Afrikas schlimmste Despoten

 Völkermord, Vielweiberei und Ausbeutung Afrikas schlimmste Despoten

Hunderte Millionen Afrikaner leben in Armut – ihre politischen Führer regieren mit eiserner Hand: Hier sind sechs Despoten, die am längsten im Amt sind.

Blick.ch
Publiziert am 16.11.2017 | Aktualisiert am 14.05.2018
 
Sudan: Omar al Bashir

Omar al Bashir (73) kam 1989 über einen Militärputsch im Sudan an die Macht. Er stürzte damals den gewählten Premierminister Sadiq al Mahdi. Mit dem Friedensvertrag 2005 beendete Bashir einen 20-jährigen Bürgerkrieg, in dem Hunderttausende Menschen starben. Kaum war der Frieden mit dem Süden des Landes unter Dach und Fach, begann der Aufstand der Rebellen in der westsudanesischen Provinz Darfur. Diesen liess Bashir mit brutalen Mitteln niederschlagen. Wegen der Verbrechen der sudanesischen Armee unter Bashirs Verantwortung hat der Internationale Strafgerichtshof zwei Haftbefehle gegen den Präsidenten erlassen, wegen Kriegsverbrechen und Völkermord. Der internationale Druck hat Bashir bisher allerdings kaum beeindruckt.

Swasiland: König Mswati

König Mswati (48) regiert Swasiland seit 1986. Das Land gehört zu den ärmsten Staaten der Welt mit der höchsten HIV-Rate auf dem afrikanischen Kontinent. Mswati führt ein Leben in Saus und Braus. Er verbat sämtliche politische Parteien und Organisationen. Seither ist das Land kein Ein-, sondern ein Kein-Parteien-Staat, und Mswati regiert als «absoluter König». Unter Experten gilt die Vielweiberei des Herrschers als ein Grund für die hohe Aids-Rate des Landes. Rund ein Viertel der etwa 1,2 Millionen Einwohner sind mit dem HIV-Virus infiziert. Viele Männer praktizieren noch immer die Polygamie. Mswati hat zwölf Ehefrauen. Die meisten davon lernte er beim Schilfrohrtanz kennen. Dies ist ein einwöchiges Spektakel, das Tausende junge Swasi-Frauen alljährlich im August zu Ehren des Königshauses aufführen müssen.

Äquatorial-Guinea: Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (75) kam in Äquatorial-Guinea 1979 an die Macht. Dies nachdem er seinen Onkel, den ersten grausamen Präsidenten von Äquatorial-Guinea, gestürzt und hingerichtet hatte. Unter seiner Führung werden Oppositionelle gefoltert und misshandelt. Auch wird die ethnische Minderheit Bubi verfolgt. Der Präsident räumte 1997 ein, dass in seinem Land die Menschenrechte systematisch verletzt und ignoriert werden. Sein Sohn und geplanter Nachfolger Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mangue lebt derweil in 280-Millionen-Euro-Yachten oder in seiner Villa in Malibu.

Kamerun: Paul Biya

Paul Biya (84) regiert Kamerun als zweiter Präsident überhaupt seit 1982. Seine Landsleute nennen ihn «den Vater». Der Regent führt seine Amtsgeschäfte gerne von einem Luxushotel in Genf aus, wie die Wochenzeitung «Die Zeit» berichtete. In seiner Heimat soll er sich selten aufhalten. Politisch ist das Land derzeit stabil und hat gute Beziehungen zu Frankreich. Jedoch leidet das Kamerun unter den hohen Lebensmittelpreisen. Biya interessierte einen entsprechenden Aufstand in seinem Land nicht. Er geniesst lieber seinen unsagbaren Reichtum. So soll er mit seinen Getreuen und der Familie im französischen La Baule 43 Suiten für 800'000 Euro gemietet haben.

Tschad: Idriss Déby

Idriss Déby (65) ist seit 1990 Präsident des Tschad. In seiner Kindheit war er Hirtenjunge. Nun soll er 50 Millionen Dollar besitzen. Seine Amtszeit ist von Menschenrechtsverletzungen geprägt. Der Tschad wandelte sich nach 2003 von einem armen Baumwollstaat zum fünftgrössten Ölproduzenten Afrikas. Millionen kam so in die Staatskasse. Trotzdem lebt etwa jeder zweite Tschader in Armut.

Eritrea: Isayas Afewerki

Isayas Afewerki (71) ist seit 1993 Staatspräsident von Eritrea. In dem Ein-Mann-Staat gibt es keine Meinungs-, Reise- und Religionsfreiheit. Der Wehrdienst ist verpflichtend und kann lebenslang sein. Willkürliche Festnahmen und Folter sind an der Tagesordnung. Freie Wahlen sind Fremdwörter in seiner Diktatur. Fluchtversuche aus Eritrea werden mit gezielten Todesschüssen quittiert.

Alle aktuellen Informationen rund um den Putsch in Simbabwe gibt es im Newsticker.

African Agriculture

Plant life

Soil and climatic conditions throughout Africa determine not only agricultural practices, such as which crops can be grown, but also whether plant life is capable of sustaining livestock on the land and enabling fishing of the oceans.
Rainfall—the dominant influence on agricultural output—varies greatly among Africa’s fifty-six countries. Without irrigation, agriculture requires a reliable annual rainfall of more than 30 inches (75 centimeters). Portions of Africa have serious problems from lack of rainfall, such as increasing desertification and periods of drought.
Food output has declined, with per capita food production 10 percent less in the 1990’s than it was in the 1980’s. In most African countries, however, more than 50 percent, and often 80 percent, of the population works in agriculture, mostly subsistence agriculture. Large portions of the continent, such as Mali and the Sudan, have the potential of becoming granaries to much of the continent and producing considerable food exports.

Traditional African Agriculture
 
Traditionally, agriculture in Africa has been subsistence farming in small plots. It has been labor-intensive, relying upon family members. New land for farming was obtained by the slash-and-burn method (shifting cultivation). The trees in a forested area would be cut down and burned where they fell.
The ashes from the burned trees fertilized the soil. Bothmen andwomenworked at such farming. Slash-and-burn agriculture is common not only in Africa but also in tropical areas around the world. In areas of heavy rainfall, the rainswash out the nutrients from soil and burned trees in a period of two to three years.
The crops grown depend upon the region. In the very dry, yet habitable, parts of Africa—such as the Sudano-Sahelian region that stretches from Senegal and Mali in the west of Africa to the Sudan in the east—a key subsistence crop is green millet, a grain. Ground into a type of flour, it can be made into a bread-like substance.
In moister areas, traditional crops are root and tuber crops, such as yams and cassava. Cassava has an outer surface or skin that is poisonous, but it can be treated to remove the poison. The tuber then can be ground and used tomake a bread-like substance.Other important traditional crops are rice and corn, which were introduced by Europeans when they came to Africa.
Animal husbandry, or seminomadic herding, is another form of traditional agriculture. Problems that have arisen with this type of agriculture are the availability of water and grass or hay for cattle. Regions that are very moist, such as the Gulf of Guinea, which has rain forest, are not good for cattle because of the tsetse fly, which carries diseases such as sleeping sickness.

