Communist Party of Swaziland welcomes US trade move against Mswati regime 27 June 2014 The Communist party of Swaziland welcomes the removal of Swaziland by the United States government from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). This is a positive move by the Obama administration, one of the very few specific bi-lateral acts by a country against the regime of King Mswati III because of its suppression of workers’ rights. “The move has taken a long time in coming,” commented CPS general secretary Kenneth Kunene, “and we have often felt that the international community should understand that the suppression of rights and freedoms in Swaziland goes back over 40 years. But it is good that awareness of the terrible plight of workers in our country is starting to spread.” Kunene said the CPS is glad that the US administration has focused on the lack of rights in Swaziland to freedom of association and the right to organize. It is good that the US government has also condemned the use of security forces to make arbitrary arrests of labour activists and clamp down on peaceful demonstrations.” Kunene said: “The view often given by the international community is that things are gradually improving in Swaziland. This action by the US is a direct rebuff to this sort of appeasement of the Mswati regime.” Kunene stressed that the US example needs to be emulated worldwide, and particularly in southern Africa. “The Mswati regime must be made a pariah, and shown to be the failed state that it is. It is time for organizations like the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) to stop sucking up to Mswati and follow the US government’s example.” ENDS CPS Press Services Contact: +27 72 594 3971/+27 74 922 8277 email : cpswa.org@gmail twittwer : @CPSwaziland
Posted on: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 00:19:21 +0000
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