BY JABULANE MATSEBULA
The Swaziland government launched a vicious attack on the freedom of speech and the press on May 4, when it issued an order to shut down the Guardian of Swaziland and the Nation Magazine.
Police impounded copies of the Guardian. Journalists working for the publications have been subjected to severe state persecution including police interrogation, intimidation and harassment.
The ban comes at a time when power squabbles within the ruling Swazi royal family are making headlines. Stories about the alleged poisoning of King Mswati III by one of his eight wives have been particularly prominent.
The Guardian first broke the news about the 33-year-old absolute monarch's woes, which the royal family and the government had kept a strict secret. The newspaper also described the waste of public resources at a luxurious royal palace, which apparently included wild drinking parties.
The dictatorial Swazi government has a reputation for being highly intolerant of media publications critical of the monarchy. Severe sanctions are often brought against individual journalists and media organisations which do not exercise self-censorship to the government's satisfaction.
In 1999, charges were brought against the editor of the Times Sunday for an article about one of King Mswati III's wives. In an attempt to avoid state sanctions, newspaper's management accused the editor of "insubordination" and sacked him.
Even the state-owned newspaper, the Swazi Observer, has not escaped the government's campaign against media and journalists who exercise independence. On two occasions, the government has ordered the closure of the Swazi Observer for failing to comply with the state's political demands. In 1999, the newspaper's entire work force was sacked.
After unsuccessful attempts to have the newspaper reopened and the work force reinstated, the journalists established the Guardian of Swaziland.
Both the Nation and the Guardian of Swaziland have been crucial in pioneering media independence in the tiny southern African country. They have provided a platform for the public to express their views. Through these publications, the public has gained an understanding of the waste, corruption, incompetence, laziness and the dog-eat-dog power relations associated with the monarchy's administration.
As punishment for their independence, the Guardian and the Nation have been targets of systemic state terrorism aimed at suffocating press freedom. The bans imposed on these publications are aimed at reasserting the government's authoritarian control over the mass media. The intention, it seems, is to re-build a culture of docility and patronage within the media.
Freedom of speech and of the press is a fundamental human right. The international community, and particularly the Commonwealth, the United Nations, the Organisation of African Unity and the Southern African Development Community, have for too long ignored the gross violation of these rights by the Swazi monarchy.
Countries such as South Africa and Britain, which pride themselves as icons of democracy, have condoned the repressive system in Swaziland and turned a blind eye to the gross violation of human rights.
In 1998, the South African Defence Force commander Siphiwe Nyanda pledged security support for the Swazi monarchy. Recently, South Africa's deputy president, Jacob Zuma, reiterated the South African government's support for the absolute monarch's administration. Similarly, the British government, through its former high commissioner to Swaziland John Doble, has actively supported the monarch's repression.
The People's United Democratic Movement appeals to all these international bodies and governments, such as South Africa, to reconsider their laissez faire positions on Swaziland.
[Jabulane Matsebula is the People's United Democratic Movement's representative to Australia, Asia and the Pacific. He can be contacted at <pudemo@yahoo.co.uk>.]