about its public image and the image of this country in general, this particular case and the manner it is being handled: (as if to instil fear in the lives of the citizens, as Senator Chief Kusa Dlamini observed in parliament,) has renewed the calls for Swaziland to uphold the rule of law and respect and protect human rights. What a Boomerang!  On trial now, is no longer Thulani Maseko and Bheki Makhubu, for whatever they might have been accused of, but on trial now is the country and its institutions of power.  As I have said in recent articles on this subject of the country's image, it does not need any mischievous person or persons to paint a bad picture about it, the Government and its structures are good at doing that job. When power is abused by any structure of government, the action reflects, not only on the Government of the day, but on all our institutions of governance. What this reflects is an extreme form of assault not on peoples, rights, but a serious assault on justice and the rule of law in Swaziland. It is that bad!

So, when Mr. Percy Simelane says the King never ordered the arrest of Bhantshana Gwebu, he misses the point that when the State prefers charges against a citizen or citizens, it does so on behalf of the Crown or the King. Therefore, when the charge is said to be The King vs, Bhantshana Gwebu, it does not mean that the King has personally ordered the trial of this citizen, but a certain arm of government has ordered the action. But, above all, Mr. Simelane must know when to defend Government, even when Government actions are indefensible! Sometimes it is advisable just to keep quiet and let those departments or agencies of state which have blundered, sweep their mess. It is called wisdom.

Now, how has this case boomeranged? In this way: it has come about at a time when the Government is facing difficult deadlines on both the issues of the ILO and the imminent cut off from being entitled to low or no import taxes to our goods in the USA through AGOA/GSP. Both these demands are about the promotion and protection of human rights generally, but especially worker rights. The Americans have already expressed their displeasure at how this case came about and how it is being handled. This has a direct   impact on whether we retain our privilege of AGOA/GSP or lose it. We cannot, and must not hope to deceive the international community by doing some patch work on worker rights, in total isolation of the broader rights of citizens to freely express themselves, peacefully assemble and associate, and hope that the international community will believe us. To think so is utter foolishness.

The Prisons Department, by its action of having these two decent citizens on leg irons, their denial of access to them by their regional colleagues, has damaged the image of this country irreparably. At the time of writing this article, I was aware of several high level meetings of jurists in Pretoria, South Africa, to discuss this issue. I was also informed by our colleagues in Brussels, that Trade Unions in Europe were planning their own responses to this insult to human dignity.  It has to be born in mind that the European members of ITUC are very influential to their governments and EU Aid and Trade Preferences are also subject to review if Swaziland openly and seriously abuses human rights.   If they were to take an anti-Swaziland stance, we may face embarrassments in future; if not the same pressure we are faced with, because of how the Unions in the United States of America have done with regards to the AGOA/GSP. We must just wait and see.

But why are we finding ourselves in this mess? Who is responsible for all this? Others will say that it has to do with challenges in the exercise of power by some agents of state. Others will be tempted to blame it on some foreigner or such kind. As you would probably know me by now, I am neither racist nor tribalist! I am, if anything, a pan-Africanist. Therefore I shall never criticize someone on the basis of his/her country of origin.

In the present case, the problem we see is simply a symptom of a much larger political problem. We, as a country, have allowed ourselves to act above the law, with no consequences. The initiator of this scandalous case will not be questioned as to his/her wisdom for doing this thing the way it has been done: bringing shame to the country and its respected institutions. It is because of such bad, if not poor political culture, which has created a culture of impunity and unaccountability by agents of state.

Instead of those in power focussing on those whose actions have brought this shame and embarrassment to the country, sadly, they will be looking for some scapegoats to hang.

What we have seen these past two weeks should embarrass every decent person who knows both Makhubu and Maseko: two decent citizens of this country, and who, by their calling, have demonstrated their love for King and country; will say the government stooped too low in its handling of this case. While I am the first one to say the courts deserve respect from the population. I am also the first one to say, that the courts must earn the trust and respect from the citizenry. Respect and trust are never imposed but earned. The Honourable Minister of Justice needs to know this.

 However, the most astonishing thing in all this is the silence from the Human Rights Commission! Where are you throughout this episode? You mean to tell the nation that this has not come to your attention and caused you worry? Which rights will you ever protect? Do not bother trying to answer: we understand your limitations and they are deliberate.

 Our sympathy goes to the families and friends of both Makhubu and Maseko. Your loved ones may be incarcerated, but may you find comfort in the knowledge that they are not the ones on trial, but that it is Swaziland's justice and political system in the dock.

Peace!!

