SWAZI TOURISM AUTHORITY WEBSITE

I got this email following the publication of my post yesterday (4 November 2010) ‘Truth Breaks out in Swaziland’. I shan’t delete the original post as Resting requests because, whether he likes it or not, the website exists and it is of legitimate public interest.

Tourism Authority Website

Thursday, November 4, 2010 3:38 PM

From:

"Ali Resting"

To: swazimedia@yahoo.com

Cc: "'Philile Resting'"

Dear Publisher,

Please note your article http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/ references a non-legit website. www.welcometoswaziland.info is not the official website of the Tourism Authority.

The official website is www.welcometoswaziland.com

I would ask that you remove this article. The owner of this website is phishing. This is its own legal implications especially in [I’ve deleted the location - ed] where the site is hosted. As a seasoned journalist referencing such material can only compromise your integrity as a factual reporter.

Regards,

Ali Resting

Managing Director

Real Image Internet

"Swaziland's Leading Internet Service Provider"

TRUTH BREAKS OUT IN SWAZILAND

Has someone had a rush of blood to the head at the Swaziland Tourism Authority?

Suddenly truth has broken out at the body tasked with encouraging people to visit the kingdom.

The STA website is telling it like it is in the land, ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

Go to the ‘About Swaziland’ page and you will learn, ‘During Mswati III’s rule, the Swazi regime has become increasingly intolerant of, and violent towards, the ever-expanding democratic movement. The leadership and members of the main political party (all political parties are banned and illegal) advocating democracy and a respect for human rights, the People’s Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), have been singled out for harassment and mistreatment, but anyone voicing an opinion that is in opposition to the present, undemocratic regime is targeted by police.’

Visitors will also learn

• 69% of the Swaziland’s population survive on less than US 1$ dollar a day
• Over 40% of the population require food aid
• Swaziland in one of the financially most unequal countries in the world, even more so than Zimbabwe
• Swaziland’s military expenditure is the 19^th highest per capita in the world
• Political prisoners and detainees are more or less routinely tortured by police and security forces, and unfair trials and long delays in the justice system are commonplace
• Freedom of expression in Swaziland is seriously compromised, not least by the 2008 Suppression of Terrorism Act, and by the government labelling of all political oppositional forces as “terrorists”

And there is much more besides. I particularly liked the page on gifts for King Mswati.

It’s good to see the truth being told by an organisation sponsored by the Swazi Government.

Reality check: someone (not me, honest guv’nor) has hacked into the website. If it’s so easy to do, let’s go to the government website next.

RADIO'S BLIND EYE ON SWAZILAND

There are none so blind as he who will not see, is the best way to describe Rick Kelsey who reported on Swaziland for London’s LBC radio.

Kelsey visited Swaziland and wrote and presented a feature about rural life in the kingdom.

But somehow he managed not to see the seven in ten people who are so abjectly poor that they earn less than one US dollar a day. Nor did he meet any of the 300,000 people who would go hungry without the food donated by overseas’ aid organisation.

Unlike Michael Skolnik, who wrote and produced the documentary Without The King, Kelsey didn’t meet any of the Swazi rural folk who are struggling against state violence and organising politically to get democracy in the kingdom, ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

And unlike the UK Government, he gave no warning about the dangers of terrorism and police violence to tourists visiting Swaziland.

Instead, he interviewed a number of people who want to make a quick buck out of tourists and emphasised what he called the ‘beautiful scenery and very happy, relaxed people’.

Kelsey was in Swaziland on assignment for LBC to make a feature called Destination of the Week for the radio programme the Travel Show. LBC had announced it would be broadcast on 17 October 2010. Then it was postponed for a week, but I'm told never aired.

LBC has been silent to my requests for information about the intended broadcast date. Meanwhile, however, the radio station has put the feature on its website as a podcast.

If you absolutely must - click here to hear it.

SWAZILAND: NEW DANGER TO TOURISTS

In the week that a radio station in London is set to broadcast a programme claiming Swaziland is an idyllic place for tourists to visit and is one of Africa’s best kept secrets, the UK Government has issued a new alert to visitors on the dangers of visiting the kingdom.

In an update on its travel advice, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) warns travellers that they should be alert to ‘terrorist attacks which could be in public areas, including those frequented by expatriates and foreign travellers’.

As well as the new terrorist development, the FCO continues to warn that motorists ‘should avoid travelling into or out of Swaziland by road at night. There have been numerous incidences of car hijacking on major routes from South Africa and Mozambique’.

