VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS In January, Nhlanhla Dlamini became the first person to be charged with marital rape under the 2018 Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act. In the same month, his case went before the High Court which granted him bail. Under COVID-19 measures, the work of civil society groups was classified as nonessential, thereby denying survivors of violence access to vital support services. In April, the government allowed such organizations to continue their work following pressure from the Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse and other NGOs.
FREEDOMS OF EXPRESSION AND ASSOCIATION In May, Goodwill Sibiya was released and all charges against him dropped after he spent one year in prison for saying the King should be charged with embezzlement and human rights violations. He had also been charged with terrorism and sedition in connection with his association with the People’s United Democratic Movement Party.
Journalists The government used draconian legislation, including the Suppression of Terrorism Act and the Sedition and Subversive Activities Act, to silence media. Journalists were subjected to arbitrary arrest, and torture and other ill-treatment. In February, Zweli Martin Dlamini, editor of the Swaziland News, was arrested at his home in Mbabane for publishing articles which criticized the King. He said he was tortured in the Mbabane police headquarters, including by having a plastic bag put over his head. He was released without charge six hours later and fled to South Africa the following day. In April, police raided his home and arrested his wife, Nompendulo Nokuthula Mkhonta. While in police custody in Mbabane, she was tortured under interrogation and released three hours later without charge.
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The Eswatini Communications Commission rejected applications for short-term community broadcasting licences from the Swaziland Community Multimedia Network on behalf of Shiselweni Community Radio and Lubombo Community Radio. It had applied for licences to allow the radio stations to broadcast information which would raise public awareness about COVID-19. The applications were rejected in line with the Broadcasting Guidelines, which stated that two licences could not be issued to one entity, and because there was reduced staff capacity to process applications during the partial lockdown. The Computer Crime and Cybercrime Bill, which was yet to be brought before Parliament, contained provisions to impose 10-year prison sentences and hefty fines on online news sites journalists deemed to have published “fake news”.
ETHIOPIA Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Head of state: Sahle-Work Zewde Head of government: Abiy Ahmed Ali Security forces used excessive, and sometimes lethal, force and carried out extrajudicial executions. Hundreds of people were killed and property destroyed in ethnically motivated violence by armed groups and militias. Opposition members and journalists were subjected to arbitrary arrests and detention.
BACKGROUND Recurrent unrest and violence led to increased political polarization along ethnic lines, and largely prevented the realization of political and human rights reforms initiated in 2018. The conflict in the Tigray Region, which began on 4 November, pitted the Ethiopian federal government against the Tigray regional government. From the beginning of the conflict, there were armed confrontations between the federal army, supported by the
Amnesty International Report 2020/21
