Danish Minister for Development Cooperation concerned about the political development in Swaziland

By Peter Kenworthy, Communications and Project Officer

In a letter to Africa Contact, the Danish Minister for Development Cooperation, Søren Pind, stated that “we are worried about the human rights situation in Swaziland”. The minister was replying to a letter sent to him by Africa Contact, urging his ministry to act on the unprovoked detainment and beating of three members of the organisation in September.

Søren Pind insisted that he took the issue of mistreatment of Africa Contact’s members seriously. “Denmark has officially raised the matter with Swaziland through the embassy in Pretoria, emphasizing that we are seriously worried about these events. At the same time, we have stressed that we obviously expect the authorities to investigate this matter thoroughly, and that the necessary conclusions must be drawn from these investigations.”

More generally, he echoed previous statements by the Danish Foreign Ministry and the Danish Embassy in Pretoria in saying that he believed that matters concerning Swaziland should be handled through the EU and not bilaterally. “In a country such as Swaziland, that is not a Danish programme country, the EU is central. After the incidents in September, Denmark has therefore discussed the problems in Swaziland at EU-level to ensure that Denmark’s concerns about the human rights situation is reflected in the dialogue between the EU and Swaziland with regards to political and development-related issues.”