See also

EDITOR APPEARS IN COURT IN LEG IRONS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/03/editor-appears-in-court-in-leg-irons.html

KING’S AIRPORT LACKS DISASTER PLAN

Medical services in Swaziland could not cope if a plane crashed at the kingdom’s new King Mswati III Airport, putting the lives of hundreds of passengers at risk.

This was first pointed out nearly four years ago, but the problem of the kingdom’s inadequate medical services has not been addressed.

Safety at the airport is one of the many issues ignored by King Mswati who, as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, who is the driving force behind the airport’s construction. No needs analysis was done before building of the airport started in 2003 and no business plan exists for the operation of the airport. No commercial flights in or out of the airport are likely to take place in the foreseeable future as no local or international airline has signed up to use the airport, which has cost an estimated E3 billion (US$300 million) so far to build.

The airport, formerly known as Sikhuphe, was officially opened by King Mswati on 7 March 2014.

Musa Hlophe, the coordinator of the Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisations (SCCCO), first raised the question of safety in November 2010. Writing in his regular column in the Times Sunday, an independent newspaper in the kingdom, he asked what would happen if an aircraft with (say) 400 passengers on board crashed at the airport?

He wrote, ‘Assuming that we expanded our country’s ambulance fleet to 200 and each one was able to get to Sikhupe within one hour, how could our hospitals manage with hundreds of extra patients in one day? The closest hospital will be Good Shepherd at Siteki which is not exactly state of the art and the nearest major hospitals are in Manzini and Mbabane. They are already all on their knees, struggling to cope with our current crises of TB, HIV&AIDS. 

‘Do our hospitals have a plan to cope with maybe 400 foreign people all needing bed spaces urgently? Do we have enough doctors and nurses trained in accident and emergency and most importantly do we have the necessary medicines, equipment and blood for this level of disaster? In a country that cannot even supply its own citizens with the proper drugs to prevent a child dying from rabies because of the bite of one dog - I doubt it. I doubt they could cope with fifty people never mind four hundred.

‘Sikhuphe’s business model to attract major foreign passenger carriers is already flawed because of the competition from four other regional airports within half a day’s drive - Kruger National in Mbombela (Nelspruit), Maputo in Mozambique, King Shaka in Durban and, of course, OR Tambo in Johannesburg. But what really stands out for me, as someone who has worked for businesses for a long time, is what little proper risk analysis has gone on here. Can you imagine an airline that wanted to carry rich western investors and tourists that would risk the lives of hundreds of its passengers? Can you imagine them ignoring the lack of medical systems, equipment, personnel or facilities to cope with even a relatively minor crash that required treatment of only a quarter of their passengers and staff?’

‘If we adapt our medical systems to meet this need, will we take resources away from our families who are living with and dying from HIV&AIDS? So I ask a question that does not seem to have been considered in public before. How will the disaster plan for Sikhupe affect the provision of health care for the rest of us? Will the health budget be diverted from the families of our sick and dying to allow for the imagined needs of strangers who will only stay a few hours in our country? Has Minister Xaba and his team even considered it - have they thought it through? What do they say to the foreign investors?’

See also

AIRPORT MOVE WILL ‘BANKRUPT AIRLINE’

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/03/airport-move-will-bankrupt-airlink.html

 

KING’S AIRPORT HAS NO LICENCE

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/03/kings-airport-has-no-licence.html

 

FANCIFUL OPENING OF KING’S AIRPORT

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/03/fanciful-opening-of-kings-airport.html

CRITICISM OF SWAZI KING CENSORED

The Times Sunday newspaper in Swaziland has been caught out censoring one of its regular writers because he made mild criticisms of King Sobhuza II, the father of the kingdom’s present autocratic king.

Musa Hlophe, who is the coordinator of the Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisations, a prodemocracy group, was commenting on the 40th anniversary of King Sobhuza’s proclamation in 1973 that ushered in a state of emergency into the kingdom that has never been completely rescinded. The anniversary is on 12 April.

But, the fact that his original article was censored by the newspaper has been revealed on social media sites across Africa.

Hlophe , who writes each week for the newspaper, wrote that this proclamation has led directly to the present situation in Swaziland. Today. King Mswati III rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch and the governments appointed by the king silence discussion and debate.

Here is part of what Holphe originally wrote before the censors took a hand. Some of the text was altered by the newspaper’s editors to minimize criticism of the king. Other parts of the text were cut out altogether.

‘In 1973, His Majesty, declared a state of emergency that has never been openly repealed.  He set up an army that is only capable of threatening or harming its own people. 

‘Worst of all, he set in motion a series of events that has led to Swaziland being among the sickest, the poorest, the most corrupt and the unhappiest nations in the world.  Swaziland is no longer a place of African heritage and pride, it is now a place that most other Africans either pity or scorn.

‘Of course that was not his plan. 

