OPPOSITION TO KING IS ‘TERRORISM’

All opposition to the rule of absolute monarch King Mswati III of Swaziland is treated as ‘terrorism’, according to a new analysis of the legal system in the kingdom.

Courts in Swaziland do the King’s bidding and lawyers regularly face intimidation.

The analysis was published by the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) to mark International Day of the Endangered Lawyer on Friday (22 January 2016).

The report written by Annabel Raw and Caroline James said, ‘In Swaziland, opposition to the King and the political system which prohibits political parties is treated as terrorism and the courts have often been seen to do the King’s bidding. 

‘Swazi lawyers regularly face intimidation when they challenge this status quo. 

‘In August 2014, human rights lawyer Sipho Gumedze attended a civil society event in Washington DC held at the White House to coincide with the US-Africa Summit hosted by American President Barack Obama. At the time, there had been a crackdown on free expression in Swaziland and a number of political and social activists were in prison or facing charges resulting from their criticism of the Swazi King and political system. 

‘Gumedze was photographed with a colleague from the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) holding a banner saying “Free Speech in Swaziland NOW!” Soon after, the Prime Minister of Swaziland, Barnabus Sibusiso Dlamini, said, in a speech to Parliament, that Gumedze and his colleague should be “strangled” on their return to Swaziland.

‘Another of these lawyers, Thulani Maseko, spent fifteen months in prison in 2014 and 2015 after he was charged and convicted of contempt of court for writing an article that was critical of the then-Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi. Maseko was described as a “disgrace to the legal profession” by the presiding judge, Mpendulo Simelane, when he was sentenced. Ramodibedi and Simelane have since been charged with defeating the ends of justice – in essence what Maseko was attempting to highlight in his article.’

The analysis concluded, ‘The beauty of the law and the potential of an independent judiciary is that no matter who you are, you are beholden to the same rules as everyone else. Even kings and armies must comply with the rule of law. It is vital that lawyers are able as professionals to serve the law’s potential in being free to represent their clients independently and with zeal, being able to speak freely when shining light on violations of the law, and to defend the rights of the vulnerable, even against the most powerful. It is an idea that the international community has recognised and affirmed as indispensable to the rule of law and the realisation of human rights.’

SWAZI LAWYERS RESOLVE TO FIGHT ON

Swaziland Democracy Campaign

Statement

10 November 2011

The Swaziland Democracy Campaign would like to yet again congratulate lawyers in Swaziland for refusing the intimidation and scare tactics used by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) in invoking the name of the king to force them to abandon the on-going judicial boycott.

Yesterday, the lawyers were informed that the JSC had refused to accommodate their demands, made during a meeting over the weekend, that a Commission of Enquiry be established to find the root cause of all the problems, instead sticking its guns out and refusing to ‘compromise’ any further than making minor concessions on the initial demands.

The preliminary agreement reached by the JSC and the Law Society ad hoc committee last week, which were nothing than a tentative agreement subject to the endorsement of the entire Law Society membership, is now being used to blackmail the lawyers into abandoning the boycott.

The JSC now claims that the agreement is binding and will not entertain anything but an end of the boycott. Some of these demands include the establishing of a Commission of Enquiry to get to the root of the problems currently bedeviling the judiciary.

When the new Minister of Justice promised to deal with the lawyers’ concerns upon assuming office recently we thought he was genuine and if yesterday’s events are anything to go by then quite clearly the government and its judiciary wing (this unfortunately is what the JSC has become) have been acting in bad faith with no interest about the country and its image.

The fact that the JSC is also invoking the name of the king, who is already in seclusion, to intimidate the lawyers to abandoning the boycott is itself an indication of the new lows to which they have sunk in. It just boils down to gutter politics.

The lawyers are resolute; they want a commitment and timelines from the JSC on when they shall establish the Commission of Enquiry.

It seems that the government now has a new strategy of dealing with any form of protest; close their ears, allow protest to run its course until fatigue creeps in then enforce the unpopular decision once people are hopeless.

This was seen at how the government dealt with the University of Swaziland protests earlier in the year which ran for months until they fatigued and accepted that government would cut their allowances and give them same in instalments.

It is the same strategy that government intends to use, being stubborn long enough until the lawyers feel the pinch financially and go back to court. This is very sickening and an indication to the lawyers that they should broaden their struggle to include demanding democracy because this government will not listen to their demands. No self-respecting government would allow a judicial boycott to run for even two months without resolving it.

We challenge our lawyer’s and colleagues to work side by side with all pro-democracy groups, in true solidarity, in demanding democracy so that their concerns and more could be resolved by a government that cares enough about the possibility of losing votes in the next elections.

