Demokratiforkæmpere nægtet kaution i Swaziland

I går blev demokratiforkæmperne Mario Masuku og Maxwell Dlamini igen nægtet løsladelse mod kaution, selvom Masuku er blevet syg i fængslet, og lider af sukkersyge og gigt. De er anklaget for terrorisme, fordi de kritiserede Swaziland’s enevældige monarki i taler 1. maj.

Mario Masuku og Maxwell Dlamini er henholdsvis præsident og ungdomsleder i People’s United Democratic Movement(PUDEMO), et forbudt parti eller bevægelse der kæmper for demokrati i det lille enevældige kongedømme. De er anklaget under Swazilands Suppression of Terrorism Act, en lov der definerer terrorisme som enhver handling der ”er til fare for den nationale sikkerhed”.

Fattige bønders huse ødelagt for at gøre plads til videnskabspark

Mindst tyve familiers huse er indtil videre blevet jævnet med jorden af bulldozere i det nordøstlige Swaziland. Landets enevældige konge skal bruge jorden til en videnskabspark til turister.

”Hvorfor må jeg lide på denne måde, hvorfor har de taget alt fra os”, spørger Sonto Dlamini med tårer i øjnene en journalist fra Times of Swaziland. Hun er eneforsørger for adskillige børn og børnebørn, og har måttet sove på jorden på tom mave, ved siden af resterne af sit hus og alle sine ejendele.

Musas mystiske skotøjsæske eksploderede

Studenterlederen Musa Ngubeni fra Swaziland insisterer på, at anklagerne mod ham for besiddelse af sprængstoffer er fabrikerede og politisk motiverede. Anklagemyndigheden har mere eller mindre bevidst forhalet retssagen i over tre år, fordi de reelt ingen beviser har mod ham, siger han.

”Den brune skotøjsæske har aldrig været fremvist i retten, så jeg forstår ikke hvorfor sagen imod mig fortsætter”, fortæller Musa Ngubeni mig. Æsken var angiveligt fuld af ledninger, sprængstoffer, og detonatorer, og anklageren hævder at den blev fundet nær Ngubenis hjem i Mbikwakhe i Swaziland i 2011, selvom æsken aldrig er blevet fremvist i retten.

Mystery brown shoe box keeps Musa in court

Swazi student leader Musa Ngubeni insists that the charges of possession of explosives against him are fabricated and political, and that the state has more or less deliberately stalled his case for over three years due to lack of evidence.

“The brown shoe box was never produced in court, so I am not really sure what I have to answer for in this case,” Musa Ngubeni tells me. He is speaking of a box full of wires, explosives and detonators that the Swazi state claims was found near his home in Mbikwakhe in 2011, but which the prosecution has failed to produce.

Swazier revser landets udemokratiske regering

Swaziland’s enevældige konge, og hans håndplukkede regering, har længe hævdet at indbyggerne i det lille afrikanske kongedømme er glade for landets udemokratiske system og styreform, og at regeringen forsøger at forbedre forholdene for landets mange fattige. Demokratibevægelsen og civilsamfundet, derimod, har altid hævdet det modsatte.

Men nu har meningsmålinger, foretaget af det uafhængige researchinstitut Afrobarometer, vist at borgerne i Swaziland er endog meget utilfredse med landets styreform, samt kongens og regeringens korrupte varetagelse af denne.

Police break up Mandela memorial in absolute monarchy

Leaders and dignitaries from all over the world took part in a memorial for Nelson Mandela on Tuesday in Johannesburg. And all over the world, local memorial services are being held to enable ordinary people to mourn the passing of, and celebrate the life of, Mandela.

All over the world, but not in South Africa’s neighbouring country, the small absolute monarchy of Swaziland, where police today broke up a memorial prayer service at the Lutheran Church in Manzini organised by the Swaziland United Democratic Front (SUDF), “by brute force.”

New film shows dark side of Swaziland, but also light at the end of the tunnel

The newly released film “The King and the People”, directed by Zimmedia owner Simon Bright, gives an historic insight into the tiny absolute kingdom of Swaziland, and it shows the brutal nature of the regime that runs the country, as well as the pervasive corruption, lack of media and other freedoms, poverty and inequality.

But the film also shows the growing hope of a more democratic and equal society that is epitomized by the country’s democratic movement, unions and civil society.

Swazi elections ”not credible”, says Commonwealth

“Parliamentarians continue to have severely limited powers, and political parties continue to remain proscribed … there is considerable room for improving the democratic system, in light of Swaziland’s international obligations. We therefore cannot conclude that the entire process was credible,” the Commonwealth Observer Mission, chaired by former Malawian President Bakili Muluzi, stated in a report on Swaziland’s recently held elections on Sunday.

The political system in Swaziland, although including periodic elections, cannot be said to be democratic in any meaningful sense of the word. Swaziland’s absolute monarch, King Mswati III, himself appoints the government, most of the senate, and several members of the parliament, the rest of which he has to approve, and he can veto any law he doesn’t like.

Voters in Swaziland boycott elections for powerless parliament

Very few Swazis appear to have voted in Friday’s elections in Swaziland; elections that were criticised by observers from the African Union and the Commonwealth for e.g. the power of chiefs in candidate nomination and for not allowing political parties to participate. Swazis have thus apparently heeded a campaign to boycott elections.

“Swaziland’s Elections and Boundaries Commission has not yet come out with the secondary election turnout, but through our powerful team of organisers on the ground we have given the office all regional figures, that indicate that 80,000 [out of a potential of approximately 600,000 eligible voters] actually voted,” the Swaziland United Democratic Front (SUDF) said in a statement.

Skinvalg i Swaziland

Valgene i Swaziland i morgen, fredag, er skinvalg. I første valgrunde må kandidaterne end ikke diskutere politik med vælgerne. Den enevældige kong Mswati III udpeger regeringen, det meste af senatet, og dele af parlamentet, hvis medlemmer han skal godkende.  Og kongen kan nedlægge veto imod alle love han ikke bryder sig om. Da de enkelte folketingsmedlemmer således ingen reel magt har, handler valgene for mange af dem derfor i stigende grad om personlig berigelse, og ikke politik.

Afrika Kontakt og Enhedslisten – som har et partnerskab med Swazilands største parti PUDEMO i DIPD-regi – betragter derfor valgene i Swaziland som udemokratiske og som et spil for galleriet