SWAZILAND@NEWSLETTER EXTRA
PUBLISHED BY SOUTHERN AFRICA CONTACT (DENMARK)
24 February 2006

Swaziland Solidarity Network, based in South Africa, has issued the
following statement on the call
by Paul Yaw Boateng, the newly appointed British High Commissioner to
Swaziland, for the unbanning
of political parties.

The Swaziland Solidarity Network welcomes the call by the newly appointed
British High Commissioner to the Kingdom of Swaziland for the unbaning of
political parties.
We welcome in particular when he said "Lifting of the ban on political
parties would open
the way to dialogue with all the interested groups" *Times of Swaziland
February 17, 2006*. This endorses the call which was made by PUDEMO in its
document called "The Way Forward" of twenty years ago. The High
Commissioner went
further by saying ""Surely, political parties breed a healthy debate in as
far as the future of a country is concerned."

However, under the leadership of Don McKinnon, the Commonwealth Secretariat
has stood in the way of the pro-democracy movement in Swaziland and
provided
unwavering support to a regime that practices torture. Many international
organizations have raised concerns about the detention of pro-democracy
activists and the practice of torture in Swaziland. It is astounding that
the Commonwealth Secretariat has never questioned gross violations of human
rights in Swaziland including the recent torture to death of an innocent
woman married to one of the detained pro-democracy activists. The
Commonwealth seems unconcerned as it shockingly continues to promote the
regime as a symbol of democracy. On its website, the Commonwealth
Secretariat displays a caption of King Mswati III presenting the Draft
Constitution in 2003 to promote the organization's ideal of democracy and
good governance.

On the other hand, the Commonwealth refuses to work with the pro-democracy
movement and actively frustrates efforts by the broader Swazi community to
bring about meaningful democratic changes in Swaziland.

Surely to us and the people of Swaziland this call by the British
government
is long overdue.

In South Africa's case provocateurs and false-flag operatives working
covertly for the state posed as a "third force" and conducted
indiscriminate
terrorism for years within the country, in the 1980s and 1990s, seeking to
blame their atrocities upon the liberation movement.

It appears that the Swazi regime is now using the same tactics and even
possibly some of the same South African individuals to assist them. We note
the employment of white South African lawyers (Dr. Len Els and Anthony
Viviers) in the prosecution of the PUDEMO comrades.

The current regime will not stand in the face of gathering local and
international exasperation with the regime's lack of genuine change. The
so-called "constitution-making exercise" has been a smokescreen for the
regime for 8 years, but it no longer has this to hide behind. Its
fraudulent
pretence at change is becoming painfully obvious to even the most reluctant
observers, and the Swazi people must know that change will come.

It is scandalous that the regime continues to find comfort from
international organizations such as the Commonwealth. This is one factor
helping to delay the inevitable changes ahead for Swaziland. On several
occasions, we have challenged the Commonwealth Secretariat to justify and
explain its continued support. However, like the regime
in Swaziland, the Commonwealth has refused to open dialogue with the
pro-democracy movement.

As the Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN) we join PUDEMO, SFTU, and the
mass
democratic movement in appealing to international human rights and
humanitarian organizations to write to the Commonwealth and condemn its
behavior in relation to Swaziland.

Issued by Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN)
For more information please contact

Lucky Lukhele
Email: ssnnetwork@...

-------------------
SWAZILAND NEWSLETTER is published by Southern Africa Contact (SAC,
Denmark), and appears twice monthly. If there are suggestions as to the
content of the newsletter, please let us know at pmm@...

If you wish either to subscribe or discontinue subscription send a mail
to: SAK-Swazinewsletter-subscribe@...

Earlier issues can be read at
http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/SAK-Swazinewsletter

Support the democratic movement in Swaziland. Donations can be made
through the MANDELA FUND: BG Bank, Norre Voldgade 68, 1358 Copenhagen K,
Denmark. SWIFT-BIC: DABADKKK. Registration Number: 0274. Account Number:
3327000. The MANDELA FUND is a registered national collection in Denmark.
==========================================