The
United States has made it perfectly clear to Swaziland: make democratic reforms
by May or lose a preferential trade agreement.
An
estimated 20,000 Swazi people could lose their jobs in the textile industry if
the US acts.
But,
we should not expect King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute
monarch, to care: every time in the past the international community has told
him to democratise the kingdom, he has ignored them. There’s no reason to
suppose this time will be different.
The
United States has given Swaziland until 15 May 2014 to make significant changes
to laws in the kingdom that restrict political and workers’ rights.
At
stake is Swaziland’s continued ability to export textile goods to the US
without having to pay tariffs under the Africa Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA).
US Ambassador to Swaziland Makila James told local
media that Swaziland had been given eight years to
comply with the requirements but nothing significant had happened. Now, things
had to change. ‘We are not negotiating. The terms are clear,’ she told the Observer Sunday newspaper.
The Observer reported, ‘Listing
the conditions, she said they include full passage of amendments to the
Industrial Relations Act; full passage of amendments to the Suppression of
Terrorism Act (STA); full passage of amendments to the Public Order Act; full
passage of amendments to sections 40 and 97 of the Industrial Relations Act
relating to civil and criminal liability to union leaders during protest
actions; and establishing a code of conduct for the police during public
protests.’
She added that there needed to be greater accountability of the police
force in Swaziland. ‘There is a need to give police better guidance so they can
do proper law enforcement.’
The Observer estimated that if
AGOA benefits were removed from Swaziland 20,000 jobs would be lost in the
textile industry as firms moved out of the kingdom to other countries in the
sub-Saharan Africa region that continued to have preferential tariff agreements
with the US.
The US has been criticising the lack of democracy in Swaziland for
several years. In a public statement in April 2013, the
US
Embassy in Swaziland said it had ‘deep concern’ about the way police
engaged in ‘acts of intimidation and fear’ against people seeking their political
rights.
The statement came after armed police, acting without a
court order, barricaded a restaurant in Manzini to stop people attending a
public meeting to discuss the national election in Swaziland.
The US embassy said it had deep concern about the manner
in which representatives of political organisations and lawyers for human
rights were treated by police.
The police blockade of the restaurant took place on 12
April 2013 and was intended to mark the 40th anniversary of the Royal Decree in
1973 by King Sobhuza II that tore up the constitution and allowed the king to
introduce any law he wished and to change existing ones.
The decree has never been rescinded and his son, Mswati
III today rules Swaziland as an absolute monarch.
The US embassy said it was, ‘[C]oncerned that a group of
people were prevented from entering a restaurant, where they had planned to
hold their meeting and were forcibly removed from the premises by police’.
The statement added that the 2005 Swaziland Constitution
guaranteed freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association.
It further said Swazi security forces had a duty to
protect the rights of citizens to, ‘communicate ideas and information without
interference’.
This was not the first time the US embassy in Swaziland
has criticised the Swaziland ruling regime. A year earlier in
April 2012it said, ‘We urge the Swazi government to take the necessary steps to ensure
the promotion and protection of the fundamental rights and freedoms of all
Swazi citizens as outlined in the Swazi constitution, including freedom of conscience,
of expression, of peaceful assembly and association, and of movement.’
The statement went on, ‘The United States government is
deeply concerned about increasing infringements on freedom of assembly, as
evidenced by the recent actions taken by Swazi security forces to prevent
peaceful citizens from gathering for a
prayer
meeting on Saturday, April 14 in Manzini as well as
reports
of those same forces preventing people from gathering in groups of more
than two people in Manzini and Mbabane on April 11 and 12.’
There is little expectation that Swaziland will comply with the latest US
requirements. In the past King Mswati has refused to make democratic reforms in
return for assistance. In 2011 he refused to accept a R2.4 billion
(US$ 240 million) donation from South Africa to help his bankrupt kingdom and
avert a humanitarian crisis because it had demands for democratic reform
attached.
See also
KINGDOM FACES HUMAN RIGHTS PROBE