Misuse of the Criminal Justice System to Persecute Pro-Democracy Voices
This month, a court in Eswatini sentenced two former members of parliament (MPs), Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube, to prison terms of 25 and 18 years, respectively. Both were initially arrested in 2021 for participating in and supporting pro-democracy protests.
Mabuza and Dube's trial concluded in January 2023 and the pair have been kept in custody ever since. In June 2023, they were convicted under the Suppression of Terrorism Act of 2008 as well as the Sedition and Subversive Activities Act of 1938. They were found guilty of all bogus charges against them, including terrorism, sedition, and murder.
During their detention, the two former MPs were reportedly physically attacked and denied access to medical care and to their lawyers.
Mabuza and Dube were pro-democracy MPs who advocated for reforms to the Eswatini system of governance which affords King Mswati III, who has ruled the country since 1986, absolute power. The two were arrested during the pro-democracy protests that followed King Mswati issuing a decree in 2021 banning petitions to the government calling for democratic reforms. Security forces violently put down these protests, including with the use of live ammunition. At least 46 people died during protests in June 2021, as reports of disproportionate and unnecessary use of force were condemned by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The sentencing of Mabuza and Dube is a stark reminder of the lack of accountability and justice for the serious violations committed by law enforcement in and around the 2021 protests. The jailing of two politically dissenting voices in a country where the judiciary is neither impartial nor independent is another mark against Eswatini's already deteriorating human rights record.
The government of Eswatini should stop weaponizing the criminal justice system and quash the convictions and sentences of Mabuza and Dube and all those who have been imprisoned simply for exercising their rights to political expression or peaceful assembly.
Amu Mnisi, Associate, Africa
