Peter Kenworthy

In February 2018, Emil Boss, a former employee at Swedish retailer Systembolaget, visited South African vineyard Leeuwenkuil and Middelburg, one of the farms that supply the grapes to Leeuwenkuil, who in turn sell wine to Systembolaget.

“As a member of the [United Nations Human Rights] Council, Denmark will work for … a world without torture, a world where indigenous peoples’ voices are heard and all their rights respected, a world in which human rights and the rule of law constitute the cornerstone of international and national

Trying to complain and demand an investigation into having been beaten up and threatened by security police in Swaziland via the United Kingdom Foreign Office takes its time. In my case seven and a half years and counting.

The report is based on inspections of 22 South African wine facilities in March and April.

In 2013, 21 members of the so-called Gdeim Izik Group were given sentences of between 20 years and life imprisonment in a military court for allegedly belonging to a “criminal group” and for acts of “deadly violence” against Moroccan “public forces in the line of duty.”

Stories of incredible hardship, suffering and lack of democratic rights often overflow our social media feeds and are ever-present in our newspapers and on radio and TV.

“The Swazi system of governance, ‘Tinkhundla’, is indeed unique”, says, Sonkhe Dube, who is the International Secretary of the Swaziland Youth Congress. “They claim it is a democratic institution that encompasses traditional forms of leadership.

“The monarchy is a luxury that Swazi’s cannot afford. It is like a blood-sucking parasite that has sucked its host dry”, says Swazi activist Bheki Dlamini.

The resolution, passed on Saturday, also called for an end to the systematic harassment, intimidation and incarceration of political activists and the unconditional release of political prisoners and return of exiles, as well as for the isolation of Swaziland until these demands are met.

“Victim” is the name that Mphandlana Shongwe - a founding member of Swaziland’s democratic movement, PUDEMO - is commonly known by in the small absolute monarchy of Swaziland.