Crops

Rice field in Africa

The most widely grown crop is rice, which is grown on more than one-third of the irrigated crop area in Africa. Cultivated mostly in wetlands and valley bottoms, rice is the most common crop in the humid areas of the Gulf of Guinea and Eastern Africa. It is also grown on the plateaus of Madagascar.

In the northern and southern regions, rice represents only a small portion of the total crops under water management. Wheat and corn are cultivated and irrigated, mostly in Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, Sudan, and Somalia.

Vegetables, including root and tuber crops, are present in all regions and almost every country. Vegetables are grown on about 8 percent of the cultivated areas under water management. In Algeria, Mauritania, Kenya, Burundi, and Rwanda, they are the most widespread crops under water management.

Arboriculture (growing of fruit trees), which represents 5 percent of the total irrigated crops, is concentrated in the northern region and consists mostly of citrus fruits. Commercial crops (for cash and export) are grown mostly in the Sudan and in the countries of the southern region and consist mostly of cotton and oilseeds.

Other commercial crops in Africa are sugarcane, coffee, cocoa, oil and date palm, bananas, tobacco, and cut flowers. Sugarcane is grown in all countries except in the northern region. The other commercial crops are concentrated in a few countries.

North Africa

Olives market in Morocco

In Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt, the region’s agricultural resources are limited by its dry climate. Its products are those typical of the Mediterranean, steppe, and desert regions: wheat, barley, olives, grapes, citrus fruits, some vegetables, dates, sheep, and goats.
Agriculture employs less than 20 percent of the working population in Libya and as much as 55 percent in Egypt. From about the middle of the twentieth century, North Africa’s production failed to keep pace with its population growth and remained susceptible to large annual fluctuations.
Cropland occupies about 33 percent of Tunisia but less than 3 percent of Algeria, Egypt, and Libya. Some export crops, such as citrus fruits, tobacco, and cotton, have suffered from strong international competition.
The northern region is not a major contributor to the continent’s fish catch. Morocco, however, with its cool, plankton-rich Atlantic waters and access to the Mediterranean Sea, is one of the world’s largest fish producers.

Sudano-Sahelian Region

This region comprises Mauritania, the western Sahara, Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Burkina-Faso, Niger, Chad, and the Sudan. Because of the region’s extreme dryness, mostly subsistence farming and seminomadic herding are practiced. Millet is the primary crop.
In the late twentieth century, this region was devastated by long droughts that caused famine and starvation. Mali and the Sudan have the Niger and Nile Rivers flowing through them. These great rivers provide plenty of water for irrigation of fields.
During the rainy season in Mali—typically June through September—the Niger River widens into a great, extensive floodplain. This area is good for the growing of rice. Similarly, in the Sudan the Blue and White Niles meet at Khartoum to form the Nile River.

Gulf of Guinea

This region comprises Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Ghana, Benin, and Nigeria. With the exception of Nigeria, agriculture there is dominated by rice cultivation. The percentage of total land area that is under cultivation ranges from 60 percent in Liberia to just 9 percent in Sierra Leone.

The total cultivable area of Ghana is 39,000 square miles (100,000 square kilometers), or 42 percent of its total land area. Only 4.8 percent of the total land area was under cultivation at the end of the twentieth century. Much of the cultivation is subsistence farming of yams and other crops.

Ghana’s efforts in agriculture have been hampered by droughts. Additional problems are that organic matter has been leached out of the soils by heavy rainfall and that increasing deforestation has led to additional erosion. This is the situation in much of the Gulf of Guinea and the central regions.

About half of Nigeria’s available land is under cultivation. Increasing rainfall from the semiarid north to the tropically forested south allows for great crop diversity. Principal food crops are corn, millet, yams, sorghum, cassava, rice, potatoes, and vegetables.

Nigeria was the world’s fourth-largest exporter of cocoa beans in 1990-1991, accounting for about 7.1 percent of world trade in this commodity. However, Nigeria’s share of the world cocoa market has been substantially reduced because of aging trees, low prices, black pod disease, smuggling, and labor shortages.

Central Region

This region comprises the Central African Republic, Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville, Congo-Kinshasa, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Burundi, Rwanda, and São Tomé and Príncipe. Cameroon has 14.7 million acres of arable land.

In 1997, 55,000 tons of rice were produced, but the country imported 124,000 tons in 1995. In the central region, the percentage of arable land ranges from 0.4 percent for the Congo-Brazzaville to 47 percent for Rwanda.

Cassava is harvested in Congo-Brazzaville, Congo-Kinshasa, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon. Corn is harvested in Congo-Brazzaville, Congo-Kinshasa, and Burundi. In Rwanda, 17 percent of the harvested land is used to grow sweet potatoes. Agriculture is not important in the economy of São Tomé and Príncipe.

Eastern Region

Tobacco plantation

This region comprises Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Agriculture employs about 80 percent of the labor force in Uganda and Ethiopia. Approximately 2.5 million small farms dominate agriculture in both countries.

About 84 percent of Uganda’s land is suitable for agriculture—a high percentage compared to the majority of African countries, such as Ethiopia with only 12 percent. Food crops account for about 74 percent of agricultural production.

Only one-third is marketed; the rest is for home consumption. In four years out of five, the minimum needed rainfall may be expected in 78 percent of Uganda but in only 15 percent of Kenya. Somalia and Ethiopia receive almost none of the needed minimum.

Tanzania has almost four million farms. Traditional export crops include coffee, cotton, cashew nuts, tobacco, and tea. Major staple foods (corn, rice, and wheat) are exported in times of surplus.

Tanzania’s climatic growing conditions are favorable for the production of a wide range of fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Drought-resistant crops (sorghum, millet, and cassava) and other substaples such as onions, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, bananas, and plantains are also produced.

Areas that have 20-30 inches (50-75 centimeters) of rainfall per year rely on a mixture of agriculture and livestock herding. Regions with a smaller annual rainfall or a long dry season can support only drought-resistant crops such as sorghum, millet, and cassava. Over large areas of eastern Africa, rainfall is inadequate for crop cultivation.

The whole of Somalia and 70 percent of Kenya receive less than 20 inches (50 centimeters) of rain four years out of five. In these areas, the only feasible use of land is for raising livestock. Agriculture is not an important factor in the economies of Eritrea and Djibouti.

Southern Region

This region comprises Angola, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, and South Africa. The arable percentage of the total land area ranges from 14 percent in Malawi to just 1 percent in Namibia. With the exception of Mozambique, where cassava predominates, corn is the major crop in the countries in this region.

