UK AND ACTION FOR SWAZILAND

Progress online

6 October 2011

SOURCE

Action for Swaziland

By Jack Storry

Swaziland is small, beautiful country in southern Africa bordered by South Africa and Mozambique. However, it is also Africa’s only absolute monarchy and a country that is currently griped in economic crisis.

King Mswati has ruled Swaziland since 1986 and shows no sign of loosening his grip on power. Political parties in Swaziland are banned and pro-democracy activists face harassment and violence on a regular basis. But despite the oppressive tactics of the regime, the pro-democracy movement in Swaziland is growing.

I visited the country at the start of September with Action for Southern Africa (the successor to the UK Anti-Apartheid Movement), shortly after the pro-democracy movement held its national week of action, and met with numerous groups from the pro-democracy movement. I heard from those groups how thousands of people had come out onto the streets to call for democracy and to protest against King Mswati’s rule.

Despite the protests being peaceful King Mswati’s security forces responded by firing tear gas, shooting rubber bullets, beating protesters and arresting those they considered to be ringleaders. This kind of response is not a one off – protests in April were met with an even more brutal response. There are also numerous pro-democracy activists who have been imprisoned by the government, some for over a year, and Amnesty International recognises that widespread human rights abuses are taking place in Swaziland.

However, on my visit I also heard a feeling that the tide is starting to turn against the ruling elite. Not only have pro-democracy activists stepped up protests over the last year but the general population is becoming far more disillusioned with King Mswati’s rule due to the economic crisis that is gripping the country, while the ruling elite continue to live in absolute luxury.

Despite King Mswati having a personal wealth of over $200m the finances of Swaziland are in a dire state. The economic crisis has got so bad in Swaziland that the University of Swaziland was unable to open at the start of term and many students have had their grants, the only thing that enables them to attend university in many cases, cut. Many schools have also failed to open, pension payments have been delayed, state workers are unsure if they will be paid on time and the health service is reportedly at breaking point with shortages of many everyday drugs.

Swaziland also has the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the world. While some steps have been taken in recent years to improve access to antiretroviral treatment, largely thanks to the Global Fund, all of this good work threatens to be undone by the economic crisis. Medecins Sans Frontieres reported in early September that testing kits were ‘almost dry’ and that it was becoming difficult to track the progress of patients on therapy and those carrying the virus.

Reports indicate that the Swazi government recently bought £500,000 worth of antiretroviral drugs but NGOs say the government needs to buy £3m worth of drugs per month to keep up with demand. Indeed, the shortages are so acute that new patients are not being put on ARVs, current patients are only being given a month’s worth of ARVs instead of the three months they are supposed to receive, and many of the ARVs that patients are being given are close to their expiry dates.

So what can we do in the UK to help those in Swaziland who are fighting for a fairer future for their country? We can start by putting pressure on the Swazi government by supporting groups like Action for Southern Africa who have been vocal campaigners on Swaziland for several years. They currently have an e-action here with the NUS that calls for the release of two pro-democracy activists, including Swaziland NUS President Maxwell Dlamini, who have been imprisoned by the Swazi government.

Jack Storry is a Labour activist and Progress member from the West Midlands, UK, and tweets @JackStorry

WILL UK SELL ARMS TO SWAZILAND?

Will British arms be sold to Swaziland?

By Mark Beacon

Progress online

SOURCE

1 March 2011

Last week it emerged that in 2008 the British government refused a $60 million licence for assault rifles, heavy machine guns, armoured personnel carriers and helicopters to be exported to Swaziland.

This disclosure, among the latest tranche of US diplomatic cables exposed by Wikileaks, will come as no surprise to many in the southern African kingdom.

Swaziland is the only absolute monarchy in sub-Saharan Africa. It has endured the restrictions of a state of emergency since 1973, has the highest rate of HIV in the world, and almost 70 per cent of the population live in absolute poverty. Political parties are banned and the country scores lower than Zimbabwe for its political rights on the respected Mo Ibrahim Index.

While investing in major vanity projects such as the $1 billion Sikhuphe International Airport and propping up the lavish lifestyles of an ever increasing royal entourage, the Swazi government is responding to the country's worsening economic crisis by increasing the tax burden on the poorest and through mass redundancies in public services.

The population of Swaziland, while being plunged deeper into poverty have rapidly seen their few remaining rights eroded with a raft of repressive legislation, designed to crush dissent. Most controversial of all is the Suppression of Terrorism Act, which is used liberally to declare anyone or anything opposed to the regime as terrorist, including the main opposition party, PUDEMO. Arbitrary arrests and torture are common place as the government responds to the growing momentum of dissenting voices with a stronger and more brutal security force.

Despite its major economic crisis the government is proposing to spend almost 10 per cent of its 2011-12 budget on the army and police. On 23 February the minister of finance Majozi Sithole said ‘Yes, we are spending a lot on the army but we are not anticipating what is happening in North Africa to come here...However, the army is there to avoid such situations'.

The arms involved in the failed 2008 deal were, according to the Swazi government, intended to be used by African peacekeeping missions for the UN, but according to the cable may have been intended ‘to build up domestic capability to deal with unrest, or was possibly acting as an intermediary for a third party such as Zimbabwe or a Middle Eastern country that had cash, diamonds or goods to trade'. In recent days it has emerged that the Swazi government remains resolute in their determination to obtain arms from Britain. According to the Swazi News John Kunene, the principal secretary in the ministry of defence, who signed the original deal in 2008, said "We have been in constant discussion with Unionlet [a UK based arms agency] in buying arms for peacekeeping exercises in other countries, and have never abandoned the idea."

Yesterday (28 February 2011) defence secretary Liam Fox said that the UK's arms sales policy was under review, in order to strike the 'right balance' between the right of countries to protect themselves and a duty to ensure 'that what we do supply is not being used for internal repression'. In the case of Swaziland we hope that the right balance is one that ensures that the regime is denied the weapons it so desperately wants to repress its own people.