By Musa Mdluli

MBABANE: The Human Rights Foundation(HRF) has submitted a petition to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) on behalf of eSwatini pro-democracy Members of Parliament(MPs) Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube who were sentenced to life imprisonment merely for demanding democratic reforms.

The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies.

“What differentiates HRF from other human rights organizations is our singular focus on authoritarian regimes”, reads part of the organization’s mission statement.

The petition was submitted on Monday and in a report published by the organization this week, Human Rights Foundation viewed the sentencing of the MPs for their democracy advocacy, as persecution by the eSwatini dictatorship regime.

“The country’s electoral system silences opposition, allowing the King to maintain absolute control over government and laws. This unchecked power has led to corruption and inequality, with royal opulence in stark contrast to widespread poverty amongst most of the country’s 1.1 million citizens. Amid these protests, Mabuza and Dube emerged as advocates for systemic change, pushing against a governance structure that stifles dissent and democratic progress.Mabuza and Dube should not have been detained in the first place.Further, their nearly three-year pretrial detention was tainted by restricted access to legal assistance, physical violence, and periods of solitary confinement. Their ordeal culminated in baseless and excessive sentences, in a blatant attempt to crush political opposition and silence pro-democracy voices,” HRF Senior Legal Associate Venla Stang said in the report.

In its petition, HRF calls on the UNWGAD to investigate the cases of Mabuza and Dube, declare their detention arbitrary under international law, and request that Swazi officials release them immediately and unconditionally. 

The US based human rights organization is also supported by the John Templeton Foundation among other organizations,in demanding the UN to take action against eSwatini and demand of the MPs.

Thabile Mdluli, the Acting Government Spokesperson, had not responded at the time of compiling this report.

King Mswati, an absolute Monarch, allegedly ordered the arrest of the pro-democracy MPs merely for demanding democracy, they were subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment by royal linked Judge Mumcy Dlamini who is related to the King.

The Judiciary in eSwatini is not independent but dominated by members of the royal family, relatives of the King and wives to senior Judges, politically motivated criminal cases are not allocated to the few remaining independent minded Judges.