‘I believe that he thought that he had the best interests of the nation at heart.

‘As the Father of the Nation, he felt could not allow us to descend into the open conflict and civil war that he saw breaking out across the continent at that time.

‘He thought that he knew best for all of us.  

‘I am afraid that, like everyone else who spends more time being revered, rather than challenged, he was wrong. 

‘In trying to prevent the completely imagined threat of a deadly internal war, he also stopped the possibility of the discussions that could have brought the nation to peaceful, wealthy, happiness. 

‘His declaration was not a way to bring our nation together under one common vision but an attempt to say that people who to publicly disagreed with him, could, should, and would, be silenced. 

‘His basic aim was to stop people coming together to discuss and debate ideas.  He wanted to maintain the Swazi custom of us talking as lowly individuals to the powerful.  That way he could stop us forming organised oppositions.

‘But, in our Swazi culture we say “a chief is a chief because of his people.”  This means that a chief should listen.  In April 1973 King Sobhuza slit the throat of that idea.  It took a while to die, but die it surely did. 

‘Look at the conflicts that are now arising in the very heart of our culture - our chieftaincies.  I read recently that there are over one hundred chieftaincy disputes now in Swaziland.  That is nearly one in three! 

‘We used to have a settled way of appointing chiefs, based on family discussions, community dialogues and mutual respect between communities and the higher authorities.  Now that we have moved the powers of appointment from the communities to those authorities, we have exactly the type of conflicts that King Sobhuza II was trying to prevent.  We can now see that his proclamation in 1973 actually caused them.’

Holphe also wrote, ‘Even though the traditional authorities and the government have tried to stop ordinary Swazis speaking, they cannot stop us feeling or thinking.

‘I, and the people that I work with, have spent hundreds of hours working with normal people on the ground, mainly in rural areas of Swaziland.  What we hear is that people are not only unhappy but they are now angry. People also know where the real causes of their problems lie, in the waste, the greed and the arrogance of the powerful.’

See also

‘THE FAILURE OF SWAZI POLITICS’

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-failure-of-swazi-politics.html

‘THE FAILURE OF SWAZI POLITICS’

The leader of one of Swaziland’s leading pro-democracy organisations has questioned the value of the kingdom’s political parties ahead of the 40th anniversary of the Royal proclamation that deprived Swazis of many of their civil rights.

Musa Hlophe, the coordinator of the Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisations, said, ‘The biggest failure of Swazi politics is that the opposition parties think their sense of injustice at not being able to access power through the political processes in this country is shared by the ordinary people. It is not.’

Hlophe said most people in Swaziland wanted ‘a job, a family, and a sense of hope that things might get better’.

In Swaziland political parties are not allowed to contest elections and are in effect banned from the kingdom, ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

The People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), the best known of the political parties in Swaziland is banned in the kingdom because the state labels it a ‘terrorist’ organisation.

Hlophe, writing in the Times Sunday newspaper in Swaziland, said on 12 April 1973 King Sobhuza II declared a state of emergency that has never been openly repealed. 

‘He also set up an army, which has now only succeeded in threatening or harming citizens.

‘Swaziland is now among the sickest, poorest, most corrupt and unhappiest nations in the world.’

He said ordinary Swazi people, ‘were begging’ for an alternative to their present lives which are dominated by poverty, hunger, sickness and death’.

Hlophe, who said he is a supporter of multi-party democracy for Swaziland, also said the Swazi political parties were irrelevant to people’s ordinary lives.

‘They only seem to spend their time talking about how this government is corrupt and illegitimate.

‘They hide behind the slogans of a people’s revolution and tell us what our problems should be rather than listening to what our problems really are.

‘They treat us as if we should behave like Russian peasants from another century rather than proud yet desperate Swazis living and suffering today.

‘They treat us as if we are a disappointment to them and their tired political theories.

‘When ordinary people do not fit with theory, it is time to change the theory, not to blame the people.

‘As idealists, they continue to hold onto theories and strategies that have never delivered any benefits to ordinary Swazis.’

He wrote, ‘We see activists getting arrested for another toyi-toyi where they chanted cheap, insulting and pointless slogans that ask for an end to Tinkhundla [the present system of government] but do we ever see them stage protests against a beating of one of our sons in a police station or practically helping a grandmother forced to starve herself in order to feed her grandchildren?

‘They say multiparty democracy will solve all of our problems but they don’t tell us what they will do when they are in power.’

He added, ‘The biggest failure of Swazi politics is that the opposition parties think their sense of injustice at not being able to access power through the political processes in this country is shared by the ordinary people. It is not. 

‘Most of us simply want a job, a family, and a sense of hope that things might get better. We the ordinary people grant mandates to political parties when they have striven to earn them through hard work, courage and relevance.

