Africa-Press – Eswatini. Her Excellency Dessislava Choumelova, the European Union (EU) Ambassador to Eswatini wrote an inspiring article celebration of 74 years of unity, peace and prosperity of the European Union. She stated that the EU was born in the ashes of war as a peace project.
I would like to congratulate the European founding fathers who conceived a common future for Europeans. Today, this project has succeeded in fostering unity, peace and prosperity for the 27 member States and 447 million people. We are grateful that the European Union project has made enormous contribution to development and peace around the world. Eswatini has indeed benefitted immensely through generous funding, where the government and civil society implemented many projects that have benefitted emaSwati.
Partner
She stated that ‘for over 50 years, we have been a major and reliable partner of the country’s development efforts. During this period, EU has contributed billions of Emalangeni to help the country improve access to clean and potable water, electricity, free primary education, health, sustainable and smart agriculture, infrastructure development, strengthening of governance, democracy and human rights and protection,” among other projects. As I was part of civil society since 1989, I can attest that the European Union has been a staunch supporter of civil society.
They have managed to fund civil society organisations, even when the government expressed misgivings about civil society agenda in Eswatini. I recall that following the 2021 civil unrest, some prominent government officials openly accused civil society organisations of being the source of discontent, an allegation that has never been proved.She stated in this article that the EU will continue to counter the backsliding of human rights and democracy. She stated that the EU will work to amplify the support base for the universality and indivisibility of human rights and rebut false perceptions that human rights are western values.
Sadly
In fact, article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states that “l human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” Sadly, 76 years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the reality is that millions around the world, including my very own country, only dream of living as free human beings. We dream of a right to freedom of expression as enshrined in article 19 of UHDR, which states that: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression”; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
Journalist in many parts of the world are denied the right to share information freely, many are jailed and some even killed. We dream of freedom of peaceful assemble and association as stated in Article 20 of the UHDR, which states that:“Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.” The right to associate remains elusive many other countries in Africa. To this end, belonging to a political party is regarded as a ‘crime’ in my country. Is this fair for a country that has a Constitution that guarantees this right?
The government continue to deprive citizens of the right to protest. The media reported how an elderly man was assaulted as they attempted to deliver a petition in Mbabane, following the cruel demolition of his home. article 8 of UHDR states that “Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the Constitution or by law.” Where is the Human Right Commission as an elderly man suffer indignity from police?
Compensation
The evicted elderly has been deprived of property without compensation yet article 17 of the UHDR states that “Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property”. Article 5 of the UHDR also states that “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”. Sadly, some of emaSwati and millions around the world suffer the indignity of cruel treatment yet governments committed themselves to treat their people with dignity.
Former opposition politician Hon. Job Sinhala addressed the Human Rights and Democracy Conference in Geneva recently, where he narrated how he endured over 500 incarcerations where he was denied bail, tortured, denied food, endured solitary confinement for merely being an opposition politician. We also have two Members of Parliament who face sentencing by the High Court.
The African Union Constitutive Act objective (h) commits AU to “promote and protect human and peoples’ rights in accordance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other relevant human rights instruments.” Will the African Union dream be realised? Will Africans enjoy human rights and freedom?
Source: times
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