About 13 percent of South Africa’s land area can be used for crop production. Rainfall varies across the country, and varied climatic zones and terrains enable the production of almost any kind of crop.

The largest area of farmland is planted with corn, followed by wheat, then oats, sugarcane, and sunflowers. The nation is well known for the high quality of its fruits, such as apples and citrus.

Agriculture is the predominant economic activity in Zimbabwe, accounting for 40 percent of total export earnings—about 22 percent of the total economy—and employing more than 60 percent of the country’s labor force.

The main export crops are tobacco, cotton, and oilseeds. Zimbabwe is usually self-sufficient in food production. Its main food crops are corn, soybeans, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables, and sugar.

Mozambique’s agriculture has been badly hindered by civil war. However, the country has considerable potential for irrigation due to the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers. The irrigation potential is estimated to be 7.5 million acres. In the 1990’s, only 110,000 acres were irrigated, growing rice, sugarcane, corn, and citrus.

Agriculture and livestock production employ about 62 percent of Botswana’s labor force. Most of the country has semidesert conditions with erratic rainfall and poor soil conditions, making it more suitable to grazing than to crop production. The principal food crops are sorghum and corn.

Namibia’s cultivated area is only 506,000 acres—only 0.8 percent of the cultivable area. Agriculture makes up approximately 10 percent of the economy but employs more than 80 percent of the population. The major irrigated crops are corn, wheat, and cotton.

Indian Ocean Islands

Cassava plantation

This region comprises Madagascar, Mauritius, the Comoros, and the Seychelles. During the 1990’s an estimated 8.7 million people lived in the rural areas, 65 percent of whom lived at the subsistence level.
Only 5.2 percent of Madagascar’s total land area (7.4 million acres) was under cultivation. Of the total land area, 50.7 percent supported livestock production, while 16 percent (1.2 million acres) of the land under cultivation was irrigated.
Cassava, planted almost everywhere on the island, is grown as well as corn and sweet potatoes, with smaller quantities of cotton, bananas, and cloves. The fisheries sector, especially the export of shrimp, has been the most rapidly growing area of the agricultural economy in the Indian Ocean Islands region.
Mauritius has 30,000 acres of sugarcane plantations that have had one of the highest sugarcane and sugar yields in the world. The Seychelles have a total land area of only 72 squaremiles (187 square kilometers), of which only 3,000 acres are cultivated.
This 3 percent of the land area accounts for only 4 percent of the island nation’s economy. The Comoros’ agriculture is heavily weighted toward rice, the staple food of the populace.

Note of our blog: please, see also our tag Cocoa child slavery.

Less poverty in Africa but numbers remain stubbornly high!

A child works in a forge in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. (AFP PHOTO / ISSOUF SANOGO)

Accra, Ghana | October 17, 2015 | By: Emmanuel VORGBE
Seychelles news agency

(AFP) - Poverty has slightly eased in sub-Saharan Africa in the past 20 years but the population boom means the numbers living in extreme conditions remains stubbornly high, a World Bank study showed Friday.

Almost half of the continent's population (43 percent) was living below the poverty line in 2012, defined as surviving on less than $1.90 a day. In 1990, it was 56 percent.

Strong economic growth has helped achieve advances in health and education, but the rapid rise in population has led to an increase in the overall number of extreme poor, the study says.

Poverty remains more deep-rooted in Africa than in any other continent. Some 388 million people were considered to be living in poverty in 2012 compared to 280 million two decades earlier.

Africa's population has grown from around 600 million in 1990 to over a billion in 2012 and will continue to grow to an estimated 1.6 billion by 2030, according to the African Development Bank.

Poverty figures mask wide disparities from country to country and also between urban and rural areas, the report shows, highlighting the difficulty of bringing together data from across the African continent.

Ghana, where the report was launched by World Bank president Jim Yong Kim, is a success, having cut its poverty rate from 53 percent in 1991 to 21 percent in 2012.

Rwanda and Ethiopia have also made clear progress thanks to advances in agriculture, World Bank vice-president Makhtar Diop told AFP in an interview.

"Rwanda has done impressive work in hill terracing," Diop said, which had led to a doubling of the corn harvest and a 130-percent increase in the potato crop.

In a continent where 60-70 percent of people live in rural areas, "the growth rate in agriculture makes an enormous contribution to reducing poverty," said Diop, a Senegalese economist.

Other countries, including Tanzania and Senegal, have achieved success using a scheme pioneered in Brazil under which the state gives non-financial aid to the poorest families, for example in the form of free vaccines.

Accra, Ghana | October 17, 2015, Saturday @ 13:00 in World » AFRICA | By: Emmanuel VORGBE | Views: 704 - See more at: http://www.seychellesnewsagency.com/articles/3917/Less+poverty+in+Africa+but+numbers+remain+stubbornly+high#sthash.uG90NyPi.dpuf

Unsurprisingly, war and violence remain the principal obstacles to reducing poverty.

In Burundi, the proportion of people living under the poverty threshold went from 21 percent before the 1993-2006 civil war to 64 percent in 2007.

But "there are fewer conflicts than before and they are changing in nature and are more local," Diop said.

The report also points to the "worrisome development" that people living in countries rich in resources such as oil, gold and diamonds are paying what it calls "a human development penalty".

Their life expectancy is 10 percent shorter on average, they are less literate, suffer higher levels of malnutrition and also experience more domestic violence.

The six countries where the inequality is greatest -- Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia -- are all situated in the south where diamond and mineral deposits are high.

The disparities in wealth can also be seen within countries -- in Kenya, for example, 8,000 people hold almost two-thirds of the wealth.

© 1994-2015 Agence France-Presse

(AFP) - Poverty has slightly eased in sub-Saharan Africa in the past 20 years but the population boom means the numbers living in extreme conditions remains stubbornly high, a World Bank study showed Friday.

Almost half of the continent's population (43 percent) was living below the poverty line in 2012, defined as surviving on less than $1.90 a day. In 1990, it was 56 percent.

Strong economic growth has helped achieve advances in health and education, but the rapid rise in population has led to an increase in the overall number of extreme poor, the study says.

Poverty remains more deep-rooted in Africa than in any other continent. Some 388 million people were considered to be living in poverty in 2012 compared to 280 million two decades earlier.

Africa's population has grown from around 600 million in 1990 to over a billion in 2012 and will continue to grow to an estimated 1.6 billion by 2030, according to the African Development Bank.

Poverty figures mask wide disparities from country to country and also between urban and rural areas, the report shows, highlighting the difficulty of bringing together data from across the African continent.

Ghana, where the report was launched by World Bank president Jim Yong Kim, is a success, having cut its poverty rate from 53 percent in 1991 to 21 percent in 2012.

