Amnesty International Report 2004 - Swaziland

Covering events from January - December 2003

The independence of the judiciary and the authority of the courts continued to be seriously undermined by government officials and police. The rights of freedom of association, assembly and expression remained restricted, and security forces used excessive force to disperse demonstrators. Women continued to be denied equal rights under the law, and the incidence of reported rapes rose sharply. One death sentence was imposed by the High Court; there were no executions.

Background

In May King Mswati III released for public consultation a draft constitution. The draft contained a bill of rights but included extensive limitations to those rights. AI raised its concerns about these limitations in a submission to the Constitution Drafting Committee. In November, following public discussions on the draft, the King postponed the adoption of a constitution until 2004.

Parliamentary elections took place in October. Nearly a fifth of the members of the parliament were women. In November the King appointed a new Prime Minister, Absalom Themba Dlamini – the Chief Executive Officer of Tibiyo Taka Ngwane, a company controlled by the royal family.

Up to a quarter of the population required food aid. The government announced that the level of HIV infection among pregnant women attending ante-natal clinics was 38.6 per cent. There was extremely limited availability of appropriate drug treatment for those living with or at risk of HIV/AIDS. Prisoners at Matsapha Central Prison told the Swaziland Red Cross Society in November that prisoners suffering from HIV and AIDSrelated illnesses were denied adequate medical care.

Rule of law undermined

The crisis in the rule of law remained unresolved despite the intervention of intergovernmental organizations and expert legal bodies. Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini would not withdraw his November 2002 statement in which he declared that the government would not obey two Appeal Court judgments. The judges of the Appeal Court resigned in protest and were not replaced. High court judges and some magistrates were subjected to intimidation, demotion or other forms of pressure as a consequence of their rulings.

Prison officials refused to release suspects charged with offences that fell under the Non-Bailable Offences Order, despite court rulings granting the suspects bail and the Appeal Court ruling in 2002 that the "non-bailable" law was invalid.

The authorities continued to prevent the families of Chief Mliba Fakhudze and Chief Mtfuso II from returning to their homes in rural Macetjeni and KaMkhweli despite an Appeal Court ruling in their favour in 2002. The families, evicted at gunpoint in 2000 for political reasons, continued to suffer harassment and violations of economic and social rights, including the right to education.

In November, AI raised its concerns on these issues in a submission to the 34th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights.

Violations of freedom of assembly, association and expression

The rights of freedom of association, assembly and expression remained restricted under the King's Proclamation of April 1973.

On 13 August, when Swaziland was hosting the International Smart Partnership Dialogue, police and members of the Operational Support Services Unit used excessive force to disperse a trade union-organized demonstration in Mbabane. The security forces beat demonstrators and bystanders, including a woman with a baby on her back, with batons and gun butts. They targeted several trade unionists for systematic beatings amounting to torture. In one case, a branch official of the teachers' union, Micah Mathunjwa, fled into the Ministry of Agriculture building to escape tear gas and a police baton charge. A police officer pursued him and then beat him. When he ran into the street he was beaten by other police officers and shot with a rubber bullet. He required hospital treatment for his injuries. He lodged a complaint against the police but the police investigators appeared to have taken no action by the end of the year.

• Roland Rudd, a member of the Swaziland Agricultural and Plantations Workers Union (SAPWU), was detained by the security forces during the demonstration on 13 August after he had been hit on the head and body with gun butts and batons. While in custody he was denied proper medical care despite having visible injuries when brought to court. He and three other detained SAPWU members, Alex Langwenya, Lynn Dingani Mazibuko and Samkeliso Ncongwane, were charged with offences under the Arms and Ammunitions Act. They were granted bail by Mbabane magistrate's court, but the authorities refused to release them, citing orders of Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini. The detainees were finally released on bail after a second ruling by the magistrate's court on 3 September. Their trial had not begun by the end of the year.

Violence against women and girls

Under the law women continued to be denied equal rights. In March Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini reported that the number of rape cases had increased by 20 per cent in the past year. The frequent reports of rape particularly involved young girls from povertystricken homes. The Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse reported 88 such cases in a three-month period from July. Some victims were infected with HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases as a result of rape. People arrested for rape included police officers, teachers, pastors and relatives of the victims. Although some victims were put under pressure to accept informal settlement of their case, there were some prosecutions of perpetrators that resulted in convictions and prison sentences.

Death penalty

In February the High Court imposed a death sentence for murder on Richard Mabaso, a South African national. An appeal was lodged but could not be heard because there was no Appeal Court.

AI country visits

AI delegates visited Swaziland in July.