SWAZI SOLIDARITY PICKET RESUMES

The Swaziland Solidarity Network [SSN] is to restart its regular protest picket outside the Swaziland Consulate in Braampark, Braamfontein, Johannesburg , South Africa.

The pickets take place on the first and last Fridays of each month. The first of the new series is on 21 January 2011. The picket starts at 13.00 hrs.

In a statement the SSN said the pickets were in support of the incarcerated terrorism suspects Swaziland Youth Conrgress (SWAYOCO) President Bheki Dlamini, Zonke Dlamini and Amos Mbendzi.

SSN said, ‘We demand the immediate and unconditional release of all three comrades because they are political prisoners who cannot have a free and fair trial under the prevailing system of governance in Swaziland.

‘These pickets are a continuation of those demanding the release of Amos Mbendzi and Mario Masuku from 2008 to 2009. To this day we insist that the release of Masuku was a result of political pressure rather than a mere judicial one.’

SWAZI GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION DETAILS

A draft programme of action has been drawn up for the Global Day of Action for Swaziland democracy.

It includes boycotting the cell phone company MTN in protest at the exorbitant tariffs it charges because of its monopoly position.

The Swaziland Democracy Campaign (SDC), which released details of the programme, said MTN was ‘also notorious for violating customer information/records confidentiality and allowing police to intercept private calls'.

Twenty civil society groups came together to draw up the final programme for the action which takes place from 6 – 8 September 2010.

A number of issues will be highlighted, including provision of pensions, income tax for the low paid, the policy on student scholarships, the Public Service Bill and the Suppression of Terrorism Act.

There will be two separate protest marches, one in Manzini and the other in Mbabane. The march in Mbabane will stop to deliver petitions ‘to such overtly pro-state (uncritical) public institutions as the Swazi Observer Group of newspapers and the Swaziland Broadcasting and Information Service (SBIS)'.

A separate petition will be delivered to the Minister of Justice calling for a speedy trial of incarcerated Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO) members Bheki Dlamini and Zonke Dlamini who were recently denied bail on charges of throwing bottles of petrol.

SDC also says delegations of support were also expected from the United Kingdom, Germany, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa, Ghana and Australia.

POLICE TORTURE IN SWAZI ‘BOMB’ CASE

Swazi police tortured two men accused of terrorist activities to get them to confess.

The Swaziland High Court was told that more than 12 police officers tied one of them to a bench, handcuffed him and then used a rubber tube, plastic bag and surgical gloves to suffocate him in an attack that lasted more than an hour.

Bhekumusa Dlamini, who is accused of involvement in a spate of petrol bottle attacks in Swaziland, said in a written statement to the court that he was arrested at his home and taken to KaPhunga Police Station where he was attacked by at least 12 police officers.

Bhekumusa Dlamini said, ‘I was insulted, called names, slapped on my face and all over my body by the whole contingent of officers therein.'

He went on, ‘At KaPhunga Police Station, I was severely tortured, tied onto a bench facing up, my chest tied around the bench, my legs as well and my arms were handcuffed at the back around the bench.

‘For over an hour or even more I would be suffocated by use of a rubber tube, plastic bag and surgical gloves. One officer carried a jar full of cold water that he would spill onto my face each time the suffocation tools were momentarily moved.

‘I was suffocated to the extent that I soiled myself and I was in no position to deny anything I was told to admit.’

In another separate incident, Zonke Dlamini, who is charged alongside Bhekumusa Dlamini, told the High Court in a statement that he was taken to KaPhunga Police Station and tortured in the same way as Bhekumusa Dlamini, but this time 18 police officers were involved.

In a statement to the court he said he almost lost consciousness several times. He says the torturing made him confess to involvement in terrorism.

Torture by police officers in Swaziland is common. On Monday this week (26 July 2010) I reported how at least 10 police officers were caught torturing a suspect at Mbabane police station.

On Tuesday I reported how a case had been filed in the Swaziland High Court against police in Manzini after a man accused of stealing a cellphone was suffocated after he had his hands cuffed and his feet tied.