We would specifically like to congratulate the prolific leadership displayed by the Law Society Ad hoc committee led by Lawyer Zweli Jele in handling the lawyer’s grievances and refusing to be cajoled by the JSC into betraying the lawyer’s struggle.

The lawyers know now exactly what we have been dealing with for the past 30 years, a stubborn and contumacious government that refuses to see sense, defies logic and buries its head in the sand like the proverbial ostrich.

We wish to commend all the men and women of integrity of the Law Society of Swaziland, for refusing to allow financial gain and stomach politics to derail them in their quest for justice. As well as for their standing strong against a system that is hell bent on creating divisions among them by any and all means possible.

In the words of President Mario Masuku, let us all make the country ungovernable and Tinkhundla unworkable.

SWAZI KING HIDES AS CRISIS DEEPENS

OSISA – Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa

SOURCE

Swazi king takes time off as crisis deepens

Back in the days of ancient Rome, it is said that Emperor Nero 'fiddled while Rome burned'. Similarly in Swaziland today, King Mswait III is away in seclusion 'being cleansed' while his country's political, legal and economic crisis worsens by the day.

On Thursday 27th, [October 2011] the continent's last absolute monarch officially commissioned the ‘water party’ (Bemanti), which marks the start of the Incwala ceremony - a quasi religious-political ritual that is traditionally regarded as a period of prayer and renewal for the Swazi nation. It is held annually and the chief protagonist is the king, who goes into total seclusion. It is anticipated that he will emerge from the ‘cleansing ritual’ in January next year.

The Incwala is an integral part of the Swazi cultural calendar - as well as its political calendar because the king's seclusion creates a serious vacuum in Swaziland's corridors of power. Culturally, once the king goes into seclusion, nothing save for a national catastrophe can pull him out. He is completely insulated from the public view and undertakes no official duties whatsoever. This is a time when the Swazi state is most vulnerable since everything goes into a lull.

This year, as Mswati goes into seclusion, he leaves behind a protracted judicial crisis that is rapidly escalating. Lawyers have been boycotting the courts for almost four months in protest at the maladministration of justice in the country by the incumbent Chief Justice, Michael Ramodibedi. But this week, they upped the pressure on the Chief Justice by staging a mass walk-out of the Supreme Court. This left all suspects and people with civil cases with no legal representation.

But astonishingly, the Chief Justice ordered that all cases be heard with or without the lawyers. This, as some have already observed, is the height of injustice. The Chief Justice is also on record as praising people who represented themselves saying that they actually argue 'much better than the lawyers'.

Subsequent to the directive to proceed without the lawyers, Ramodibedi then went another step further - banning all lawyers from setting foot inthe High Court. A heavily armed police contingent has been posted in and around the High Court premises and only government lawyers and people with cases have been allowed to enter. Banned from meeting at the High Court, the lawyers opted for a very innovative strategy, using their vehicles to ‘march’ through the capital city in protest and brining the city to a stand-still - much to the consternation of the police.

Meanhile, lawyers and civil society activists led by the Law Society of Swaziland staged another protest march today to deliver a petition to the Prime Minister voicing their dismay at the deployment of police at the High Court. The petition was received by the government spokesperson, Percy Simelane, who promised, as usual, to pass it on to the premier.

However, it is not just Swazi lawyers who have taken to the streets recently. Yesterday, over 2, 000 University of Swaziland students marched to deliver a petition to the Minister of Labour and Social Security over unpaid allowances. As is to be expected these days, the march was characterized by clashes between the students and the police over routes and other issues. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt or arrested. This protest is also not an isolated student demonstration since the William Pitcher Teachers’ College was this indefinitely closed this week after students undertook a sit-in strike over allowances and a host of other issues.

Maybe the king has left behind a plan to resolve the judicial and economic crises engulfing the country. Or maybe he is just hoping that it will magically resolve itself while he is enjoying his seclusion and his cleansing. The likelihood though is that there is no plan and that Swaziland will stumble along until he reappears. What state his kingdom will be in when he emerges is anyone's guess.

OSISA ON SWAZI JUDICIAL CRISIS

Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (Johannesburg)

Statement

27 October 2011

SOURCE

The following is an extract from the OSISA statement to the 50th Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, October 2011, Banjul, The Gambia

Swaziland

Swaziland is a country with an absolute Monarchy presiding over a regime that has mismanaged state resources and rendered the nation virtually bankrupt and insolvent.

The plight of the citizens of Swaziland was brought to the attention of the Commission during its 49th session. Our statement focused on lack access to justice, erosion of the respect rule of law, abuse of human rights, rampant and endemic corrupt, assault on freedom of press, association, and speech amongst other abuses that are an affront to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.

