LESBIAN AND GAY MURDERS IN SWAZILAND

The separate murders of a lesbian woman and a gay man in Nhlangano, Swaziland, have drawn attention to the prejudice faced by homosexuals in the kingdom.

On 15 March 2015, Kaylo Glover, aged 26, was killed with an axe by a man in a bar because she was lesbian, the LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex) group Iranti-org reported. A few months earlier a gay man known as Themba was also murdered in Nhlangano.

Jabu Pereira, the director of Iranti-org, which documents human-rights violations and advocates for the rights of lesbians and transgender people in Africa, reported Glover was killed by an enraged man who did not want to be in the presence of lesbians. 

Pereira reported, ‘He left the bar, fetched an axe from his car, returned and killed Kaylo. Kaylo was rushed to hospital and her killers followed them to the hospital and chased her friends with [an] axe. 


Kaylo’s friend ran as she heard one of the guys shout “let’s finish off these dogs”. Neither the nurses nor the doctors could reach Kaylo in time, she bled to death.’

Pereira said, ‘It seems Kaylo’s death has broken the silence around hate crimes in Swaziland. It is bringing attention to the poor human-rights situation in this country, where the monarch is so incredibly rich and its citizens are poor and where LGBTI persons live hidden, framed as “the other”.’

Swaziland has a poor history supporting LGBTI rights. In November 2011, Chief Mgwagwa Gamedze, the Acting Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, said Swaziland would not give human rights to gay people, because they did not exist in the kingdom. 

Gamedze was responding to criticism of Swaziland by a United Nations working group on human rights that said the kingdom should enact equality laws for LGBTI people.

Earlier, Gamedze had lied to the United Nations when he said that gays and lesbians in the kingdom had not asked for repressive laws to be overturned. 

The official summary of working party of the Universal Periodical Review of human rights in Swaziland held on 4 October 2011 stated, ‘Mr Gamedze specifically addressed the issues of same-sex relationships and the death penalty [two separate issues]. He noted that while consensual same-sex relations are illegal in Swaziland, the Government does not pursue prosecutions. He also claimed that so far the LGBTI movement in Swaziland had not challenged these policies and clarified that the Government would only look into these issues if and when this happened.’

In fact, an organisation called HOOP (House of Our Pride) had submitted a report to the same UN inquiry that Gamedze was responding to. It listed a range of discriminations that LGBTI people in Swaziland suffered, including in faith groups, at work and through police harassment. 

In a list of recommendations to the government, HOOP included:

‘LGBTI activities should be decriminalized and given due recognition in the society.

‘The government of Swaziland should bring into place laws that protect LGBTI people’s rights at workplaces, social, faith and community gatherings and also protect their right to inherit their partner’s belonging, if willed to them on their partner’s passing away. The above law should be strictly enforced and culprits severely punished.’

In its report HOOP said, ‘It is a common scene for LGBTI to be verbally insulted by by-passers in public places. [There is] defamatory name calling and people yelling out to see a LGBTI person’s reproductive part are some of the issues facing LGBTI in Swaziland.’

‘Faith houses have been known to discriminate against LGBTI, advocating for the alienation of LGBTI in the family and society, while maintaining that these LGBTI are possessed by demons.’

In one of the first reports of its kind detailing sexual orientation discrimination in Swaziland, HOOP revealed, ‘LGBTI are hugely discriminated against in the community, as they are not recognized at community meetings and their points are often not minuted at these meetings nor are they allowed to take part in community services.’

Police often ridiculed LGBTI people if they report they have been victims of violent crime, Hoop reported.

Local communities in Swaziland also discriminate against LGBTI people. In October 2013, it was reported that community police banished two men from Lubombo because they were gay.

The Swazi News reported at the time, ‘A meeting was convened where the boys were called to explain their lifestyle. They confirmed that they were gay and that is when they were ordered to immediately leave the area.’

See also

           

SWAZI MINISTER LIES TO UN ON GAYS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/10/swazi-minister-lies-to-un-on-gays.html

GAY PREJUDICE RIFE IN SWAZILAND

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/09/gay-prejudice-rife-in-swaziland.html

SWAZILAND HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/11/swaziland-human-rights-report.html

 

COMMUNITY POLICE BANISH GAY MEN

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/08/community-police-banish-gay-men.html 

NO RIGHTS FOR GAYS: JUSTICE MINISTER

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/11/no-rights-for-gays-justice-minister.html 

PRESS VILIFIED OVER LESBIAN’S DEATH

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2010/01/press-vilified-over-lesbians-death.html

COMMUNITY POLICE BANISH GAY MEN

Police banished two men from their community in Swaziland because they were gay.

The men, one aged 18 and the other 21, moved from the Lubombo region to Mvutshini to stay with the aunt of one of them.

Neighbours became suspicious about the relationship between the two men and when confronted they readily agreed they were gay.

The aunt then reported them to the community police.

The Swazi News, an independent newspaper, reported, ‘A meeting was convened where the boys were called to explain their lifestyle. They confirmed that they were gay and that is when they were ordered to immediately leave the area.’

The following day the two men left the area.

The aunt told the newspaper, ‘I was afraid of being labelled all sorts of names in the area and be accused of harbouring gay people in my house. My other problem was that local men would have ended up quarrelling with their wives and resorted to being gay because of the boys living under my roof.’

Sicelo Vilane, a member of the community police, told the newspaper the community was increasingly getting worried about growing ‘bad tendencies’ in the area and, ‘they, together with responsible residents, were on a mission of getting rid of all bad elements’.

Homosexuality is illegal in Swaziland. In November 2011, Chief Mgwagwa Gamedze, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, said Swaziland would not give human rights to gay people, because they did not exist in the kingdom.  

 

Gamedze was responding to criticism of Swaziland by a United Nations working group on human rights that said the kingdom should enact equality laws for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people.

Gamedze also told the United Nations that while consensual same-sex relations were illegal in Swaziland, the Government did not pursue prosecutions.

Discrimination against gay and lesbian people in Swaziland is rife and extends to workplaces, the churches and on to the streets. 

HOOP (House of Our Pride), a support group for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Inter-sex (GLBTI) people, reported to the United Nation in 2011, ‘It is a common scene for GLBTI to be verbally insulted by by-passers in public places. [There is] defamatory name calling and people yelling out to see a GLBTI person’s reproductive part are some of the issues facing GLBTI in Swaziland.’

‘Faith houses have been known to discriminate against GLBTI, advocating for the alienation of GLBTI in the family and society, while maintaining that these GLBTI are possessed by demons.’ HOOP also said GLBTI people were often discriminated against at work and there had been well known cases of this.

In one of the first reports of its kind detailing sexual orientation discrimination in Swaziland, HOOP revealed, ‘GLBTI are hugely discriminated against in the community, as they are not recognized at community meetings and their points are often not minuted at these meetings nor are they allowed to take part in community services.’

Police often ridiculed GLBTI people if they reported they have been victims of violent crime, HOOP said.

See also

GAY PREJUDICE RIFE IN SWAZILAND

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/09/gay-prejudice-rife-in-swaziland.html

 

NO RIGHTS FOR GAYS: JUSTICE MINISTER

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/11/no-rights-for-gays-justice-minister.html

 

SWAZI MINISTER LIES TO UN ON GAYS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/10/swazi-minister-lies-to-un-on-gays.html

SUPPORT GROWS FOR GAY HATE MP

Swaziland gay hate MP Aaron Sotja Dladla is gaining support for his campaign to have homosexuality banned in the kingdom.

Last week he told the Swazi House of Assembly a law should be put in place to ‘deal with’ what he called ‘this mushrooming anti-social’ behaviour of gays and lesbians. 

Now, the Weekend Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati III, reports thatresidents in his constituency, ‘have encouraged him to move a motion in parliament calling for the banning of homosexual tendencies’.

Dladla, a member of the fringe church group Jericho Red Gown, restated his stance against homosexuality to the newspaper. He has made a number of public statements expressing hatred of homosexuals.

Although the mainstream media in Swaziland is reporting Dladla’s growing campaign uncritically, he is being attacked for his extremism on social networks. The Swaziland Solidarity Network has called for a new law to ban hatespeech. 

Dladla is not alone among Swazi parliamentarians to oppose homosexuality. In June 2012, Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini toldjournalists that same-sex marriages would not be allowed in the kingdom.  

He was responding to a question about the increasing acceptability of such marriages across the world, including neighbouring South Africa.

He said, ‘It will take time before we allow this to happen and include it in the country’s laws. We are not even ready to consider it.’

Ironically, King Mswati, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, insists that Swaziland is close to becoming a ‘first-world country’. Clearly, he and his supporters are on the wrong side of history. Only this week the United States re-elected Barack Obama, an outspoken supporter of gay marriages, President of the United States. Obama defeated Mitt Romney, himself a member of a religious sect that, like the traditional Swazis, believes in polygamous marriages for heterosexuals, but no marriage at all for gays and lesbians.

The Americans also voted in favour of same-sex marriages in local votes on the subject.

See also

CALL FOR LAW TO BAN HATE SPEECH

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/call-for-law-to-ban-hate-speech.html

CALL FOR LAW TO BAN HATE SPEECH

One of Swaziland’s most vocal pro-democracy groups has called for a new law to ban hate speech against homosexuals.

The call by the Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN) follows a debate in the Swazi House of Assembly in which MP Aaron Sotsha Dladla called for gays and lesbians to be outlawed in the kingdom.

Dladla said a new law should be put in place to deal with ‘this mushrooming anti-social’ behaviour of gays and lesbians. He went on to make a number of disparaging comments about homosexuals.

The Swazi Observer reported him saying, ‘We must first pass a law that will ban this practice before it takes root. Anyone found breaking that law should be dealt with severely.’ 

The SSN responded in a statement by calling MPs and members of Swaziland’s ruling elite ‘ghastly hypocritical’ because, it said, some of them were themselves closet homosexuals. It also claimed a prominent member of the Swazi Royal Family was a lesbian.

Gays and lesbians are routinely victimised in Swaziland. In November 2011, Chief Mgwagwa Gamedze, the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, said Swaziland would not give human rights to gay people, because they did not exist in the kingdom. 

 

He was responding to criticism of Swaziland by a United Nations (UN) working group on human rights that said the kingdom should enact equality laws for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people.

A group called HOOP (House of Our Pride), a support group for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Inter-sex (LGBTI) people, reported to the UN, ‘It is a common scene for LGBTI to be verbally insulted by by-passers in public places. [There is] defamatory name calling and people yelling out to see a LGBTI person’s reproductive part are some of the issues facing LGBTI in Swaziland.’

‘Faith houses have been known to discriminate against LGBTI, advocating for the alienation of LGBTI in the family and society, while maintaining that these LGBTI are possessed by demons.’

HOOP also said LGBTI people were often discriminated against at work and there had been well known cases of this.

In one of the first reports of its kind detailing sexual orientation discrimination in Swaziland, HOOP revealed, ‘LGBTI are hugely discriminated against in the community, as they are not recognized at community meetings and their points are often not minuted at these meetings nor are they allowed to take part in community services.’

Police often ridiculed LGBTI people if they reported they had been victims of violent crime. ‘A good example of such practices is in the on-going case of a well-known LGBTI in Swaziland, Patricia Dludlu, who is currently in incarceration for a different offence but is constantly ridiculed by the media and police because of her sexuality.’

See also

GAY PREJUDICE RIFE IN SWAZILAND

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/09/gay-prejudice-rife-in-swaziland.html