Swaziland: Striving for Freedom As seen through the pages of Swazi Media Commentary Volume 13: January to March 2014 Swaziland: Striving for Freedom INTRODUCTION Swaziland’s disregard for freedom has received international attention with the United States threatening to withdraw a favourable trading agreement and the jailing on remand of a magazine editor and a writer after they were critical of the kingdom’s judiciary. The US has given Swaziland, which is ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, until 15 May to make a series of changes that would allow freedom of association and enhance workers’ rights. These include full passage of amendments to the Industrial Relations Act; full passage of amendments to the Suppression of Terrorism Act (STA); full passage of amendments to the Public Order Act; full passage of amendments to sections 40 and 97 of the Industrial Relations Act relating to civil and criminal liability to union leaders during protest actions; and establishing a code of conduct for the police during public protests. Failure to comply with these changes would see Swaziland lose the ability to export textile goods to the US without having to pay tariffs under the Africa Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA). About 20,000 jobs of textile workers in Swaziland are said to be at stake. Just as Swaziland was exposed by the US, the judiciary, appointed by King Mswati, attacked a small independent monthly magazine, the Nation by arresting its editor Bheki Makhubu and human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko for writing and publishing articles critical of the Swazi Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi. They have been charged with contempt of court. The charges caused an international outcry which got louder when Makhubu was taken into court in leg-irons. Both men continue to be held in prison on remand awaiting trial These are just two of the stories covered by Swazi Media Commentary during the first three months of 2014 and now published as part of a collection: Swaziland: Striving for Freedom, Volume 13. This publication documents many of the struggles for human rights that are taking place in the kingdom. In February, police broke up a press conference held by the Secretary-General of the African National Congress (ANC), Gwede Mantashe. Journalists were reportedly ‘frog-marched’ out of the venue. The briefing was to report on a delegation led by Mantashe the day before that met with political parties in the kingdom. Political parties are banned in Swaziland. Swazi Police continued to shoot-to-kill with impunity. Among the instances this year was the case of a plain-clothed policeman who shot an unarmed man in the back killing him while on a public bus. Police later claimed the man had stolen some copper wire. 1 Swaziland: Striving for Freedom Elsewhere, police armed with batons assaulted children who complained about conditions at their school. In March, Sikhuphe Airport was finally opened and renamed King Mswati III Airport, confirming the belief of critics that the venture was a vanity project for the King. Despite costing at least E3 billion (US$300 million) to build no airlines have said they will fly into the airport and it remains unused. There are doubts whether the airport has the necessary international licence to allow it to operate. Children continue to have their rights abused in Swaziland. In March it was reported that warders at a juvenile jail in Swaziland stripped naked, handcuffed and beat children in their care. They inserted fingers into girls’ private parts and forced one boy to drink his own urine. Swazi Media Commentary has no physical base and is completely independent of any political faction and receives no income from any individual or organisation. People who contribute ideas or write for it do so as volunteers and receive no payment. Swazi Media Commentary is published online – updated most days – bringing information, comment and analysis in support of democracy in the kingdom. 2 Swaziland: Striving for Freedom CONTENTS 1 Nation magazine 4 2 Media freedom and ethics 11 3 Police shooting and abuse 20 4 Game rangers shoot-to-kill 24 5 King Mswati III (Sikhuphe) Airport 28 6 Human rights 44 7 Hunger 52 8 King Mswati III 56 9 National election 62 10 Government and Parliament 66 11 Review of the year: 2013 69 About the author 75 Books by Swazi Media Commentary 76 Occasional Paper series 77 Swaziland: Striving for Freedom, previous editions 78 3 Swaziland: Striving for Freedom 1 ‘NATION’ MAGAZINE Editor charged with criticising judge 18 March 2014 A human rights lawyer and the editor of Swaziland’s only political comment magazine have been charged with contempt of court. Lawyer Thulani Maseko and Nation editor Bheki Makhubu were alleged to have written separate articles in the magazine criticising the circumstances surrounding the case of Chief Government Vehicle Inspector, Bhantshana Gwebu. Gwebu had been arrested and charged with contempt of court after he arrested a