- As the #StandAsMyWitness campaign celebrates four years anniversary this Mandela Day, a number of countries to legally harass and put activists behind bars nearly has doubled in five years.
- José Rubén Zamora is the latest human rights defender featured in the international 2024 #StandAsMyWitness campaign calling for the release of 14 leading human rights defenders.
- On Monday (July 15), two featured Eswatini activists, Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube were brutally sentenced to 25 and 18 years imprisonment respectively for pushing democratic reforms.
- They two were arrested in July 2021 during pro-democracy protests that were violently quashed by police, leaving dozens dead. This subsequently resulted in the pair officially charged for murder and terrorism in 2023.
- In response, the Eswatini government said due process of the law should be respected.
- #StandAsMyWitness has since partnered with several regional and global organisations such as the Global Citizen in the call for the release of human rights defenders worldwide.
As South Africa and the rest of the world mark Nelson Mandela Day on Thursday (July 18) in honour of the late SA statesman who spent 27 years in jail, a report by Civicus Monitor shows a number of countries to legally harass and put pro-democracy activists behind bars has nearly doubled in five years; per statement sent to NOWinSA by #StandAsMyWitness international campaign, which marks four-year anniversary this year (2024),
José Rubén Zamora is the latest defender featured in the campaign calling for the release of 14 leading human rights defenders. Earlier this week, two featured Eswatini activists and members of parliament, