Human Rights in Swaziland

Background

In 2022, the absolute monarchy in Eswatini, ruled by King Mswati III since 1986, continued to face waves of demonstrations that began in June 2021 against the drastically deteriorating human rights situation in the country, and the lack of democratic reforms. Intervention in November 2021 by South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, then-chairperson of the Organ on Politics, Defense and Security Cooperation, of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), resulted in King Mswati agreeing to a national dialogue facilitated by SADC. There has been no progress toward instituting the Sibaya or “people’s parliament” dialogue format proposed by the king. The Multi Stakeholder Forum (MSF), an umbrella body of political parties, churches, local businesses, student groups and civil society organizations, rejected a dialogue format and called for democratic processes to be established. In January 2023 Thulani Maseko, a prominent human rights lawyer and chair of the MSF, was assassinated at his home.  Widely condemned across the world, calls for an independent investigation into the murder have so far gone unanswered by the King and his government.

Political parties in the country are in effect banned; the largest opposition party, the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), is proscribed under anti-terrorism legislation. People are not allowed to stand for parliament as a candidate for a political party. Civil society activists endure harassment, repression, including, in some cases, detention and physical violence. Many of the candidates for parliament are in effective selected through a traditional system by tribal chiefs who owe allegiance to King Mswati III. Two-thirds of the upper house is appointed by the King. Parliament and judiciary are subservient to the monarchy. Swaziland has been ranked as the least free country in Southern Africa by the Ibrahim Index of African Governance.

The King and other members of the royal family lead lavish lifestyles while almost two-thirds of Swazis live below the poverty line. A 2017 study named Swaziland as the most unequal country in the world in terms of income distribution. The country has the world’s highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS and endures frequent food security crises. A significant part of the population seek work in South Africa and remittances are an important part of the economy.

The Campaign

Women and girls in Swaziland are treated as second class citizens. Customary laws classify women as minors in important areas. Women and girls are more vulnerable to poverty, illiteracy and HIV/AIDS. Gender-based violence is widespread and the government chooses is at best slow to pass and implement laws to protect women and girls.

Working with a range of civil society organisations in Swaziland, ACTSA highlight the persistent abuses of human rights and democratic norms to decision makers in the UK, European Union, Commonwealth and US, and encourage them to respond meaningfully.  We have taken a variety of actions, including: protesting outside the Swaziland High Commission, lobbying UK government ministers and senior Commonwealth officials, organising petitions and producing briefing papers.

ACTSA supports calls by the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland and other civil society organisations, for the government to abide by provisions for freedom of association and speech set out in the 2005 Constitution. In mid 2022, the Southern African Human Rights Defenders Network, the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, and the Southern African People’s Solidarity Network (SAPSN), among others, raised concerns about the King’s decree barring citizens from delivering petitions to parliamentarians, which had sparked renewed protests, further worsening the country’s political and security tensions. These organizations urged the government of Eswatini to create a conducive environment for comprehensive and genuine political dialogue. Pro-democracy MP’s have been arrested and forced to flee into exile in the face of trumped-up charges against them.

ACTSA are calling on the international community, particularly the UK and US governments, the Commonwealth and the EU to:

• Regularly and robustly publicly criticise Mswati III and his government for repressive acts against citizens.
• Only give aid in a way that does not allow the Swazi state to divert expenditure away from key social sectors, and encourage other donors to adopt a similar approach.
• Withdraw Swaziland’s trade preferences.
• Subject Swaziland to international monitoring and accountability mechanisms, such as the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group and the Special Procedures of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
• Support SADC nations in their efforts to broker political discussions to promote human rights and democracy between the King and civil society groups and movements.

Measures should continue until the King commits to genuine political transformation. In the meantime, the international community should offer greater financial, technical and diplomatic support to those within the country who are seeking to build a more equal society for women, a free press, and the promotion of democracy and human rights for all.

Find out more

We’d love your help to raise the profile of the campaign to put pressure on governments and multilateral institutionsto take notice and take action. Please do this by sharing our social posts or recent publications, joining one of our events, or send a version of this draft letter to your MP.