Mbabane | Tuesday
THE United States has warned Swaziland that it stands to lose world markets and membership in world bodies should the country fail to revoke a controversial decree, it was reported on Monday.
In a letter to the Swaziland government, a senior US official voiced serious concerns about the decree, which gives King Mswati III wide-ranging powers, the Times of Swaziland reported.
William Bellamy, deputy assistant secretary State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs, said the decree, published last month, endangered civil rights by harming the freedom of the press.
Let me be more specific about our concerns… It endangers civil rights by harming freedom of the press (publications can be banned without explanation or recourse to the courts), expanding the scope and punishment for sedition,” Bellamy was quoted as saying in the letter.
The decree allows the absolute monarch to ban newspapers, jail those ridiculing him and overturn court rulings in his troubled southern African kingdom.
“It also undercuts the rule of law by restricting the authority of the courts, removing court jurisdiction in several areas, mainly the banning of publications, chieftaincy disputes and the non-bailable offences,” Bellamy’s letter stated.
He said the letter was an alert to Swaziland on the repercussions of the decree, which could raise severe problems for the country.
To qualify under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) a continual progress report on the standard of the rule of law becomes a pre-requisite.
But stated Bellamy: “The decree violates the principle of good governance by re-affirming rule by proclamation.”
Concerns over the state of Swaziland’s civil society prompted the United States to exclude the kingdom last year from the initial list of countries entitled to trade benefits under AGOA, but the country was later granted a reprieve.
AGOA gives 35 sub-Saharan countries preferential access to US markets in exchange for good governance and a market-based economy.
Swaziland’s High Commissioner to the United States, Madzandza Khanya conceded in a replying letter the tiny mountain kingdom had expected US Congress to call for the revocation of Swaziland’s economical benefits.
“We have also noted that support from President Bush’s administration is beginning to dwindle. The most likely first step will be to exclude Swaziland from being considered for the ‘apparel benefits’ which was expected to happen in October 2001,” Khanya said in the letter. – AFP
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