POLICE TORTURE STUDENT LEADER

A prominent student leader in Swaziland was tortured by Swazi police and told if he was ever seen again at a political demonstration he would be shot in cold blood.

Pius Vilakati, of the Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS), talked for the first time publicly about his ordeal. Police put a ‘Shoprite’ plastic shopping bag over his head and held it tight until he was close to suffocating.

Vilakati, who was president of the University of Swaziland (UNISWA) Student Representative Council, spoke at a commemoration for the 20^th anniversary of Black Wednesday, a time when armed troops and police invaded the UNISWA campus and attacked defenceless students who were peacefully protesting.

Vilakati and other student leaders were abducted by police in February 2010 after holding a mass demonstration and taken to Manzini police headquarters where cops ‘hurled unspeakable insults at us for planning a demonstration against the government’.

Vilakati said the police were ordered by their superiors to ‘be as vicious as possible’.

Vilakati said, ‘A shiver went down my spine when I heard such words. I was later transported to Bhunya police station where things got worse. The police took a simple plastic (yes, plastic) bag. I still remember vividly that it was a SHOPRITE branded plastic. They covered my face with it many times, only giving me a few (but not more than two) seconds to breathe between intervals.

‘It was one of the most horrible days of my life. I don’t know whether this is the famous “tubing” style. As they were suffocating me they were telling me to desist from trying to make the country ungovernable. They would continuously tell me that Swaziland is the king’s country and not a people’s country as I used to say.’

Later Vilakati was transported back to Manzini where he met the ‘top brass’.

He said, ‘Amongst such dangerous men was a man who introduced himself to me as the assistant regional commander. After a very long talk about me and the students trying to “topple the government” he told me straight in the eye that if I could ever be spotted in any demonstration or political gathering they would not hesitate to shoot and kill me.’

Vilakati was not cowed by the threat and in May 2010 he spoke at the funeral of Sipho Jele, an activist in the banned People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), who had died in police custody after being arrested for wearing a PUDEMO T-shirt.

Vilakati said, ‘I had to hide myself in the van which was carrying the coffin after the memorial service. Later in the night I simply had to escape from Swaziland. I had received messages that the police did not just want to arrest me but simply to kill me.

‘The PUDEMO leadership told me that they could not risk the death of another comrade in the hands of the police. I simply obliged on such a revolutionary call and escaped Swaziland.

‘I am currently well looked after by Swaziland's revolutionary party, PUDEMO, and I now have even more fire and the zeal to fight for democracy in Swaziland, in our lifetime.'

He told his audience, ‘I know that the UNISWA administration uses my name as an example to discourage you from defending your rights. I know that they claim I lost my education because of my inclinations. Well, they must be ashamed of themselves because I am continuing with my studies here [South Africa] and in a short while I will be in possession of my LLB [law] Degree. In fact it will be even better than the one I would have acquired at UNISWA. So, if the administration tells you that I have lost on my education please let them be aware of such information.’

The full text of Vilakati's speech, which includes an explanation of why he is a PUDEMO member and his call for students and progressives to show solidarity in the fight for democracy in Swaziland, was posted to members of the SNUS Facebook site yesterday (10 November 2010).

To read the full speech, click here.

PM’S HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD ‘A HOAX’

Has Barnabas Dlamini, the bogus doctor and illegally-appointed Prime Minister of Swaziland, allowed his vanity to get the better of him once again?

This week his government announced that he had been awarded a medal for his contribution to human rights by the World Citizen Awards (WCA).

In a statement the Swazi Government said the medal was being given to the prime minister ‘as a person who has accomplished and made numerous contributions to mankind’. He was also described as a ‘highly respected global figure, whose role in history has been significant.’

This award, the statement went on, ‘is also in recognition of his pre-eminent role in the shaping of the global community and continued influence on the world stage’.

Pretty flattering stuff, but piffle of course. We all know that Dlamini has made no such contribution to ‘mankind’. Indeed, he has done the opposite and it is well documented that he is an enemy of freedom and human rights.

Only this month (September 2010) he called for the use of ‘sipakatane’ (otherwise known as ‘bastinado’, a form of torture that involves flogging the bare soles of a person’s feet) on people who campaigned against his government.

Dlamini, who allows himself to be titled ‘doctor’, although he only has an honorary doctorate from the University of Swaziland, seems to have fallen hook, line and sinker for it.

Since the announcement last weekend numerous people tried to contact WCA to register a protest at the award, but found the email contact it gave on its website did not work.

Attempts to find information about the three ‘prominent’ figures listed on the WCA website as the organisation’s leaders also proved fruitless. None of them appeared anywhere on the Internet, except in reference to their role at WCA.

There could be a pretty innocent explanation for this, but I can’t think of one.

Alarm bells were rung by Africa Contact, Denmark, when it sent emails of protest to people listed as members of the board of WCA and received a reply from one of them stating, ‘I regret to say that you and I - among others - have been victims of a hoax.’

This led Africa Contact to conclude, ‘The hoax is that the award is not given by the alleged board members of the World Citizen Award, but that the recipients of the awards are in effect paying to receive a bogus award.’

Participants and the organisations they represent are invited to a lavish three day bash in the Bahamas, which I suppose is paid for by the participants. There is also a ‘commemorative booklet’ published to mark the event.

The suggestion that Dlamini may be the victim of a hoax prompted Morten Nielsen from Africa Contact to say, ‘It is unbelievable that the Swazi government would fall for such a hoax as they must be well aware of their appalling human rights record. According to the widely recognized Mo Ibrahim Index, that rates countries according to indicators such as human rights records and governance, Swaziland ranks a dismal 45th out of 53 African countries in the category of participation and human rights. Incidentally, this is just above Zimbabwe’.

