REPORT TELLS UN OF RIGHTS ABUSES

Lawyers in Swaziland and an international human rights group have jointly called for judicial persecution, harassment and intimidation of members of civil society organisations in the kingdom to end.

In a submission to the United Nations they also call for restrictions on freedom of assembly to be lifted.

The calls come jointly from CIVICUS, a global network of civil society organisations and activists dedicated to strengthening citizen action and civil society around the world, and Lawyers for Human Rights (Swaziland) (LHRS), a non-partisan group of lawyers that advocates for the respect of human rights and promotes good governance, the rule of law and democracy.

The report is to the United Nation’s Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review of Swaziland that is to investigate Swaziland’s record on human rights next April and May 2016.

The report listed a number of violations in Swaziland over recent years. The report said it was ‘a matter of deep concern that human rights activists have been arrested and persecuted for the work and others have been threatened by senior government officials including the Prime Minister.’

In a detailed account, the report said, ‘On 26 August 2014, Vincent Ncongwane, Secretary General of the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA), was apprehended shortly before he was due to address a prayer meeting on the effects of the withdrawal of financial assistance through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) from Swaziland by the United States Government. 

‘He had also planned to discuss the position of civil society regarding the withdrawal. The Matsapha area has many textile factories that will be affected by the cancellation of assistance through AGOA. Following his apprehension by the police, Vincent was forced to leave the venue of the meeting before delivering his address.

‘On 5 September 2013, Vincent was followed by police officers in civilian clothing and arrested while attempting to enter his office. He was whisked to the police station without any explanation or warrant and detained for several hours. He was later placed under house arrest and the authorities argued he had attempted to instigate an unlawful protest.

‘On 6 August 2014, Prime Minister Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini threatened human rights defenders Sipho Gumedze and Vincent Ncongwane while they participated in the civil society meeting on the promotion of democracy in Africa on the sidelines of the African leader’s summit hosted by US President Barack Obama in August 2014.

‘The activists had also participated in peaceful demonstrations aimed at highlighting threats to freedom of expression in Swaziland. While addressing the Parliament in Swaziland, the Prime Minister called for both activists to be interrogated and “strangled” when they return to Swaziland.

‘Sipho is a member of Lawyers for Human Rights (Swaziland) and Vincent is the Secretary General of the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA).

‘On 1 May 2014, Mario Masuku, President of the pro-democracy People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) and Maxwell Dlamini of the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO), were arrested after addressing a crowd of about 7,000 people during a Labour Day event in the capital, Manzini. 

‘They were charged with singing a seditious song and uttering seditious statements under the Suppression of Terrorism Act. The state argued in court that their utterances were serious and threatened the leadership of Swaziland. They were denied bail on two occasions before they were released on bail on 14 July 2015 by the Supreme Court.’

The report said that the Swazi Constitution guaranteed ‘the rights of citizens to assemble freely,’ but these rights were being ignored.

The report said, ‘However we remain concerned that the authorities regularly suppress peaceful demonstrations, Persons considered leaders of such protests have been arrested and subjected to judicial persecution and some have been charged under the Suppression of Terrorism Act.

‘In March 2015, security forces prevented members of the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) from holding their national executive committee meeting at the premises of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT). In dispersing the participants, security forces harassed the Secretary of SNAT, Muzi Mhlanga after he took pictures of the police actions against protesters. 

‘Again on 28 February 2015 security forces forcefully dispersed a meeting of TUCOSWA because the participants discussed multi-party democracy.

‘On 24 April 2014, Mlungisi Makhanya, Secretary General of PUDEMO and six others were arrested at the High Court in Mbabane as they demonstrated against the manner in which the trial of Thulani Maseko and Bheki Makhubu was conducted.

‘They were charged for contravening the Suppression of Terrorism Act for wearing and being in possession of tee-shirts on which the word PUDEMO was inscribed.