driver of High Court Judge Esther Ota. Gwebu spent nine days at the Sidwashini Correctional facility before he was released on E15,000 (US$1,500) bail. The arrests highlight the difficulty media have in commenting on current events in Swaziland, which is ruled by King Mswati III as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. Makhubu was also convicted in April 2013, along with the Nation magazine publishers, Swaziland Independent Publishers, of ‘scandalising the court’ after two articles criticising the judiciary were published in 2009 and 2010. Makhubu and the publisher were fined a total of E400,000 (US$40,000) by the Swaziland High Court, of which half had to be paid within three days or Makhubu would immediately be sent to jail for two years. Both Makhubu and the publisher have appealed the conviction. The Sunday Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, ran an apology for its own coverage of the Gwebu case, but its editor was not arrested. The apology said, ‘… it is not the intention of the Swazi Observer and its newspapers to disregard the independence of the judiciary, but to be seen to assisting it to uphold the rule of law in the country’. Swazi editor and lawyer jailed 18 March 2014 Swaziland human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko and Bheki Makhubu, the editor of the Nation magazine, have been jailed on remand for seven days on contempt of court charges. The Chief Justice of Swaziland Michael Ramodibedi heard their cases in chambers away from the public. The men’s lawyer Mandla Mkhwanazi called the proceeding a ‘kangaroo court’. The two men are accused of contempt of court for writing articles in the Nation, the only magazine of political commentary in Swaziland, criticising the circumstances surrounding the case of Chief Government Vehicle Inspector, Bhantshana Gwebu. Gwebu had been arrested and charged with contempt of court after he arrested a driver of High Court Judge Esther Ota. 4 Swaziland: Striving for Freedom Gwebu spent nine days at the Sidwashini Correctional facility before he was released on E15,000 (US$1,500) bail. Makhubu was also convicted in April 2013, along with the Nation magazine publishers, Swaziland Independent Publishers, of ‘scandalising the court’ after two articles criticising the judiciary were published in 2009 and 2010. Makhubu and the publisher were fined a total of E400,000 (US$40,000) by the Swaziland High Court, of which half had to be paid within three days or Makhubu would immediately be sent to jail for two years. Both Makhubu and the publisher have appealed the conviction. Amnesty attacks Swazi justice 19 March 2014 Swaziland violated human rights law by arresting and jailing a magazine editor and a human rights lawyer after they criticised the kingdom’s judiciary, according to Amnesty International. It added the arrests were, ‘another shocking example of the southern African kingdom’s intolerance of freedom of expression’. Amnesty has declared both men ‘prisoners of conscience’. Bheki Makhubu, editor of Swaziland’s monthly news magazine The Nation and human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko are being held at Sidwashini Remand Prison in Mbabane, after ‘highly irregular legal proceedings’. Amnesty reported, ‘They were arbitrarily arrested under defective warrants, denied access to their lawyers and remanded in custody after summary proceedings held behind closed doors.’ Mary Rayner, researcher on Swaziland at Amnesty International, said in a statement, ‘These arbitrary arrests and highly irregular legal proceedings amount to judicial retribution rather than justice being delivered, and are further evidence of Swaziland’s intolerance of freedom of expression. It violates international human rights standards and has no basis in Swaziland’s domestic law.’ She added, ‘We consider Bhekithemba Makhubu and Thulani Maseko to be prisoners of conscience, arrested and detained merely for exercising their right to freedom of expression. The Swaziland authorities must release them immediately and unconditionally.’ The two men are accused of contempt of court by writing articles published in the Nation in February and March 2014 that criticised the circumstances surrounding the case of Chief Government Vehicle Inspector, Bhantshana Gwebu. Gwebu had been arrested and charged with contempt of court after he arrested a driver of High Court Judge Esther Ota. Gwebu spent nine days at the Sidwashini Correctional facility before he was released on E15,000 (US$1,500) bail. Amnesty reported, ‘The warrant used to arrest them, issued by Swaziland’s Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi, apparently subverted the normal legal process. The police at Mbabane 5 Swaziland: Striving for Freedom police station, where the men were initially detained prior to their appearance before the Chief Justice, also appear to have been acting under instructions when they denied their lawyers access. ‘Normal criminal procedure dictates the men should have then appeared before a magistrate.