SWAZI ARMY HARASSES LESBIAN

A female soldier who is said to have ‘wept uncontrollably’ at the funeral of a murdered lesbian woman is being harassed by the army.

The soldier, who is reported by the Times of Swaziland to have been an ex-lover of the dead woman Pitseng Vilakati, says since the funeral she is being harassed at work.

She is also being investigated by the Intelligence Department, presumably because he is suspected of being a lesbian.

The media have been exciting themselves over the past few months since Vilakati and her partner Thuli Rudd announced they were to marry in what was believed to have been the first ‘lesbian wedding’ in Swaziland.

Vilakati was found dead last month (December 2009) and her partner Rudd was accused of her murder.

Although she at first admitted committing the murder (possibly after being beaten by police) Rudd has now denied the charge.

The soldier (who understandably wanted to remain anonymous because of the hatred media coverage of homosexuality has been generating in Swaziland) told the Times ever since the funeral, she had been ridiculed by some of her superiors.

‘I have also gathered that I am being investigated by the Intelligence Department. I really do not understand what they want from me as I was mourning someone I loved,” she told the Times, Swaziland’s only independent daily newspaper.

The soldier said her colleagues always mock her when she passed by.

She said at one time, they had gone for a parade and the instructor allegedly said they would leave no stone unturned in this matter as it was tarnishing the name of the force.

She said life is now difficult for her at her workplace as a day does not pass without the superiors saying something regarding this matter.

Since the media, the church and other sections of Swazi society condemned the lesbian couple, international human rights groups have rallied to their defence, calling for greater understanding of homosexuality.

They also want to ensure that Rudd gets a fair trial, fearing that she has already been tried and convicted by public opinion before a hearing has even started.

WILL SWAZI LESBIAN GET FAIR TRIAL?

Concern is growing that the lesbian woman charged with murdering her partner in Swaziland will not get a fair trial.

Thuli Rudd was arrested after the body of Pitseng Vilakati was found in a churchyard in December 2009.

Rudd later appeared in court and pleaded guilty to a charge of murder. She was said to have been covered in bruises when she appeared, raising suspicions that she had been beaten by police.

The couple had made news in Swaziland when they announced they were to marry in what was believed to be the first lesbian marriage in the kingdom.

The media, the churches and ordinary people vilified the couple because of their sexuality.

The case has attracted international attention in human rights circles.

Monica Mbaru of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission in Africa says that Thuli is being tried and convicted by the media and the public before the investigation has been completed and that a strong possibility of this being a hate crime by homophobic persons may be ignored in the haste to prove Thuli guilty and further feed into the already high levels of homophobia.

Fikile Vilakazi of the Coalition of African Lesbians, a pan African network of over 20 member organizations of lesbian women and transgender people in 13 countries across Africa, appealed to all fair-minded and freedom loving people in Swaziland to continue to resist and challenge all forms of discrimination, including that based on homophobia in this country.

Dawn Cavanagh, an activist on the Board of the Coalition of African Lesbians, applauded all those who wrote and called in to the media throughout the publicity around the relationship between the two women and their later engagement.

She called for sustained courage in speaking out for the rights of all, including those in same sex relations, to choose with whom to have intimate relationships.

Fikile Vilakazi strongly condemned the sustained and vitriolic verbal attacks on the persons of Thuli Rudd and Pitseng Vilakati. She stated that this constituted emotional abuse and a violation of their rights and the rights of all LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people in Swaziland.

LGBT activists in Swaziland have consistently declared that same sex relations are a reality in Swaziland, as they are worldwide. The movement to open up society and to enable those who are attracted to members of the same sex is strong and vibrant. It is a fact that same sex relations have been in African societies for centuries.

The Coalition of African Lesbians and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission strongly condemned the murder of Pitseng Vilakati and all other acts of violence against women in Swaziland.

It calls on the state to ensure a prompt, full and thorough investigation to bring the murderer or murderers to book. ‘We call on the state in its prosecution of Thuli Rudd to exercise fairness and to ensure that the homophobia that exist, even within the criminal justice system, and the violations of the rights of LGBT people are not allowed to permeate and colour the state’s case. Thuli has the constitutional right to innocence until proved guilty following thorough investigation and a fair trial,’ it said in a statement.

The Coalition of African Lesbians and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission says ‘it will ensure that Thuli Rudd has access to her constitutional rights and that this case is carefully monitored and documented to ensure that justice is done, both for Thulani and for the late Pitseng Vilakati’.

MURDER AND GAY HATE IN SWAZILAND

The following is an extract from the sexgenderbody website about the murder of Swazi woman Pitseng Vilakati who was vilified by the Swaziland press after she announced that she and her lesbian partner Thuli Rudd were to marry each other. Thui Rudd was arrested late December 2009 and charged with the murder of Vilakati.

‘Since August 2009 when Rudd went public with her engagement to the late Pitseng Vilakati, they have been in the spotlight with many people in Swaziland condemning their relationship. They have been under extraordinary pressure and both women demonstrated incredible courage in the face of this pressure.

‘Whilst in South Africa, Thulani had met with activists and discussed the endless violations of her and her partner’s human right to dignity, freedom and equality throughout 2009. There had been major media coverage of their relationship with numerous distortions and misrepresentations as well as a massive public reaction which was largely hostile, insulting and deeply disrespectful.

‘Monica Mbaru of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission in Africa expressed concern that Thulani is being tried and convicted by the media and the public before the investigation has been completed and that a strong possibility of this being a hate crime by homophobic persons may be ignored in the haste to prove Thulani guilty and further feed into the already high levels of homophobia.

‘Fikile Vilakazi of the Coalition of African Lesbians, a pan African network of over 20 member organizations of lesbian women and transgender people in 13 countries across Africa, expressed concern about the levels of homophobia in Swaziland and elsewhere on the continent and appealed to all fair-minded and freedom loving people in Swaziland to continue to resist and challenge all forms of discrimination, including that based on homophobia in this country.

‘The Coalition of African Lesbians also extends its condolences to the family of the late Pitseng Vilakati. We remember Pitseng Vilakati as a powerful activist for human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people as well as of people living with HIV and AIDS. She was a leader and showed enormous courage in a context of the hostility and discrimination against people in same sex relationships in Swaziland.’

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