Rwanda and Ethiopia have also made clear progress thanks to advances in agriculture, World Bank vice-president Makhtar Diop told AFP in an interview.

"Rwanda has done impressive work in hill terracing," Diop said, which had led to a doubling of the corn harvest and a 130-percent increase in the potato crop.

In a continent where 60-70 percent of people live in rural areas, "the growth rate in agriculture makes an enormous contribution to reducing poverty," said Diop, a Senegalese economist.

Other countries, including Tanzania and Senegal, have achieved success using a scheme pioneered in Brazil under which the state gives non-financial aid to the poorest families, for example in the form of free vaccines.

- Fewer conflicts -

Unsurprisingly, war and violence remain the principal obstacles to reducing poverty.

In Burundi, the proportion of people living under the poverty threshold went from 21 percent before the 1993-2006 civil war to 64 percent in 2007.

But "there are fewer conflicts than before and they are changing in nature and are more local," Diop said.

The report also points to the "worrisome development" that people living in countries rich in resources such as oil, gold and diamonds are paying what it calls "a human development penalty".

Their life expectancy is 10 percent shorter on average, they are less literate, suffer higher levels of malnutrition and also experience more domestic violence.

The six countries where the inequality is greatest -- Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia -- are all situated in the south where diamond and mineral deposits are high.

The disparities in wealth can also be seen within countries -- in Kenya, for example, 8,000 people hold almost two-thirds of the wealth.

© 1994-2015 Agence France-Presse - See more at: http://www.seychellesnewsagency.com/articles/3917/Less+poverty+in+Africa+but+numbers+remain+stubbornly+high#sthash.uG90NyPi.dpuf

(AFP) - Poverty has slightly eased in sub-Saharan Africa in the past 20 years but the population boom means the numbers living in extreme conditions remains stubbornly high, a World Bank study showed Friday.

Almost half of the continent's population (43 percent) was living below the poverty line in 2012, defined as surviving on less than $1.90 a day. In 1990, it was 56 percent.

Strong economic growth has helped achieve advances in health and education, but the rapid rise in population has led to an increase in the overall number of extreme poor, the study says.

Poverty remains more deep-rooted in Africa than in any other continent. Some 388 million people were considered to be living in poverty in 2012 compared to 280 million two decades earlier.

Africa's population has grown from around 600 million in 1990 to over a billion in 2012 and will continue to grow to an estimated 1.6 billion by 2030, according to the African Development Bank.

Poverty figures mask wide disparities from country to country and also between urban and rural areas, the report shows, highlighting the difficulty of bringing together data from across the African continent.

Ghana, where the report was launched by World Bank president Jim Yong Kim, is a success, having cut its poverty rate from 53 percent in 1991 to 21 percent in 2012.

Rwanda and Ethiopia have also made clear progress thanks to advances in agriculture, World Bank vice-president Makhtar Diop told AFP in an interview.

"Rwanda has done impressive work in hill terracing," Diop said, which had led to a doubling of the corn harvest and a 130-percent increase in the potato crop.

In a continent where 60-70 percent of people live in rural areas, "the growth rate in agriculture makes an enormous contribution to reducing poverty," said Diop, a Senegalese economist.

Other countries, including Tanzania and Senegal, have achieved success using a scheme pioneered in Brazil under which the state gives non-financial aid to the poorest families, for example in the form of free vaccines.

- Fewer conflicts -

Unsurprisingly, war and violence remain the principal obstacles to reducing poverty.

In Burundi, the proportion of people living under the poverty threshold went from 21 percent before the 1993-2006 civil war to 64 percent in 2007.

But "there are fewer conflicts than before and they are changing in nature and are more local," Diop said.

The report also points to the "worrisome development" that people living in countries rich in resources such as oil, gold and diamonds are paying what it calls "a human development penalty".

Their life expectancy is 10 percent shorter on average, they are less literate, suffer higher levels of malnutrition and also experience more domestic violence.

The six countries where the inequality is greatest -- Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia -- are all situated in the south where diamond and mineral deposits are high.

The disparities in wealth can also be seen within countries -- in Kenya, for example, 8,000 people hold almost two-thirds of the wealth.

© 1994-2015 Agence France-Presse - See more at: http://www.seychellesnewsagency.com/articles/3917/Less+poverty+in+Africa+but+numbers+remain+stubbornly+high#sthash.uG90NyPi.dpuf

Albinos killings for black magic in Tanzania, Burundi and Swaziland

Seven new albino killings in Tanzania and Burundi

Ablinos in Tanzania live in fear

Photo: REUTERS

Telegraph.co.uk, 06 May 2010 

Seven new albino killings have been reported in Tanzania and Burundi amid signs that the lucrative trade in their body parts has not waned.

Under the Same Sun, a Vancouver-based NGO, put the toll of albino murders at 57 in Tanzania.

The group reported the killing on May 2 of a 28 year-old albino woman and her four year-old son in Cendajuru, on Burundi's border with Tanzania.

The two had their limbs and organs hacked off by a gang of nine armed men, and the boy's non-albino grandfather who intervened to stop them was killed on the spot, the group said, citing Burundi's police chief Deogratias Ntahompagaze.

Under the Same Sun noted another murder and four attempted murders of albinos in Tanzania between February and April.

"This brings the total in Tanzania to 57 murders and six attempted murders, where victims lost limbs. In Burundi the total is 14 murders. These are only the documented cases. The numbers are likely much higher - estimates suggesting well over a hundred in the last two years," the NGO said.

"Sadly justice has been far too slow in coming. Of the 63 reported cases in Tanzania, a mere two have been brought to conviction in the last two years. In sharp contrast, 12 of Burundi's 14 cases have led to convictions," the group said.
The wave of albino killings started in 2007, fuelled by the sale of their highly-prized body parts to witch doctors across the region who use them to concoct wealth-enhancing charms.
The Tanzanian police estimates at £50,000 "the value to witch doctors of a complete set of albino body parts, including all four limbs, genitals, ears, nose and tongue."
Albinism is a congenital lack of the melanin pigment in the skin, eyes and hair which protects from the sun's ultraviolets. Albinos are vulnerable to medical complications as well as social discrimination in Africa.
Of about 150,000 albinos in Tanzania, a country of some 35 million, some 8,000 are registered with the Tanzania Albino Society. Some families kill albino babies at birth to avoid discrimination, authorities say.

