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The United Nations calls for an investigation impartial after the assassination on Saturday January 21 of Thulani Maseko, lawyer and human rights activist in Eswatini, the last absolute monarchy in Africa and formerly called Swaziland. Shot dead at his home by unidentified armed men, his murder is a concern, because it occurred a few hours after a warning from King Mswati III aimed at the opposition.
According to Thulani Maseko’s colleagues, he was shot dead on Saturday evening in his living room while watching television with his family.
A famous human rights lawyer and critic of power, he notably defended two opposition deputies arrested for having supported pro-democracy demonstrations. He himself had been detainedand more recently, he had launched legal proceedings against the king for renaming the country in violation of the Constitution. Until 2018, the country was named Swaziland.
His assassination was all the more shocking since, on the same day, King Mswati III declared ” people shouldn’t complain about mercenaries killing them, those people started the violence first “. A warning aimed at the opposition, which accuses the sovereign of hiring South African mercenaries to help quell growing protest in the country.
For two years, Eswatini is indeed shaken by demonstrations against the extravagant lifestyle of the monarch and in favor of democratic reforms: a movement violently repressed.
The brutal assassination of Thulani Maseko caused a real shock wave in the region and among the international community: the UN, the European Union, the United States and many organizations in the region reacted, condemning this murder.
Clément Voulé, UN human rights expert, said he was deeply shocked by this assassination:
The king of Eswatini “himself had threatened all those who defend democracy”, explains UN human rights expert Clément Voulé.
► Also read and listen: In Swat [2/3]: being part of the opposition in the last absolute monarchy of Africa