CAN COMMISSION OF HUMAN RIGHTS FUNCTION PROPERLY?

THE 25th Session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), which took place in May 2016, saw Swaziland appearing for its peer review. Some recommendations were put to the country and Swaziland accepted them.

Some of the recommendations related to the Commission on Human Rights and Public Administration. Most of the recommendations show a biasness towards human rights. One recommendation was that the State should pursue efforts to ensure the smooth functioning and full independence of the Human Rights Commission. Another was that the institution should be strengthened in order to bring it into full compliance with the Paris Principles.

The Paris Principles were adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 20, 1993 under Resolution 48/134. I mention this because our country is a member of the United Nations and is expected to follow this resolution. The Human Rights Commission in Swaziland was formed through the provisions of the Constitution. That means before we passed the Constitution we were already aware of the Paris Principles and therefore should have adhered to them when setting up the commission. It is, however, disappointing that in 2017 we are still being encouraged to adhere to the same Principles and we seem to be failing.

Swaziland accepted the recommendation of the UPR without any problems but up to date nothing has been done or there is no overt move to implement it. The Paris Principles provide that the Human Rights Commission is supposed to assist in the formulation of programmes for teaching and research of human rights. It is to take part in the execution of such programmes in schools, universities and professional circles. Human rights are considered taboo in our societies and they are perceived as foreign and the commission is not educating the nation.

The Paris Principles require the Human Rights Commission to publicise human rights and increase public awareness through information and education. The commission has a duty to reach out to communities and educate them on human rights and concerns from parents that it will corrupt their children would not be there as they themselves would be aware of their rights.
The commission is supposed to prepare reports on the national situation when it comes to human rights. It is to contribute to the reports which the State will submit to the United Nations’ bodies and committees. Is that what is happening in the country? Is the Human Rights Commission compiling reports on the human rights situation in this country? If yes, where is the report kept and why is it not publicised because the nation has to know where the country is in terms of human rights? I want to know whether the Human Rights Commission thinks we are protecting and promoting human rights as a country.

The country has still not ratified the 2nd Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It is the duty of the Human Rights Commission to encourage the State to ratify and accession of such instruments as they help the promotion of human rights. It is also the duty of the commission to insure the implementation of such instruments after the ratification. So they have to make sure the people of Swaziland do enjoy the benefits of the international instruments and they do not only remain on paper. But the Human Rights Commission seems to be failing in this regard. I am basing this on the recommendations of the UPR which Swaziland agreed to implement but up to date there is no move on the ground. I think this is one instrument that the commission should be using as our country commits to implement the recommendations without being forced but they volunteered. Then the commission has to make sure that there is implementation of same.

I sympathise with the commission because in the Constitution, its duty is reactionary than proactive. It has to investigate and remedy, correct and reverse what has already happened. There is nowhere in the Constitution where it is given a mandate to educate and inform the people on their rights. This to me is a contradiction because we are to follow the Paris Principles and when the commission was established we already knew of these Principles. Even the composition of the Commission is a problem because according to the Principles it must be established through a procedure that affords pluralist representation of the social forces involved in the protection and promotion of human rights.

The Constitution provides that the King shall appoint the commission on advice of the Judicial Service Commission. There are concerns on the Judicial Service Commission itself and your guess on the people they will recommend is as good as mine. Therefore I conclude that the commission on Human Rights and Public Administration cannot function properly.

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