The Swazi Government has yet to respond to the claim it may have been hoaxed.

PM DIDN’T MEET CRITERIA FOR AWARD

Could Barnabas Dlamini, the illegally-appointed Prime Minister of Swaziland, be stripped of his human rights medal before he even receives it?

His nomination for the honour, considered by some to be ‘the world’s most prestigious award’, breaks the rules of the organisers, the World Citizen Awards (WCA).

WCA, which intends to make the award on Saturday (2 October 2010) in the Bahamas, states that only people who are ‘the most brilliant examples of those working toward the attainment of peace and respect for human life and dignity’ are eligible for the honour.

WCA claims that its mission is to ‘champion human rights and maintain governance, democracy, equality, international peace and goodwill’.

To support this work WCA gives 15 awards each year to people ‘who have proven themselves to be brilliant exemplars of society, as well as contributors to peace and human rights’.

It says it receives more than 500 proposals each year and a committee of 13 members selects the winners.

But it’s all gone horribly wrong for the WCA.

It says very clearly that, ‘All prospective awardees must be unanimously endorsed by their organizations who know and attest that the awardees are worthy of such. Nominations related to any particular member of the organization shall not be entertained unless it can be proven beyond reasonable doubt that such distinction is beyond question.’

It doesn’t need a massive investigation to see that Barnabas Dlamini is no ‘champion’ of human rights. In fact, he is the opposite. He has a long history as an enemy of freedom, human rights and civil liberties. He has no ‘distinction’ in human rights and does not deserve the award.

Only this month he 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 with a spiked wooden or metal implement to temporarily or permanently cripple them) on people who campaigned against his government.

Earlier this year Amnesty International, Freedom House and the US State Department separately attested to the human rights violations that are taking place in Swaziland under Dlamini’s regime.

The US State Department reported, ‘Human rights problems included inability of citizens to change their government; extrajudicial killings by security forces; mob killings; police use of torture, beatings, and excessive force on detainees; police impunity; arbitrary arrests and lengthy pretrial detention; arbitrary interference with privacy and home; restrictions on freedoms of speech and press and harassment of journalists; restrictions on freedoms of assembly, association, and movement; prohibitions on political activity and harassment of political activists; discrimination and violence against women; child abuse; trafficking in persons; societal discrimination against members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual community; discrimination against mixed-race and white citizens; harassment of labor leaders; restrictions on worker rights; and child labor.’

Once news broke of the intention to give Dlamini an award people who know the truth have been protesting to WCA, detailing his crimes against human rights.

The organisation cannot claim it doesn’t know that Dlamini is not worthy of the distinction.

There is still time for WCA to save a shred of its reputation by withdrawing the offer of the award and telling Dlamini he is not wanted in the Bahamas.

ANGER AT PM’S HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD

Protests have started following news that Barnabas Dlamini, Swaziland’s Prime Minister who called on dissidents to be tortured, is to get an award for ‘exemplary contributions to peace and human rights’.

Dlamini, who was illegally appointed Prime Minister of Swaziland, which is ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, is to receive the World Citizen Award this weekend (2 October 2010).

Danish Organisation Africa Contact has sent this letter to the international headquarters of the World Citizen Awards in the Bahamas.

‘Dear Sir or Madam,

‘We at Africa Contact were so surprised to read today that the World Citizen Award was to be given to Swazi Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini for his “exemplary contributions to peace and human rights” that we first thought it a joke.

‘As this is apparently not the case, we would like to urge you to reconsider. Swaziland in general, and Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini in particular, have a dismal record on Human Rights and political freedom as documented by organisations such as Amnesty International and Freedom House.

‘Democracy advocates in Swaziland have been tortured for holding peaceful demonstrations and demanding a democracy that you and I take for granted, and Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini has not only encouraged this, but has even recently said that his government would consider using “Sipakatane”, a form of torture used by the Portuguese colonial regime in Mozambique, to punish “dissidents” and foreigners who come into the country to “disturb the peace.”

‘It should therefore be blatantly obvious that Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini does not deserve to receive your prize.

‘We will contact former recipients of the prize to hear of their opinion of this years recipient of the World Citizen Awards.’

HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSERS STILL FREE

No one has yet been brought to account for the human rights abuses that took place in Swaziland during the Global Week of Action protest for democracy in the kingdom.

Amnesty International reports that during 6-8 September 2010 Swaziland’s security forces harassed and intimidated human rights defenders and peaceful demonstrators.

Amnesty says that during the action ‘human rights defenders, trade unionists and political activists in Swaziland were arbitrarily detained, assaulted and intimidated, as security forces attempted to disrupt two days of planned protest marches.

‘The security forces conducted mass arrests with no legal basis and held human rights defenders, political opposition leaders and foreign trade union officials in unlawful detention.

‘Instead of holding the security forces accountable, the Prime Minister of Swaziland appeared to condone their actions, suggesting during a press conference on 8 September that torture should be considered as a form of punishment against interfering foreigners and dissidents.’

Amnesty issued an ‘Urgent Action’ appeal for supporters of human rights to send written protests to Barnabas Dlamini, the kingdom’s illegally-appointed Prime Minister.

This week Amnesty reported that since early September ‘the level of harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders and activists appears to have declined and no further incidents have been reported.

‘However, no one has been brought to justice for the human rights violations that took place between 6 and 8 September.

‘Although the Prime Minister and his office have made subsequent statements to “clarify” his comments about the use of torture, none of these reported statements amount to a clear rejection of the use of torture.’

Amnesty said that in addition ‘to appeals sent in line with this Urgent Action, organizations in Swaziland and other international institutions have put pressure on the Prime Minister to retract his statement condoning torture’.

Amnesty has now called off the Urgent Action and asked supports not to send further letters of protest to Dlamini.