SD URGED TO ALLOW POLITICAL PARTIES

MBABANE – The African Commission on Human and People’s Rights has urged the Swazi Government to recognise political parties.
The commission, which is a branch of the African Union (AU), also called upon Swaziland to ensure the full enjoyment of the right to freedom of association and expression.

In its public statement emanating from its Mission to Swaziland on March 7-11, 2016, the Commission urged the kingdom to repeal all the laws which inhibited the full enjoyment of the right to freedom of expression and further enact a national legislation on access to information, to ensure free flow of information in the Kingdom of Swaziland.

In its statement, it further urged the country to respect the right to freedom to political participation as enshrined in Article 13 of the African Charter on Human and People’s right.
The Charter provides that: “Every citizen shall have the right to participate freely in the government of his country either directly or through freely chosen representatives in accordance with the provisions of the law.”

Between March 7 and 11, 2016, the Commission’s delegation held `constructive discussions’ with Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini, about efforts being made by the Swazi Government towards the fulfilment of its human rights obligations.
It also said that Swaziland’s human rights obligations included, among others, freedom of association and assembly; political participation; the independence of the Judiciary; the status of the death penalty; freedom of expression and the media; and implementation of the African Commission’s decisions.

The Commission’s report reveals that it undertook a Promotion Mission in the Kingdom of Swaziland from March 7-11, 2016, which was a follow up to the Mission conducted from August 21 to 25, 2006.
It is said that the recent visit to the country was aimed at reviewing the general situation in Swaziland and related thematic issues.Such were issues related to freedom of expression and access to information; prisons and conditions of detention; matters pertaining to the abolition of the death penalty; freedom of association and assembly; independence of the Judiciary; women’s rights; the rights of persons living with HIV/AIDS; and information regarding the impact of the extractive industries sector on human rights and the environment.

The delegation of the African Commission comprised Advocate Pansy Tlakula, the Chairperson of the African Commission and Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa. Others were Solomon Dersso, Chairperson of the Working Group on Extractive Industries, Environment and Human Rights Violations in Africa and Eva Heza, Legal Officer at the Secretariat of the Commission in Banjul, Gambia where the commission is headquartered.

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