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Supporters of LGBTI rights
outside the High Court in Swaziland
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A crowd of supporters in
Swaziland (eSwatini), including the European Union Ambassador to the kingdom Esmeralda Hernandez Aragones, picketed the High Court as a local LGBTI
rights group continued its fight for legal recognition.
The kingdom’s Registrar of Companies refused in September 2019 to recognise the eSwatini Sexual and Gender
Minorities (ESGM) and without this it cannot operate legally. ESGM aims to advance the protection of human
rights of LGBTI ((lesbian,
gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex) people in Swaziland.
Homosexual activities are illegal in Swaziland and
King Mswati III, the absolute monarch, is on record calling homosexuality ‘satanic’.
The court was due to hear the case on Wednesday (24 June 2020)
but postponed it when Judge Mumcy Dlamini recused herself because one of the
government’s lawyers Mbuso Dlamini is her brother-in-law.
Discrimination against LGBTI people is widespread in
Swaziland. The Government says that the ESGM is illegal because it encourages
same-sex activity. It says the Swazi Constitution does not specifically protect
the rights of LGBTI people.
In a statement
ahead of the hearing ESGM said, ‘ESGM argues that the
Registrar was wrong to assume that ESGM’s purpose was illegal when there was no
evidence of this. ESGM’s mission is to protect and advance the interests of
LGBTI persons through education and advocacy. Eswatini’s laws do not make it a
crime to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.
‘The law is the same for everyone. It must treat us
all fairly. Our laws also do not make it a crime to campaign to protect
the rights of LGBTI persons. We are free to speak our minds and to associate
with – spend time with – anybody we want to.
‘ESGM disagrees with the Registrar’s argument that our
constitutional rights were not violated by the Registrar. Constitutional rights
in eSwatini belong to everybody, whatever our difference. We all have the right
to have our dignity respected and protected.’
In an
affidavit to the court Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce,
Industry and Trade, Siboniso Nkambule, said, ‘The actions of eSwatini Sexual
and Gender Minorities constitute unnatural action which ought to be stopped in
our society for purposes of our young generation as well as the public
interest.’
The High Court will resume on 23 July 2020.
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Campaigners supporting the eSwatini Sexual and Gender
Minorities in its bid for legal recognition
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EU Ambassador to eSwatini,
Esmeralda Hernandez Aragones interviewed by a journalist
(All photos accessed from social media)
See also
Swaziland
LGBTI group cannot be registered because ‘Constitution does not protect against
discrimination’
LGBTI
discrimination in Swaziland leads to big mental health issues, report finds
LGBT
Pride film shows what it’s like to live with prejudice and ignorance in
Swaziland
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