Withdrawal of AGOA benefits welcomed

The Communist Party (CPS) of Swaziland on Friday welcomed the removal of Swaziland, by the United States government, from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

"This is a positive move by the Obama administration, one of the very few specific bilateral acts by a country against the regime of King Mswati III because of its suppression of workers' rights," CPS General Secretary Kenneth Kunene said in a statement.

"We have often felt that the international community should understand that the suppression of rights and freedoms in Swaziland goes back over 40 years."

Kunene said the party was pleased that the US administration had focused on the lack of rights in Swaziland to freedom of association and the right to organise.

"It is good that the US government has also condemned the use of security forces to make arbitrary arrests of labour activists and clamp down on peaceful demonstrations."

He also said that other international countries should also take action.

"The Mswati regime must be made a pariah, and shown to be the failed state that it is. It is time for organisations like the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) to stop sucking up to Mswati and follow the US government's example."