 

Albino girl, 11, killed and beheaded in Swaziland ’for witchcraft’

Photo: AFP/GETTY

By Aislinn Laing, Johannesburg
Telegraph.co.uk, 20 Aug 2010

An 11-year-old albino girl from Swaziland was shot dead in front of her friends and then beheaded in what police believe was a ritual murder.
Police believe children are targeted because of a belief by witch doctors that the blood and body parts of albinos can bring good luck and fortune when used in potions.
The child had been washing clothes and bathing at a river with friends and was returning home when she was grabbed by a man wearing a balaclava.
As her friends looked on, the man shot her in the back before dragging her away. Her headless body was found upriver a short time later.
The murder is the latest in a series of albino killings in Sub-Saharan Africa, where sufferers of the rare skin pigmentation condition are concentrated.
Earlier this year, another 11-year-old albino child was killed close to the same spot in Swaziland and her hand was removed.
Police believe both children may have been targeted because of a belief by witch doctors that the blood and body parts of albinos - who lack pigment in their eyes, hair and skin - can bring good luck and fortune when used in potions.
Their value for black magic practitioners sees them often fall prey to human traffickers, one of whom was jailed for 17 years in Tanzania this week for abducting and attempting to sell a live albino man.
The girl murdered in Swaziland was named locally as Banele Nxumalo. A man identified as her father, Luke Nxumalo, told The Times of Swaziland that his late uncle had also been an albino.
“What happened to my child is very painful. I wonder why albinos are targeted because they are just humans like us and a gift from God,” he said. 

 Related Articles

• Albino killer sentenced to death
  29 Jul 2010
• Tales from the auction house

See also

Witchcraft in Congo: Testimonies from the Orthodox Mission in Africa
Two miracles of the Holy Cross in Africa (Congo)

"They are indigenous Sierra Leoneans who happen to be albinos..." 

Orthodox Tanzania
Orthodox Burundi
Orthodox Swaziland
Orthodox South Africa

Swaziland: Monarchy, Health & Human rights

This is a part from the article Swaziland in Wikipedia
 
Swaziland was then briefly a Protected State until 1968, when independence was regained.
Following the elections of 1973, the constitution of Swaziland was suspended by King Sobhuza II who thereafter ruled the country by decree until his death in 1982. At this point Sobhuza II had ruled Swaziland for 61 years, making him the longest ruling monarch in history. A regency followed his death, with Queen Regent Dzeliwe Shongwe being head of state until 1984 when she was removed by Liqoqo and replaced by Queen Mother Ntfombi Tfwala. Mswati III (photo), the son of Ntfombi, was crowned king on 25 April 1986 as King and Ingwenyama of Swaziland.
The 1990s saw a rise in student and labour protests pressuring the king to introduce reforms. Thus, progress toward constitutional reforms began, culminating with the introduction of the current Swaziland constitution in 2005. This happened despite objections by political activists. The current constitution does not clearly deal with the status of political parties.
The first election under the new constitution, took place in 2008. Members of parliament were elected from 55 constituencies (also known as tinkhundla ). These MPs served five-year terms which ended in 2013.
In 2011, Swaziland suffered an economic crisis, due to reduced SACU receipts. This led to the government of Swaziland to request a loan from neighboring South Africa. However, the Swazi government did not agree with the conditions of the loan, which included political reforms.
During this period, there was increased pressure on the Swaziland government to carry out more reforms. Public protests by civic organisations and trade unions became more common. Improvements in SACU receipts from 2012 on-wards, eased the fiscal pressure on the Swazi government. The new parliament, the second since promulgation of the constitution, was elected on 20 September 2013. This saw the reappointment of Sibusiso Dlamini, by the king, as prime minister for the third time.
  
Health

In 2014, Swaziland had an estimated life expectancy of 50 years.^[14]
Tuberculosis is a significant problem, with an 18 percent mortality rate. Many patients have a multi-drug resistant strain and 83 percent are co-infected with HIV.^[44] There are roughly 14,000 new TB cases diagnosed each year.^[45]

HIV/AIDS

 

Further information: HIV/AIDS in Swaziland

 

The percentage of the population with HIV is over 25%.

Swaziland is critically affected by the HIV and AIDS disease. As reported in the 2012 CIA World Factbook, Swaziland has the highest HIV infection rate in the world (25.8% of all adults; more in other reports) and a life expectancy of 50 years. From another perspective, the last available World Health Organization data in 2002 shows that 64% of all deaths in the country were caused by HIV/AIDS.^[46]
In 2009, an estimated 7,000 people died from AIDS-related causes,^[47] from a total population of approximately 1,185,000.^[48] This translates into an estimated 0.6% of the population dying from AIDS every year. Chronic illnesses that are the most prolific causes of death in the developed world account only for a minute fraction of deaths in Swaziland; for example, heart disease, strokes, and cancer cause fewer than 5% of deaths in Swaziland in total, compared to 55% of all deaths yearly in the US.^[49]
In 2004, the Swaziland government acknowledged for the first time that it suffered an AIDS crisis, with 38.8% of tested pregnant women infected with HIV (see AIDS in Africa). The then Prime Minister Themba Dlamini declared a humanitarian crisis due to the combined effect of drought, land degradation, increased poverty, and HIV/AIDS. According to the 2011 UNAIDS Report, Swaziland is close to achieving universal access to HIV/AIDS treatment, defined as 80% coverage or greater. Estimates of treatment coverage range from 70% to 80% of those infected.^[50] Life expectancy had fallen from 61 years in 2000 to 32 years in 2009.^[51] Tuberculosis is also a significant problem, with an 18% mortality rate. Many patients have a multi-drug resistant strain, and 83% are co-infected with HIV.^[44]
Public expenditure for HIV/AIDS was at 4% of the GDP of the country, whereas private expenditure was at 2.3%.^{[52][specify]} There were 16 physicians per 100,000 persons in the early 2000s.^{[52][specify]} Infant mortality was at 57.19 per 1,000 in 2014,^{[53][specify]} with the WHO showing that 47% of all deaths under 5 are caused by HIV/AIDS.^[46]

Swaziland

Human rights in Swaziland (wikipedia)

Swaziland, Africa's last remaining absolute monarchy,^[1] was rated by Freedom House from 1972 to 1992 as “Partly Free”; since 1993, it has been considered “Not Free.” During these years the country's Freedom House rating for “Political Rights” has slipped from 4 to 7, and “Civil Liberties” from 2 to 5.^[2] Political parties have been banned in Swaziland since 1973.^[3] A 2011 Human Rights Watch report described the country as being “in the midst of a serious crisis of governance,” noting that “[y]ears of extravagant expenditure by the royal family, fiscal indiscipline, and government corruption have left the country on the brink of economic disaster.”^[3] In 2012, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) issued a sharp criticism of Swaziland's human-rights record, calling on the Swazi government to honor its commitments under international law in regards to freedom of expression, association, and assembly.^[1] HRW notes that owing to a 40% unemployment rate and low wages that oblige 80 percent of Swazis to live on less than US$2 a day, the government has been under “increasing pressure from civil society activists and trade unionists to implement economic reforms and open up the space for civil and political activism” and that dozens of arrests have taken place “during protests against the government’s poor governance and human rights record.”^[3]
Human-rights problems in Swaziland include, according to a 2011 report by the U.S. State Department, “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 transgender (LGBT) community; discrimination against mixed-race and white citizens; harassment of labor leaders; restrictions on worker rights; and child labor.”^[4]
In August 2011 the International Monetary Fund urged Swaziland’s government to implement fiscal reforms to address its deepening crisis. In that same month South Africa agreed to loan Swaziland $355 million on the condition that it institute political and economic reforms. The conditions were rejected.^[3]

