The+Commonwealth+and+Democracy+in+Swaziland,+Mackenzie+Kinmond

=The Commonwealth and Democracy in Swaziland=


 * Mackenzie Kinmond, Swaziland Solidarity Network Forum, 19 November 2007**

The Commonwealth Harare Declaration, 1991 states,

"we believe in the liberty of the individual under the law, in equal rights for all citizens regardless of gender, race, colour, creed or political belief, and in the individual's inalienable right to participate by means of free and democratic political processes in framing the society in which he or she lives"

It further states that,

"we pledge the Commonwealth and our countries to work with renewed vigour, concentrating especially in the following areas:


 * the protection and promotion of the fundamental political values of the Commonwealth:
 * democracy, democratic processes and institutions which reflect national circumstances, the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, just and honest government;
 * fundamental human rights, including equal rights and opportunities for all citizens regardless of race, colour, creed or political belief;"


 * (http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/20723/34457/harare_commonwealth_declaration/)**

The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) was set up in 1995 as a way to try to add some weight to the Harare Declaration, which was a voluntary commitment signed by all Commonwealth countries to respect certain principles such as a democratic process and universal access to education. CMAG's role is supposed to be, "to deal with serious or persistent violations of the Commonwealth's fundamental political values," as reflected in the Harare Declaration.

Meetings of CMAG throughout the 1990s focused solely on The Gambia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. In 1997, CMAG condemned The Gambia for the "continued exclusion of a significant element of The Gambia's civilian leadership from the political life of the country as detrimental to the cause of democracy in The Gambia." (6th Meeting of CMAG, February 1997)

In 1999, Pakistan was added to the CMAG agenda, and Fiji was added in 2000, both of which were at that time suspended from the Council of the Commonwealth. Since 2003, the sole focus of CMAG has been on Fiji and Pakistan and to a lesser degree Solomon Islands and Zimbabwe.

Swaziland, despite regular actions by the Monarchy which violate the Harare declaration, has never been put on the agenda of CMAG.

While a solution to the current crisis in Swaziland will ultimately come from the Swazi people, the complicity of the Commonwealth Secretariat has made the international community complacent to the harmful effects of the monarchy. Consequently, the King is happy to be answerable to an international body which doesn't hold him to account, while he continues to exploit, oppress and make a general mockery of any sense of democracy within the country.

A prime example of this complicity was the ceremony held earlier this year at the University of Swaziland where the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Don McKinnon, received an honorary degree for his role in implementing the new Swazi Constitution. The people on this forum will be aware of the criticisms of the new constitution, the catastrophic process through which it came about, the absence of any buy-in from civilian groups, the ambiguous clauses which ultimately reinforce the absolute power of the King. Yet this is the same constitution that the Commonwealth is touting to the world as a great example of their interference in affairs of the poorer members of the Commonwealth.

Earlier this week, CMAG met in an emergency session to discuss recent events in Pakistan. This is the forth special extraordinary session ever to be held outside of the annual meetings (one other was held regarding Pakistan, the other two were regarding government coups in Fiji).

Following this emergency session, CMAG condemned the abrogation of the Constitution of Pakistan, and 'expressed grave concern' about actions taken against opposition politicians and civil society leaders, and the recent amendment to the Army Act, which retrospectively gives military courts the right to try civilians on charges of 'anti-national' activities. CMAG stated that these are examples of breaches of the fundamental principles of the Commonwealth and a 'derogation of constitutionality and rule of law'. They claim that if things don't change in Pakistan by the eve of the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), Pakistan will be suspended from the Commonwealth.


 * (http://www.thecommonwealth.org/press/31555/172244/121107cmag.htm)**

Again, these types of actions have regularly occurred in Swaziland for some time and the Commonwealth has repeatedly failed to take action. Instead, they have supported the monarchy through 30 years of an abrogated Constitution, oppression and violence against members of opposition parties and human rights activists, and other breaches of the Harare Declaration. The recent example of the 16 PUDEMO members who were in late 2005 / early 2006 arrested and charged with treason comes to mind. The Commonwealth Secretariat was quick to publicly condemn the petrol bombings which the PUDEMO members were allegedly being arrested for. The Secretariat was, however, completely silent following the initial arrests, when some detainees were being coerced into signing statements and others tortured. They remained silent even after the death of the wife of one of the detainees, after she had been earlier that day questioned by police. Her death was highly condemned by Amnesty International, another player in the international community. The secretariat remains silent now, after any trace of a trial seems to have disappeared without explanation or apology.

CMAG, following their recent emergency meeting, declared that upcoming elections in Pakistan "would not be credible unless… the constitutional rights of the people, political parties and independence of the judiciary are restored." What about the upcoming elections in Swaziland?!

It is time to call the Commonwealth to account. The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) will be held later this month (23rd – 25th November) in Uganda. Members of this SSN forum who are citizens of Commonwealth countries, it is up to us to tell the Commonwealth Secretariat that we are tired of their complicity in the continued oppression of Swazi citizens and do not accept their hypocrisy. It is up to us to demand that the question of democracy, the constitution, and political participation in next year's elections in Swaziland be put to Mswati and also to the Secretariat who are wrongly claiming a victory for democracy in Swaziland.


 * Commonwealth Contact Information:

Official Spokesperson and Director of Communications Eduardo del Buey Tel:+44(0)20 7747 6380 Email: e.delbuey@commonwealth.int

Director of the Political Affairs Division Matthew Neuhaus Tel: +44 (0) 20 7747 6401 Email: m.neuhaus@commonwealth.int, m.stevens@commonweatlh.int

Secretary-General Don McKinnon Email: d.mckinnon@commonwealth.int**


 * From: http://groups.google.com/group/sa-swaziland-solidarity-eom-forum?lnk=lr**

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