‘The authorities noted that the tee-shirts reflected terrorist demands. They were also charged with chanting ‘terrorist slogans’ and for conspiring with others to commit seditious acts. In May 2014 they were all released on bail of E15,000 (approximatelyUS$1,106) and asked to pay E5,000 (approximately US$368) upfront and provide surety of E10,000 (approximately US$737).

‘On 5 September 2013, security forces in Swaziland arrested and detained Jay Naidoo, a South African trade union activist, Bishop Paul Verryn from the Methodist Church in Johannesburg, South Africa and Zimbabwean human rights lawyer and activist Alec Muchadehama ahead of a planned global inquiry scheduled for 6 September 2013.

‘Those arrested were part of an international panel of experts who had been requested by TUCOSWA and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) to engage in a dialogue with workers about the effect of violations on labour rights on all Swazis. The panellists were followed from the airport and arrested at a roadblock on their way to Manzini. They were then transported to a police station where they were interrogated about the rationale for the planned meeting. They were later released after questioning and had to return to Johannesburg as the authorities closed the George Hotel in Manzini where the inquiry was scheduled to take place.’

‘On 12 April 2012, the police intercepted pro-democracy protests planned to be held at Coronation Park in Mbabane and arrested 15 organisers. The protests had been planned to coincide with King Sobhuza II’s 1973 Proclamation which outlawed political parties. The venue was filled with police and security offices who prevented protesters from entering. Protesters who were driving from other parts of the country were stopped at road blocks, prevented from entering Mbabane and sent back to their home towns.

‘The organisers of the protests had planned to use the day to call for democratic reforms, the organisation of multiparty election, for freedom of association to be respected and express concerns over the imposition of tax on basic goods.’

See also

‘KING BLOCKS JUDGES’ INDEPENDENCE’

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2015/09/king-blocks-judges-independence.html

CALL TO END SWAZI MEDIA CENSORSHIP

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2015/09/call-to-end-swazi-media-censorship.html

CALL TO END SWAZI MEDIA CENSORSHIP

Lawyers in Swaziland and an international human rights group have jointly called for media freedom in the kingdom to be respected.

In a submission to the United Nations they also call for an end to media censorship in the kingdom.

They also call for more independent newspapers and media houses to be allowed to operate in Swaziland, where King Mswati III rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

The call comes jointly from CIVICUS, a global network of civil society organisations and activists dedicated to strengthening citizen action and civil society around the world, and Lawyers for Human Rights (Swaziland) (LHRS), a non-partisan group of lawyers that advocates for the respect of human rights and promotes good governance, the rule of law and democracy.

The report is to the United Nation’s Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review of Swaziland that is to investigate Swaziland’s record on human rights next April and May 2016.

The report listed a number of media freedom violations in Swaziland over recent years.

In the report they stated the Swazi Government, which is not elected but appointed by the King, ‘strictly controls freedom of expression and the media’. 

They added, ‘Reporting on royal and political matters is severely restricted. Further, regular threats emanating from senior government officials and the royal family to journalists also lead to government censorship and self-censorship by the media further curtailing democratic freedoms’.

The report detailed a number of media freedom violations.

It stated, ‘On 28 April 2014, Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi threatened the Managing Editor of the Swazi Observer, Mbongeni Mbingo over reports on court proceedings in the case involving the editor of Nation magazine Bheki Makhubu and human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko.  

‘In the 30 March 2014 edition of the newspaper, Mbongeni expressed concerns that Bheki and Thulani were in jail even though the prosecuting team had not concluded its investigations. The Chief Justice ordered Mbongeni to stop reporting on the case and warned that he would be subjected to the same fate as the accused. 

‘The Swazi Observer is owned by King Mswati’s business holding Tibiyo taka Ngwane but the newspaper had been reporting regularly on the case. After the threats from the Chief Justice the newspaper adopted a more cautious approach in its reporting on the case.

‘On 17 April 2013, Bheki Makhubu, editor of Nation magazine was found guilty of contempt of court for “scurrilous abuse of the Chief Justice” based on articles he wrote in November 2009 and February 2010 in which he criticised Swazi Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi. 

