Swazilands statsminister står til at få menneskerettighedspris

Af Peter Kenworthy, kommunikations- og projektmedarbejder

Eftersom regimet i Swaziland generelt set, og Swazilands Premierminister Barnabas Dlamini i særdeleshed, står som symboler for menneskerettighedsovertrædelser i såvel ord som i handling, var det meget overraskende at læse, at Barnabas Dlamini står til at modtage World Citizen Award 2010 på grund af hans 'eksemplariske bidrag til fred og menneskerettigheder'. Især eftersom Barnabas Dlamini for nyligt åbent har udtalt, at regimet vil benytte tortur mod systemkritikere og 'fredsforstryrende' udlændinge.

Måske er prisen endnu mere overraskende, når man forsøger at finde ud af hvem der står bag World Citizen Award. Nogle af bestyrelsesmedlemmerne burde ærligt talt vide bedre end at tildele Barnabas Dlamini en pris for at
biddrage til fred og menneskerrettigheder. President Robert Rotberg
har skrevet bogen 'Worst of the worst: Dealing with Repressive and Rogue Nations', og et andet bestyrelsesmedlem, Peter D. Bell, er både Care USA's tidligere præsident og tidligere bestyrelsesmedlem af Human Rigths Watch.

Afrika Kontakt har derfor sendt et brev til World Citizen Awards internationale afdeling på Bahamas hvor vi opfordrer dem til ikke at give prisen til Barnabas Dlamini.

“Dear Sir or Madam, We at Africa Contact were so surprised to read today that the World Citizen Award was to be given to Swazi Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini for his 'exemplary contributions to peace and human rights' that we first thought it a joke. As this is apparently not the case, we would like to urge you to reconsider. Swaziland in general, and Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini in particular, have a dismal record on Human Rights and political freedom as documented by organisations such as Amnesty International and Freedom House (see links below). Democracy advocates in Swaziland have been tortured for holding peaceful demonstrations and demanding a democracy that you and I take for granted, and Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini has not only encouraged this, but has even recently said that his government would consider using 'Sipakatane', a form of torture used by the Portuguese colonial regime in Mozambique, to punish 'dissidents' and foreigners who come into the country to 'disturb the peace' (see links below).

It should therefore be blatantly obvious that Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini does not deserve to receive your prize.

We will contact former recipients of the prize to hear of their opinion of this years recipient of the World Citizen Awards.”

Afrika Kontakt har desuden skrevet emails til alle medlemmer af World Citizen Awards bestyrelse, for at informere dem om vores betænkligheder vedrørende denne pris, samt for at give dem muligheden for at forklare sig.