Mswati convenes meeting to discuss rule of law controversy

Swaziland's King Mswati III at the weekend convened an unprecedented meeting, or traditional "indaba," of key government, traditional and law enforcement officials to address the country's rule of law crisis. "The king returned from an international trip convinced that the world sees Swaziland as a nation where the court system is in trouble, and he is frustrated that those in charge of justice in the country have allowed this to happen," a palace source told IRIN. However, Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini, who was at the meeting, believes that Swaziland's courts are functioning normally, and it is only the misinformed perception of outsiders that suggest otherwise. In attendance at the meeting was the prime minister's cabinet, who are all palace appointees, the 27 members of the Swaziland National Council, who are the king's handpicked advisors, officials from the justice ministry, and judges. The conflict between traditional authorities and the courts began last year, when the High Court ruled that 200 people evicted from their ancestral lands because they refused to accept Mswati's older brother as their chief, were illegally displaced. The Court of Appeal ordered that the Commissioner of Police be jailed for contempt of court after he blocked the return of the evictees. The Appeal Court also ruled that Mswati had no legal power to create laws by decree, without parliament. Dlamini said government would ignore both rulings and blasted the Appeal Court for following the political agenda of an unnamed foreign influence. The six judges, all South Africans on loan to Swaziland, resigned in protest. Subsequently, the High Court announced it would not handle government cases, and the Director of Public Prosecutions, a Kenyan, was forced to resign after he filed contempt of court charges against the attorney-general, Phesheya Dlamini, who sought to influence high court judges on a matter involving one of the polygamous king's future wives. International legal organisations and Western envoys condemned government for interfering with the courts. And last week, the labour federations held the first of what they said would be monthly workers' stay-aways to protest the government's flouting of the law. Against this backdrop, Mswati called his key aides and involved officials to seek an explanation, and find a solution. Chief Justice Stanley Sapire suggested that the naming of a new court of appeal bench would go a long way to restoring the court system. But he cautioned that it may be difficult to find officials who would work in a country where their rulings could be ignored by government. Sapire was allegedly targeted for removal by royalists who were angered that he found political dissident Mario Masuku innocent of sedition charges last year. Masuku is the president of the banned political party the People's United Democratic Movement, and last week was at the forefront of an anti-government march in Mbabane. However, the "law indaba" failed to produce other concrete suggestions, and participants reported that most submissions were in the form of complaints or apportioning blame. While, conservative palace counsellors expressed anger at the Appeal Court for what they claimed was the court's refusal to recognise Mswati's brother as a legitimate chief. Sapire replied that the court did not make a ruling on the status of the king's brother, but rather on the illegality of the evictions. The king gave no indication that a second meeting would be forthcoming. But conflict continues between the courts and the palace. In 2001, Mswati decreed that certain criminal suspects would be denied bail, and held until their trials. The Swaziland Law Society sharply criticised the law, and judges protested the removal of their discretionary powers. At the weekend indaba the head of the department of correctional services complained that his prisons had become so overcrowded with suspects denied bail that a food shortage had arisen. Th High Court has since effectively overturned Mswati's no-bail decree, and started releasing suspects on bail who were charged with murder, rape and other previously "non-bailable offences".