Human-rights commission

Amnesty International noted in 2011 that the Swazi constitution provides for the establishment of a Human Rights and Public Administration Commission. That commission was appointed in 2009, but operates “in the absence of an enabling statutory law,” which keeps it “from effectively discharging its mandate and obligations.”^[5]

Human-rights organizations

The organizations most active in human rights in Swaziland include the Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse, Lawyers for Human Rights of Swaziland, Women and Law in Southern Africa, the Council of Swaziland Churches, and the Roman Catholic Church. These and other groups are generally able to operate without restriction, but the government is rarely responsive to their input. The government usually cooperates with the UN and other international bodies.^[4] In 2011, according to Human Rights Watch, the harassment and surveillance of civil society organizations by police intensified, with activists being “arrested, detained, and tried under security legislation” and charged with treason and other offenses. “Civil society activists and government critics have reported increased incidents of harassment, searches, and seizures of office materials, as well as monitoring of electronic communications, telephones calls, and meetings by the authorities,” noted HRW, which added that activists are often subjected to excessive force, torture, and other ill treatment, and that there is no “independent complaints investigation body...for victims of police abuses.”^[3]

The flag of Swaziland
 
Basic rights

The constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, sex, disability, age, ethnicity, religion, political opinion, or social status; however, the government does not consistently enforce these prohibitions. Corruption is widespread and is not vigorously combatted. The police forces are considered to be rife with corruption. Principals and teachers take bribes to admit students to schools. Nepotism is common. Authorities commit arbitrary and unlawful killings. Torture by police is not specifically prohibited by law, and a constitutional provision concerning torture is not enforceable; in practice, indeed, security officers use torture frequently, and the use of excessive force by the police is widespread. Mob violence is also a frequent occurrence, with rape suspects, especially, often being beaten by mobs, the members of which are rarely punished. Local government is principally in hands of tribal chiefs.^[4]
The constitution includes strongly worded guarantees of fundamental freedom, but it also permits the government to restrict or suspend these rights. Amnesty International maintains that these rights are especially threatened by “draconian security legislation such as the Sedition and Subversive Activities Act and the 2008 Suppression of Terrorism Act (STA),” and notes that “the provisions of the former Act are vague and can be interpreted in such a manner as to severely curtail the enjoyment of freedom of expression, among other rights, and allow for punishments of up to twenty years’ imprisonment without the option of a fine.” Amnesty International points out that “provisions in the STA are sweeping and imprecise while the penalties for breaches are severe,” with the term “terrorist act” in particular being defined very broadly.^[5] Human Rights Watch, too, has used the word “draconian” to describe the Sedition and Subversive Activities Act.^[3]
An individual's freedom of speech or of the press may be waived by the king at will. Freedom of speech is strictly restricted in any event, especially speech about political issues or the ruling family. Criticizing the king is subject to prosecution as sedition or treason, and news media that engage in such criticism risk being closed. Self-censorship by journalists is standard practice. Although newspapers sometimes criticize government corruption, they are almost always careful to avoid criticizing the king and his family. Journalists are regularly threatened and assaulted, and defamation laws are used against them. to restrict their activities.

King Mswati enters the stadium in Ezulwini. Photo: Reuters (from here).

 

The government does not restrict cultural events or online access, and does not monitor the Internet, but it does restrict political meetings, and academics routinely engage in self-censorship to avoid trouble with the authorities. The freedom of assembly is strictly controlled, with police permission required, and often denied, for political meetings or public demonstrations. The freedom of association is also seriously restricted. Political parties are banned.^[4] HRW maintains that the government of Swaziland “has intensified restrictions on freedom of association and assembly in the past few years,” with police routinely dispersing and arresting participants in peaceful demonstrations. HRW cited the case of a September 9, 2011, rally in Manzini, at which the police beat up leaders of the opposition Peoples’ United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO).^[3] The freedom to move within the country, travel abroad, move abroad, or move back from abroad is generally respected, although tribal chiefs have the power to evict persons from the areas under their authority. The processing of passports and ID documents for non-ethnic Swazis often takes an unusually long time.
Police officers above a certain rank can search private premises without warrants if they profess to believe that evidence might be lost otherwise, and many homes and businesses are in fact entered without court authorization. Members of political, religious, labor, and other groups are subject to police surveillance. In September 2010, police entered the premises of the Foundation for Socioeconomic Justice and harassed visiting Danish citizens, whom they took to the police station. Since 2008 people who aid or abet certain groups – PUDEMO, the Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN), SWAYOCO, and the Swaziland People's Liberation Army (UMBANE) – have been subject to punishment up to and including life imprisonment under the 2008 Suppression of Terrorism Act.^[4]
Amnesty International has registered its objection to the 1953 Game Act, which “gives game-rangers or any person acting on their instructions the right to use firearms 'in self defence or if he has reason to believe that his life, or that of any of his colleagues, is threatened or in danger.' This would appear to permit the use of lethal force in situations where there may be no threat to life.”^[5] The organization has also expressed its concern about police officers who use “excessive force against peaceful demonstrators, use lethal force without justification against criminal suspects, and use torture and other forms of ill-treatment against arrested and detained persons.” It cited the Rev. David Matse, then chairman of the Human Rights and Public Administration Commission, as saying in January 2010 “that police and soldiers appeared to be using a 'shoot-to-kill policy'....In cases where Amnesty International sought corroboration, the information clearly indicated that the victims were not posing a threat to life when they were fatally shot.” Many persons taken into police custody, moreover, were subject to “severe beatings and suffocation torture, occurring in both informal settings and at police stations,” with the targets “usually criminal suspects and government opponents.”^[5]
Swaziland's constitution and laws protect religious freedom, but “minority religious groups enjoy fewer protections under traditional laws and customs, which include traditional courts and the authority of approximately 360 chiefs,” according to a U.S. State Department report on religious freedom. “When a religious group’s practices conflict with tradition and culture as defined by chiefs, they may direct community pressure against the group.” Religious groups must obtain the approval of chiefs before constructing houses of worship. New congregations must submit applications to the authorities through one of three umbrella bodies: the League of Churches, Swaziland Conference of Churches, or Council of Swaziland Churches. Believers practice openly and without interference, with Muslim clergy being permitted access to prisoners and Baha’i Baha’i schools allowed to close on that religion's holy days. Despite a general respect for religious freedom, however, there is still a degree of societal discrimination, especially toward non-Christian faiths.^[4]

