Swaziland is a country in turmoil; a country tearing itself apart
from the inside by the actions of an uncaring head of state and a regime
that is getting more brutal by the day.
So say the bishops of South Africa in a strongly worded statement,
after a five-man delegation from the bishops’ conference returned from
visiting their fellow bishop, Bishop Louis S. Ndlovu of Manzini.
Swaziland, with a population of 1.2 million, 20 per cent Catholic,
has been in a state of emergency since 1973 when King Sobhuza II usurped
all power by a royal decree that vested all authority in him.
Political parties and political activities were banned. It is evident
that these powers need to be curtailed, say the bishops, since their
abuse by those in authority is the primary cause of the current crisis,
in which dissenting views meet with brutality of the highest order.
Currently the country has the highest HIV / AIDs infection rate in
the world (26 per cent); the lowest life expectancy in the world (32
years); a 40 per cent unemployment rate, and 70 per cent living below
the poverty line (under $6.00 a day).
“Pro-democracy and human rights activists have their home arbitrarily
raided; they themselves are arrested, detained and beaten up by
security forces, presumably under orders of the king who is the
Commander-in-Chief,” said Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, leader of the Church
in South Africa, who led the delegation to Swaziland.
Despite having a Constitution that” supposedly”guarantees the rights
enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the current
constitution simply enshrines the King's 1973 Decree, which has
‘claw-back’ clauses, which, in fact, deprive citizens of their basic
rights - to expression, assembly and association.
This makes Swaziland a
police state in which political parties remain banned, said the
archbishop of Durban.
Citing examples of repression like the recent quashing of protest
marches in Manzini, scheduled for April 12 2011 and a subsequent
security clampdown, the lack of concern over human rights violations,
despite the creation of a Human Rights Commission, and the mysterious
deaths of two activists while in custody, the bishops say even the
Suppression of Terrorism Act (pushed through to allegedly fight global
terrorism), has been used by the government to silence its critics.
They also charge the king and his regime with corruption, saying that
money intended to alleviate the suffering of the poor is being diverted
to “support the lavish lifestyle of the monarchy and its cohorts,
namely the King, his 13 wives, 30 children, other members of the royal
family and hangers-on.”
The bishops have called on the king to end the state of emergency,
repeal the 1973 Decree and reinstate the full range of human rights. In
addition they ask King Mswati III to enter into “meaningful dialogue
with his people in order to facilitate movement towards true democracy
his country.”
The South African bishops have asked Catholics and all people of
goodwill in Southern Africa to pray for “meaningful change in Swaziland
as the most effective way of expressing solidarity with the People of
Swaziland.”