It says, ‘Do not use public transport (buses and taxis). Vehicles are, generally, poorly maintained and overloaded.’

It also warns that ‘street crimes and burglaries do occur, sometimes involving violence. There have also been incidents of vehicles being taken at gunpoint. Avoid walking in the downtown areas of Mbabane and Manzini after dark and do not picnic in remote rural areas unless in a large group.

‘Keep valuables in a safe place and avoid carrying large amounts of money or wearing conspicuous jewellery.’

The FCO also warns visitors that the Swazi police will use force to disperse demonstrators. ‘The political situation is stable, but periodically there are organised demonstrations relating to labour and political issues in the Kingdom. Certain political parties have been banned and designated terrorist organisations. We advise visitors to avoid gatherings which, if regarded as unauthorised demonstrations, could be dispersed by the police authorities using a degree of force,’ it says.

For some reason that I can’t explain, the FCO has not caught up with this piece of advice to tourists. ‘While in Swaziland do not dare to speak about the numerous human rights abuses in the kingdom because Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini has said he will have the feet of tourists whipped as punishment.’

NEW DATE FOR SWAZI HOLIDAY SHOW

The London radio programme on Swaziland that was set to whitewash human rights abuses in the kingdom and paint a picture of it as an idyllic holiday destination has been postponed.

LBC has put the feature called ‘destination of the week’ in its Travel Show back by one week. It now airs on 24 October 2010 from 1 – 3pm UK time.

The feature was prepared last month just after Barnabas Dlamini, Swaziland’s illegally-appointed Prime Minister, threw a number of foreign nationals out of Swaziland because he didn’t like the meeting they were attending. He later said he wanted to target ‘tourists’ who he felt were coming to Swaziland to promote democracy.

These remarks came after Dlamini said that he wanted to use ‘sipakatane’ (otherwise known as ‘bastinado’, a form of torture that involves flogging the bare soles of a person’s feet) on people from overseas who campaigned against his government.

This was just one of the many human rights abuses in Swaziland that has been highlighted by Amnesty International, Freedom House and the US State Department.

UK RADIO SHOW BLIND TO ABUSES

Swaziland is to feature on a London-based radio show that aims to prove the kingdom is ‘Africa’s best kept secret’.

But, instead of revealing to the world the extent of human rights abuses in Swaziland, ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, it intends to highlight the ‘peace and safety’ of the kingdom.

Swaziland will be featured as ‘destination of the week’ on the Holiday Show on LBC Radio in London, UK. Producers claim it has one million listeners a week. The show is also broadcasted through various streams on the internet and spreads across the world.

The show will be aired on Sunday 17 October, 2010, from 2 – 4pm UK time.

The show is hosted by Simon Calder, a well-known travel writer in the UK, who has a reputation as an ethical reporter on travel matters. He also works for Sky TV and the Independent newspaper.

Rick Kelsey, one of the reporters on the show, said, ‘More than a show it is a vehicle for countries to be exposed and stimulate tourist inflow into their countries in a very sophisticated manner.’

He said it was a ‘priceless opportunity to be known by travellers who would otherwise have never known or taken time to visit the country’.

I doubt that Kelsey knows that earlier this month Barnabas Dlamini, Swaziland’s illegally-appointed Prime Minister, threw a number of foreign nationals out of Swaziland because he didn’t like the meeting they were attending. He later said he wanted to target ‘tourists’ who he felt were coming to Swaziland to promote democracy.

These remarks came after Dlamini said he that he wanted to use ‘sipakatane’ (otherwise known as ‘bastinado’, a form of torture that involves flogging the bare soles of a person’s feet) on people from overseas who campaigned against his government.

This was just one of the many human rights abuses in Swaziland that has been highlighted by Amnesty International, Freedom House and the US State Department.

To promote tourism to Swaziland at the present time is to ask people to spend their hard earned money in support a murderous regime that will stop at nothing to maintain its grip on power.

If you would like to tell the programme makers some truths about Swaziland contact:

Simon Calder at

(Independent newspaper) s.calder@independent.co.uk

(LBC) http://www.lbc.co.uk/email-simon-calder-3453

Contact the LBC Programme Director and Editorial Director, News - Jonathan Richards

Jonathanrichards@thisisglobal.com

Also contact

LBC Programme Complaints

complaints@lbc.co.uk