Women's rights
 

 

 Photo from here

Most married women in Swaziland have “the status of legal minors,” according to Amnesty International. “Women married under the civil law provisions (the 1964 Marriages Act) are subject to the ‘marital power’ of their husbands,” and are not permitted to independently manage property or sign contracts. They can opt out of this situation through a prenuptial agreement, but few women know that this is a possibility. Women who may under customary law are even more fully subject to their husband’s “marital power,” whose limits, Amnesty International says, “are unclear.”^[5] Under both civil and tribal law, in short, women are subordinate to men, and their rights differ under the two legal systems, which have conflicting sets of legislation on such matters as marriage, custody, property, and inheritance.
Rape is illegal in Swaziland but widespread, and the law against it not consistently enforced. Although the U.S. State Department's 2011 report says that spousal rape is illegal,^[4] Amnesty International states that “rape is defined narrowly and marital rape is not criminalized in either statute or common law,” adding that the Girls and Women’s Protection Act of 1920 “specifically excludes marital rape from its range of offences.”^[5] Rape is widely viewed by men as a minor offense and by woman as a shameful event that they prefer not to report. Although technically rape can be punished by up to 15 years in prison, convictions are rare and sentences generally lenient.^[4] Some Swazi feminists felt that the view taken of women by many Swazi men was reflected in a December 2012 Times Sunday column by Qalakaliboli Dlamini, who argued therein that most women who are subjected to violence have brought it on themselves and that “when a woman is battered, she may have caused more internal damage to the male who will have caused her external harm.”^[6]
Domestic violence is common, but widely viewed as acceptable. While urban women report domestic violence with some frequency and are sometimes taken seriously by the Western-style courts, tribal courts in rural areas tend to have little sympathy for victims. No sexual-harassment case has ever made it to trial. In 2010, the Swazi High Court ruled that a portion of the Deeds Registry Act under which women could not register property in their names was unconstitutional, and the Supreme Court supported the ruling, but no new legislation was enacted, and the act remained in effect.^[4] In June 2011, the government introduced a new Deeds Registry (Amendment) Bill in parliament in a belated effort to conform with the court decisions, but the bill had not yet become law by late September 2011.^[5]
Tribal law permits men to have multiple wives, but civil law prohibits polygamy. Children born into traditional marriages are considered to be their fathers' property. Only male children may inherit. Tribal chiefs can fine women who wear pants. Although the constitution declares that women are not obliged to adhere to customs they oppose,^[4] Amnesty International has objected that this formulation “places an undue burden on the individual woman, whereas international human rights law stipulates that it is the responsibility of the state to prohibit and condemn all forms of harmful practices which negatively affect women.”^[5] In any event, despite the constitutional protection, women who refuse to undergo traditional long mourning periods are often treated as outcasts and may lose their homes and inheritances. Widows in mourning may not appear in some public places and are not allowed near the king. Among other things, then, they are prevented from voting.^[4]

Children's rights

Children of Swazi fathers who acknowledge their parenthood automatically become Swazi citizens, as do children who are born out of wedlock to Swazi women and whose fathers will not acknowledge their parenthood. A foreign women who marries a Swazi national is entitled to Swazi citizenship, and their children will be born Swazi citizens; however, the child of a Swazi woman married to a foreign man, even if he has acquired Swazi citizenship, is regarded as a citizen of the father's land of birth. Orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) make up 10 percent of the Swazi population, and government efforts to provide for their welfare are insufficient. Nor has the government yet managed to provide free universal access to schooling. While authories are supposed to pay school fees for OVCs, some schools expel OVCs for failure to pay. In many schools, moreover, teachers and principals demand bribes to enroll children.
Child abuse is common in Swaziland, but rarely reported or punished. Punishments, when they do occur, are minimal, with perpetrators of abuse resulting in death usually being fined a maximum of 200 emalangeni ($27). Many children are infected with HIV as a result of rape. One in three girls between 13 and 24 has been sexually abused. Teachers and principals are allowed to physically punish children, and do so routinely, generally beating them with sticks. Girls can marry under traditional law at 14, according to the U.S. State Department,^[4] and at 13, according to Amnesty International;^[5] under civil law they can marry, with the proper approval, at 16.^[4] Boys cannot marry until 18. Amnesty International maintains that “girls and young women are not sufficiently protected under the law from forced or early marriages.”^[5] Many children, especially girls who are OVCs, work in prostitution, being subject to sexual exploitation at bars, brothels, and truck stops; there is no law against child prostitution. During the years prior to 2010, and during that year as well, the number of street children in Mbabane and Manzini rose steadily. Swaziland is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.^[4]

Photo from here

Disabled people's rights

The constitution calls for the protection of disabled people, but no laws prohibit discrimination in employment, provide for health-care access for the disabled, or require access to transport, buildings, or services.^[4]

Minority rights

Discrimination on the grounds of race, color, ethnic origin, tribe, or birth is technically unconstitutional, but is practiced by government bodies and society at large against whites and mixed-race persons, who experience difficulty securing official documents, from passports to building permits.^[4]

LGBT rights

 

LGBT persons are subject to serious social discrimination and virtually all of them hide their sexual orientation. Sodomy laws are on the books but are rarely enforced, although openness about being gay can result in eviction and even rejection from AIDS clinics.^[4]

HIV/AIDS rights

HIV-positive persons are stigmatized, but in the military, at least, they do not suffer official discrimination.^[3] About 26 percent of Swazis are infected with HIV, but treatment is highly inadequate.^[4]

Rights of refugees and asylum seekers

The government has a system in place for helping refugees, protects refugees whose lives or freedom might be in danger if they were returned to another country, and cooperates with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian groups to help refugees and asylum seekers. Refugees are also allowed to settle in Swaziland, are granted work permits, and are provided with free transportation. After five years they can become citizens.^[4]

Rights of persons under arrest

Arbitrary arrest and detention are unconstitutional, but occur frequently. Both the Royal Swaziland Police Service (RSPS), which is responsible for internal security, and the Umbutfo Swaziland Defense Force (USDF), which handles external security, are “generally professional,” according to the U.S. State Department, but are inefficient, corrupt, and lacking in resources. There are also “community police” under the control of tribal chiefs. Indigent defendants are entitled to free counsel only if they are facing the death penalty or life imprisonment. Defendants are usually informed promptly of charges, but are not always charged within the prescribed 48-hour period after arrest. There is a bail system. Members of the political opposition are sometimes arrested and held without charges. Pretrial detention can often be long.^[4]

Silent protesters outside Swaziland’s information ministry on World Press Freedom Day, 3 May 2013 (from thw article So this is democracy ?)