‘One of the articles commended Justice Thomas Masuku for his views in cases which focused on the evictions of Swazis from lands held by the King in contrast to views held by two other Supreme Court Judges. The other article criticised Justice Ramodibedi over comments he had made. Bheki Makhubu was handed a fine of E200,000 (approximately US$14,750) and informed that he would serve a two year jail term if he failed to pay the fine within three days.

‘On 30 May 2014, he won an appeal with the Supreme Court and the sentence was reduced to three months fully suspended on condition that he is not convicted of any offence of scandalising the court for a period of three years.

 

‘On 17 and 18 March 2013 human rights defender Thulani Maseko and journalist Bheki Makhubu were arrested and charged with “scandalising the judiciary” and for being “in contempt of court” after they published articles critical of the Swazi judiciary.

 

‘In February 2014, Thulani wrote an article in the Nation magazine titled “where the law has no place” and in March 2014 Bheki wrote an article titled “speaking my mind”. Both articles were critical of the arrest of government vehicle inspector Bhantshana Vincent Gwebu. 

‘Thulani Maseko is a member of the Lawyers for Human Rights (Swaziland) and Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Network. Bheki Makubu is a journalist and editor of Nation magazine. They were both sentenced to two years in jail on 25 July 2014 without bail. On 30 June 2015 the Supreme Court ordered the release of both journalists on the basis that they had not received a fair trial.

‘The Supreme Court argued that the trial judge was one of the persons criticised in the articles and had not recused himself from the case.

‘On 15 January 2014, the government-controlled Swazi Observer newspaper suspended its editor Thulani Thwala and weekend editor Alec Lushaba after they were accused of failing to adhere to the mandate of the newspaper by publishing negative news stories about the King.

 

The journalists were accused of failing to heed several warnings not to publish damaging reports about the King. Prior to the suspension, they published reports indicating that the Swazi government had solicited a financial bailout from South Africa. Eight months after their suspension, the Board of Directors of the Swazi Observer Newspaper Group reinstated them. 

‘The Swazi Observer newspaper is controlled by the Tibiyo Taka Ngwane conglomerate, which is owned by the King. News items published are highly censored.

‘In January 2012, Musa Ndlangamandla was relieved of his duties as Chief Editor of the Swazi Observer newspaper after publishing interviews in his Asikhulume column of leaders of pro-democracy movements in Swaziland.

Prior to that he had published a report about the expropriation of state land by Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini. The police confiscated his computer and in February he was forced to flee to South Africa after attempts by security forces to arrest and charge him under the Suppression of Terrorism Act.

 

‘On 11 April 2012, Tumaole Mohlaoli and Meshack Dube, journalists from the private South African television channel e-TV, were detained by the Swazi authorities at a road block in Oshoek and their passports and equipment were seized after the authorities accused them of not having the proper accreditation to cover events commemorating the 39^th anniversary of King Sobhuza II’s 1973 decree which outlawed political parties in Swaziland.’

CIVICUS and LHRS made the following recommendations to the UN working group.

‘The environment in which the media operates in Swaziland should be opened up to allow the registration and operation of more independent newspapers and media houses.

‘The government should stop using the Sedition and Subversive Activities Act and the Suppression of Terrorism Act to impede media freedoms.

‘Swazi authorities should respect and fulfil the right to freedom of expression and stop the practice of intimidating and persecuting journalists using unlawful legal processes.

‘Journalists and media representatives should be protected by the law at all times.

‘Public figures should stop threatening journalists and desist from interfering in state-owned newspapers.

‘Obsolete laws that restrict freedom of expression such as Sedition and Subversive Activities Act Suppression of Terrorism Act should be reviewed and repealed.

‘The Swazi authorities should stop censoring the contempt of newspapers and refrain from interfering in the editorial policies of newspapers to eliminate censorship.’

See also

GOVT HAS TOTAL CONTROL OF TV NEWS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2015/06/govt-has-total-control-of-tv-news.html