Hundreds of families were threatened with forced eviction. LGBTI people were subjected to discrimination and harassment. A man was charged with marital rape for the first time. Repressive legislation was used to silence peaceful dissent and journalists faced arbitrary detention, torture and other...

Responding to the news that Eswatini’s Supreme Court upheld controversial provisions of the Suppression of Terrorism Act on appeal, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for East and Southern Africa, Vongai Chikwanda, said:  “The Supreme Court’s decision to uphold this repressive legislation is a...

Responding to the news that authorities at Eswatini’s Matsapha Correctional Complex have denied food rations to jailed former parliamentarian, Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East and Southern Africa Vongai Chikwanda said:  “Amnesty International is...

16 July 2024  Following the sentencing of former Eswatini Members of Parliament Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza to 85 years and Mthandeni Dube to 58 years in prison, with effective sentence terms of 25 years and 18 years respectively due to concurrent sentences, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional...

On 21 January 2023, Thulani was shot dead by unknown gunmen at close range in front of his wife, Tanele, in his home in Eswatini. Despite regional and international calls for an independent and impartial investigation into the unlawful killing of Thulani Maseko, Thulani's family and community...

Responding to news of the arrest of Tanele Maseko, widow of the late human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko, and a number of her relatives, on 27 March at the Oshoek Border post while entering Eswatini from South Africa, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East and Southern Africa,...

In January 2024, Aljazeera reported that global debt – public and private combined - had reached a record USD 307 billion in 2023. For African governments debt is at its highest since 2001. Sovereign debt in sub-Saharan Africa averages almost 60% of GDP. At least 23 low-income African countries...

Marking a year since the brutal killing of human rights defender and lawyer Thulani Maseko, who was shot dead by gunmen at his home in Luyengo, Vongai Chikwanda, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, said: “One year has passed since the brutal killing of...

Last year witnessed a surge in discriminatory legislation directed against LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) persons across Africa, said Amnesty International today.   In a new briefing looking at 12 African countries, Amnesty International documents how legal systems were...

Across Africa, LGBTI persons face a distressing regression of progress, enduring relentless protests and formidable obstacles to their rights. This review exposes an alarming trend: the weaponization of law to target and marginalize the LGBTI community, exacerbating a deteriorating state of human...

Amnesty International is launching its annual global letter-writing campaign ahead of Human Rights Day on 10 December, in a bid to transform the lives of people whose rights have been violated. This year, Amnesty International is campaigning for justice with and for 11 people from around the world,...

African leaders attending this year’s Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the UNFCCC must avoid mistakes made during the inaugural Africa Climate Summit, where leaders adopted the Nairobi Declaration on Climate Change and Call to Action (Nairobi Declaration), which in many ways failed to...