Rights of persons on trial

The constitution and law guarantee an independent judiciary, but since judges are appointed by the king their independence is limited. There are two sets of civilian courts, those that draw on Roman-Dutch law and those that draw on tribal law and custom. The latter, in which defendants are not permitted to have lawyers, can only try minor offenses and have limited sentencing powers. It is up to the Director of Public Prosecutions to select the court system under which a case will be tried. There are also military courts in which defendants may be convicted based on hearsay. The right to a public trial is generally respected, as are the right to question witnesses, examine government evidence, and so on.^[4]
Amnesty International notes that “access to justice for victims of human rights abuses has been undermined” since June 2011 “by a renewed crisis in the rule of law. A senior High Court judge, Thomas Masuku, whose rulings have long contributed to the protection of human rights in Swaziland,^[5] was subjected to blatantly unfair removal proceedings....These developments also set an ominous precedent for other members of the judiciary and have a direct impact on the overall independence of the functioning of the judiciary in Swaziland.” In a March 2012 statement, Amnesty International said that “concrete and immediate measures to guarantee the independence and impartiality of the judiciary” that had been promised by Swaziland were “urgently needed,” given that “the protection of human rights and access to justice for victims of human rights violations continues to deteriorate through what is in effect a crisis in the rule of law.” The human-rights group noted that in addition to removing Thomas Masuku from the bench, the Swazi government had dismissed Minister of Justice David Matse, “who had refused to participate” in Masuku's removal.^[5]
Amnesty International further notes that legal redress for victims of human-rights abuses, and for those who seek to use the judiciary to improve human-rights protections, had “been further undermined by new restrictions, in the form of practice directives, which are being implemented in the higher courts. One of the directives limits or makes impossible access to the courts for civil litigants in cases in which the King is directly or indirectly affected as a respondent. Another directive places control over the daily allocation of cases for hearings, including those on the urgent roll, exclusively in the hands of the Chief Justice. There are fears that this situation creates an unacceptable bias in the administration of justice.” Amnesty International points out that the Law Society of Swaziland had boycotted the courts in August 2011 “in protest over these developments and the failure of the authorities to institute a hearing on its complaints regarding the running of the courts.”^[5]

Rights of prisoners

Prisons are dilapidated, prisoners are abused, and conditions are generally poor. In Swaziland's only female detention facility, children live with their mothers, detainees are held alongside convicted criminals, and underage offenders are imprisoned with adults. The Red Cross and other domestic and international human-rights groups are not permitted to monitor conditions; nor are the media. There is serious overcrowding, which aids the spread of tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, and other ailments. Access to visitors is adequate.^[4]

Employees' rights

Most workers, not including those in “essential services,” are allowed to unionize, strike, and bargain collectively. Forced labor is unconstitutional, but women and children are nonetheless compelled to work as domestics, farm laborers, and vendors. Child labor is also illegal in most cases, and working hours for children are limited by law, but children are employed in a number of fields, such as herding, farming, domestic service, and factory work, in which some of them are said to put in 14-hour days. Some children are also put to work serving alcohol and producing and sell drugs. Although the Ministry of Labor and Social Security is responsible for enforcing child-labor laws, none of its officials are actually assigned to carry out this enforcement. There are minimum wages for various jobs, but they are not sufficient to provide a decent standard of living, nor do they apply to migrant workers or the informal sector, in which most Swazis work. There are safety laws, but few safety inspections.^[4]

Historical situation

The following chart shows Swaziland's ratings since 1972 in the Freedom in the World reports, published annually by Freedom House. A rating of 1 is "free"; 7, "not free".^[7]1
International treaties
Swaziland's stances on international human rights treaties are as follows:
See also

Human rights portal

• Human trafficking in Swaziland
• Internet censorship and surveillance in Swaziland
• Politics of Swaziland

Notes

1.^ Note that the "Year" signifies the "Year covered". Therefore the information for the year marked 2008 is from the report published in 2009, and so on.

2.^ As of January 1.

3.^ The 1982 report covers the year 1981 and the first half of 1982, and the following 1984 report covers the second half of 1982 and the whole of 1983. In the interest of simplicity, these two aberrant "year and a half" reports have been split into three year-long reports through extrapolation.

References

"African Commission Criticizes Swaziland’s Human Rights Record". Freedom House. Retrieved January 25, 2013.

"FIW Scores". Freedom House. Retrieved January 25, 2013.

"World Report 2012: Swaziland". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved January 25, 2013.

"2010 Human Rights Report: Swaziland". US Department of State. Retrieved January 25, 2013.

"Swaziland" (PDF). Amnesty International. Retrieved January 25, 2013.

"Swaziland: Human Rights Groups Take On 'Times'". allAfrica. Retrieved January 26, 2013.

Freedom House (2012). "Country ratings and status, FIW 1973-2012" (XLS). Retrieved 2012-08-22.

United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 1. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Paris, 9 December 1948". Retrieved 2012-08-29.

United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 2. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. New York, 7 March 1966". Retrieved 2012-08-29.

United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 3. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. New York, 16 December 1966". Retrieved 2012-08-29.

United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 4. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. New York, 16 December 1966". Retrieved 2012-08-29.

United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 5. Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. New York, 16 December 1966". Retrieved 2012-08-29.

United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 6. Convention on the non-applicability of statutory limitations to war crimes and crimes against humanity. New York, 26 November 1968". Retrieved 2012-08-29.

United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 7. International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid. New York, 30 November 1973". Retrieved 2012-08-29.

United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 8. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. New York, 18 December 1979". Retrieved 2012-08-29.

United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 9. Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. New York, 10 December 1984". Retrieved 2012-08-29.

United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 11. Convention on the Rights of the Child. New York, 20 November 1989". Retrieved 2012-08-29.

United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 12. Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. New York, 15 December 1989". Retrieved 2012-08-29.

United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 13. International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families. New York, 18 December 1990". Retrieved 2012-08-29.

United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 8b. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. New York, 6 October 1999". Retrieved 2012-08-29.

United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 11b. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. New York, 25 May 2000". Retrieved 2012-08-29.

United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 11c. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. New York, 25 May 2000". Retrieved 2012-08-29.

United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 15. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. New York, 13 December 2006". Retrieved 2012-08-29.

United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 15a. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. New York, 13 December 2006". Retrieved 2012-08-29.

United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 16. International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. New York, 20 December 2006". Retrieved 2012-08-29.

United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 3a. Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. New York, 10 December 2008". Retrieved 2012-08-29.

27. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 11d. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure . New York, 19 December 2011. New York, 10 December 2008". Retrieved 2012-08-29.

 

External links

• 2012 Annual Report, by Amnesty International
• Freedom in the World 2011 Report, by Freedom House
• World Report 2012, by Human Rights Watch

 

See also

 

So this is democracy ?

St George’s Orthodox Church… the first Orthodox Church in Swaziland 

Images from Swaziland