Swaziland: Memorandum to the Government of Swaziland on the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Bill

Swaziland: Memorandum to the Government of Swaziland on the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Bill

Amnesty International welcomes particular aspects of the proposed new legislation, but wishes to note several immediate concerns, namely: the Bill includes 14 proposed offences which will be punishable by the death penalty; it substantially removes judicial discretion in sentencing; it criminalises sexual acts between consenting adults of the same sex; and, finally, some provisions in the Bill could unintentionally further stigmatise people living with HIV/AIDS. The emphasis, in the organization's view, should be on supporting the rights of survivors of sexual violence to justice and to health care and treatment, rather a punitive regime to punish HIV positive suspects.