 |
|
King Mswati III inspects
guard of honour Image source: telegraph.co.uk
|
As Swaziland celebrates its 47th
independence anniversary on Sunday, Africa's last absolute monarchy is still
grappling with basic freedoms, a rights group said. The southern African nation of Swaziland
gained independence from Britain on Sept. 6 1968. Today it is ruled by King
Mswati III, who inherited the throne in 1986 and enjoys broad authority,
including appointing the prime minister and his Cabinet, according to a government
website. The country holds regular parliamentary elections.
"It
is ironic that as Swaziland celebrates 47 years of independence from Britain
today, it continues to use legislation to shut down dissenting voices used by
the colonial regime for the same purpose," Deprose Muchena, Amnesty
International's southern Africa director, said in a statement.
AP
report continues:
Political
activists campaigning for increased freedoms and decentralized power have been
detained under these laws, Amnesty said.
Human
rights lawyer Thulani Maseko and journalist Bheki Makhubu spent more than one
year in prison after being convicted of contempt of court for publishing
articles scrutinizing threats to judicial independence. They were released
after the Supreme Court overturned their conviction in June. Swaziland has
since undertaken judicial reform, beginning when the king fired the chief
justice, reported Swazi newspapers.
"As
I sat in prison, I often asked myself what lessons were to be learned by
punishing me for daring to ask a powerful man why he was breaking the
law?" Makhubu wrote for the August edition of Swaziland's The Nation
magazine. Makhubu wrote he remains hopeful that the constitution, adopted in
2005, will uphold rights and accountability.
About 63 percent of
Swaziland's 1.2 million people live below the poverty line, according to the
World Bank. Swaziland has one of the world's highest rates of HIV, with 26
percent of adults infected, according to Doctors Without Borders.
No comments:
Post a Comment