Overview of Human Rights in Swaziland

The Kingdom of Swaziland is a modified monarchy where the king has executive, legislative, and some judicial powers. The monarch rules according to unwritten laws and customs, in conjunction with a partially (popularly) elected parliament. Recent elections raised questions by international monitors about the level of freedom and fairness. Meanwhile, the government's human rights record is poor.

Party politics is limited and citizens lack the ability to effectively or peaceably change their government. The government limits freedoms of speech, press, assembly, association, movement, and privacy rights. Opponents of the government are often harassed and threatened with violence. Police and security forces act with impunity. Actions such as arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, beatings, and arbitrary killings are committed without fear of punishment.

Issues such as rising rates of HIV/AIDS infections, high levels of unemployment, corruption, poverty and drought are all negative influences on the country's ability to improve its situation. Societal discrimination against mixed race and white citizens is an additional problem. Finally, child abuse, human trafficking and child labor also continue to be problems in the nation.

Note: On July 26, 2005, Swaziland adopted its first constitution in over 30 years. It remains to be seen if the constitution will work toward protecting the rights of all citizens.

Human Development Index (HDI) Rank:

146th out of 177

Note: Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite index that measures the level of well-being of nations in the world. It uses factors such as poverty, literacy, life-expectancy, education, gross domestic product, and purchasing power parity to assess the average achievements in each nation. It has been used in the United Nation’s Human Development Report since 1993.