Petition delivered by the *Break The Chains Campaign* (BCC) of the Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS) to High Commissioner of the European Union offices in Swaziland
Petition sent on 25 -06-2013 Your Excellency, In recent days the autocratic regime of Mswati III has clamped down severely on pro-democracy dissent in our country. Bheki Makhubu, editor of The Nation, has been sentenced to two years imprisonment and fined E200 000 for criticising the Chief Justice in his magazine. Wonder Mkhonza, the National Organizer of the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) has been arrested and charged with sedition. Now out on E15 000 bail. Mfanawenkhosi “Boer” Mntshali and Derick Nkhambule, both members of the Communist Party of Swaziland, have been arrested and charged with sedition, relating to their condemnation of the undemocratic elections being organized later this year. Maxwell Dlamini, Secretary General of the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO) has been arrested and charged with sedition. In particular, the Mswati government is keen to stamp out opposition to its elections. This opposition, is because political parties and individuals advocating any form of political programme, are banned from taking part in the elections. Further the monarchic autocracy has outlawed trade union rights and activities by de-registering a legitimate labour federation, TUCOSWA. In effect there is totally no form of representation in the body politics of Swaziland. Mr Makhubu’s sentence is an effort to stamp out any efforts to create a free media in Swaziland. We demand that his case be struck off the roll with immediate effect. We also demand the immediate release of all political activists who are now in custody. We urge you to do likewise as representatives of democratic countries that advocate freedom and democracy; we hope you will use your good offices to exert as much pressure as possible on the Mswati regime to ensure the release of these champions of freedom and democracy. We also urge you to closely monitor the situation of these political prisoners and ensure that your governments condemn the lack of freedom, democracy and human rights in our country. We specifically urge your government to do the following: - Visit the political prisoners in Mswati’s gaols - Openly denounce the autocratic regime’s elections and support the call for a transitional government, this elections falls far below the stipulated principles on Free, Fair and Democratic Elections - Implement targeted sanctions against the monarch and its close associates - Advocate for the representation of the National Democratic Movement in the International bodies such as United Nations, Commonwealth, African Union - Push Mswati’s regime to re-register TUCOSWA with immediate effect *Contacts: * *Njabulo Dlamini, BCC Local Coordinator in Swaziland, * *Cell: +268 76039844* *Email: [email protected]* -- Name: Pius Rinto Cell: (+27) 83 512 5234 Website: www.musicswaziland.com -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
