Eswatini - January 2023

In a development that could further destabilise Eswatini, human rights lawyer and democracy activist Thulani Maseko was shot dead in a suspected state assassination (an allegation the government denies). Since May 2021, the country has been gripped by a violent political crisis, which has pitted the county’s absolute monarch, King Mswati III, against a coalition of political and civil society actors seeking the democratisation of Eswatini. Maseko was a highly influential advocate of a negotiated transition to democracy and commentators fear his death may undermine his cause within the increasingly militant pro-democracy coalition, making the peaceful resolution of the crisis less likely. In recent months, the crisis has descended into violent conflict, with pro-democracy extremists carrying out reprisal killings against the security agencies and Mswati allies in response to the continuing state-repression of protesters (which has included killings, abductions and torture).  

Sources: news24, Institute for Security Studies (1), Monthly Review, Institute for Security Studies (2)