As you may be aware, since 1 August 2011, members of the Law Society of Swaziland have been boycotting all the courts in Swaziland. The boycott of the courts seeks to highlight the subversion of the principle of judicial independence and rule of law in the country. The genesis of the boycott lies in a number of actions by the Government, the Judicial Service Commission and the Chief Justice of Swaziland the effect of which is the denial of citizens' constitutional right to approach the courts, and the introduction of institutional bias in the allocation and determination of matters before the Courts.

For instance, Practice Direction 4 of 2011, the country's Chief Justice banned all summons/applications citing the name of the King or the Office of the King, directly or indirectly rendering the Monarch above the law. The Law Society is also aggrieved with the decision of the Judicial Service Commission - of which the Chief Justice is the chairperson - to refuse to accept a petition drawn by the Law Society against the Chief Justice.

As a consequence of the non-functioning of the courts, citizens of Swaziland have been deprived of their constitutional right to judicial redress. Criminal prosecutions which are at the instance of the State have continued albeit accused persons are being denied their constitutional right to legal representation as a consequence of the absence of defence lawyers.

This has given rise to the conviction and imprisonment of unrepresented accused persons, itself a fundamental violation of their human rights. The Government has increased its suppression of citizens' rights, on the strength that people cannot obtain any judicial redress or injunctions against the state for any violations.

Given that an independent and functioning judiciary is essential to the functioning of any State, we consider the absence of a proper functioning judiciary system as a gross violation of the rights of the citizens of Swaziland.

Together with the Law Society of Swaziland, which has lodged a formal complaint to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights against the Kingdom of Swaziland in terms of Article 55 of the African Charter, we request the Commission to urgently undertake a promotional mission to Swaziland, to investigate the factors and issues giving rise to the prevailing judicial crisis.

SWAZI JUDGE FIRED FOR 'DISRESPECT'

Judge Thomas Masuku was fired from the Swaziland High Court because he showed ‘disrespect’ to his betters, one of the men responsible for his sacking has revealed.

Masuku even laughed out loud when the charges against him were read out at his Judicial Service Commission (JSC) disciplinary hearing, it is claimed.

Sibusiso Shongwe, described by the Times of Swaziland newspaper as ‘an influential member’ of the JSC, said Masuku disrespected the tribunal, the Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi and King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

Masuku’s sacking has caused an outcry inside and outside Swaziland. Lawyers have been boycotting the law courts for 10 weeks and respected judicial and human rights organisations across the world have condemned his sacking as an attack on the judicial system.

Shongwe told a meeting at a Swazi primary school that among other things, Masuku was fired for showing lack of respect during his hearing on 11 August 2011.

The Times reports today (14 October 2011), ‘He [Shongwe] said to prove that he lacked respect for the tribunal, he [Masuku] even laughed when the charges were put to him, instead of responding.

‘Not only did Shongwe say Masuku disrespected the tribunal which was chaired by his boss, Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi and his employers, the JSC, but he said he just lacked respect for authority. He said it was even worse because he showed lack of respect for the King.’

The Times reported Shongwe saying, ‘Judge Thomas Masuku was fired for lack of respect for authority. What happened to him is exactly what happens to a person who lacks respect for authority. To show that he lacked respect, Masuku laughed when he was asked about the charges that had been laid against him.’

The Times reported, ‘Shongwe said Masuku was not expected to exhibit such behaviour during the hearing.

‘Shongwe further revealed that Judge Masuku was fired for showing lack of respect to his boss, the CJ.

‘“The CJ issued a directive that no judge should leave the court without his authority. One day Masuku left the court without informing his authority. When the CJ discovered that he was not in court or in his chambers, he called him. In response Masuku told the CJ that he should not talk to him as if he was a child. He further told the CJ that he would rather resign when he was asked why he was absent from work,” said Shongwe.

“He made an example that even within a family, there has to be respect and the judge showed that he lacked respect for his boss.”’

Masuku had been accused of using the term ‘forked tongue’ in reference to King Mswati.

The Times reported, ‘Shongwe said the judge was not supposed to use that term when referring to the King. He said Masuku should have just put it in simple terms that he did not believe that the King had said what he is alleged to have said, not to then say if the King said it, he was speaking with a ‘forked tongue’.

See also

AMNESTY: REINSTATE JUDGE MASUKU

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/10/amnesty-reinstate-judge-masuku.html

LITTLE EVIDENCE AGAINST JUDGE

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/10/little-evidence-against-judge.html

LAW BODIES AGAINST JUDGE’S SACKING

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/10/law-bodies-against-judges-sacking.html