‘Political parties do not deserve votes just because they are parties but because they are relevant to our everyday lives. 

‘When they can show how they will make Swaziland better for most of us, then maybe more of us will take them more seriously.’

See also

SSN REMEMBERING 12 APRIL 1973

‘DOCTORS MUST REPORT STATE VIOLENCE’

Victims of police brutality in Swaziland cannot get treatment for their injuries in hospitals and health centres in the kingdom, unless they have written authority from the police themselves.

Medics are so scared of the consequences of helping patients without the authority of the police that injuries can go untreated.

Even non-governmental organisations that support human rights are scared to help the injured, and when they suspect that police brutality is to blame they will not make detailed examinations and give medical reports that would help to provide evidence of abuse.  

Now, Musa Hlophe, the leader of one of Swaziland’s most prominent human rights organisations, is calling for doctors to be open and honest and report police abuse.

Writing in his weekly column in the Times Sunday newspaper in Swaziland, Hlophe, the coordinator of the Swaziland Coalition for Concerned Civic Organisations (SCCCO), related the case of a group of young people who had been brutalised by police last week, after they were taken in for interrogation following incidents of criminal damage.

He wrote, ‘Some of the men were not only questioned but they also claim that they were quite severely physically threatened, beaten with an open hand and closed fists and they allegedly had their heads put inside plastic bags and were suffocated to the point of terror. 

‘All the time they were being questioned, they claim the police were continually telling them about the people who had already died in their cells when they did not cooperate.

‘They claim the police boasted that nobody could prosecute them since they would simply find the dockets and tear them up. They allegedly said they feared nobody and were above the law.’

Hlophe and SCCCO later met the men. He wrote, ‘Obviously, we needed to get the men who had been beaten some medical attention, and this is where things get interesting. At Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital in Manzini, nobody was even prepared to treat them.

‘When they told the medics of the nature of their injuries and their causes, they were sent from department to department and told to wait until it became obvious that they were not going to be treated. They eventually got the message and left. The problem in Swaziland with assault injuries is that you usually need a form from the police before the Medics can treat you. 

‘The police are not going to give you a form when they are the ones who assaulted you in the first place, will they?’

‘So, in exasperation, the men came to my office and we thought we could try some of the non-governmental organisations that also give medical services. We tried both Baylor Clinic in Mbabane and Médiciens Sans Frontièrs (Doctors Without Borders) in Matsapha. 

‘We were relieved that these organisations were prepared to treat the men for their injuries but we were shocked neither of them was prepared to go any further and provide a more detailed examination, which we could use to, not only heal these men’s bodies but to protect their human rights and find for them some sort of useable, independent evidence of the abuses they had suffered.

‘We provided the MSF doctors with written advice from a colleague of ours who is an Independent Forensic Pathologist and who has expertise in dealing with exactly these sorts of cases. Our local NGO doctors flatly refused to carry out any of his suggested additional tests or examinations. They had “orders” from above.

‘We even went to a local Swazi doctor and offered to pay him but he refused: he simply did not want to get involved in any way with challenging the government in court.’

Hlophe said that NGOs in Swaziland, where King Mswati III rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, were no allowed to get involved in ‘politics’.

Hlophe wrote, ‘Now, in Swaziland, what we call “politics” is not really politics at all. In most countries ‘politics’ is the contesting for power by an organisation. 

‘Around here, any form of questioning of the government is deemed a political act. In any normal country, questioning the government is seen as an act of citizenship, not betrayal. However, questioning the government over policy is one thing, what we have here is ignoring some serious breaches of freedoms that are in the Constitution’s Bill of Rights and are attacks on the local defenders of these rights.’

He added, ‘I think the directors of these NGOs need to meet with some of us human rights defenders in the country to establish a protocol for medical examinations for victims of alleged state brutality. The government will then be placed in a position. If it wants to continue to ask for these organisations’ help in dealing with the worst HIV, AIDS and TB crises, the world has ever seen, it must allow them to report on allegations about its police officers’ abuses, beatings and strangling of suspects. 

‘If there is something or nothing, in the allegations, the doctors can, and must, say so. The people I work for want to deal with the truth, not propaganda. If the evidence of abuse is there, we need doctors to tell us so.’

He added, ‘It is not enough to heal the sick or the injured when you have an option to prevent them coming to harm.

‘To me, accurately reporting on injuries obtained as a result of human rights abuses is a valid public health intervention.’

See also

MORE POLICE TORTURE IN SWAZILAND

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/01/more-police-torture-in-swaziland.html

SWAZI STUDENT LEADER TORTURED

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/10/swazi-student-leader-tortured.html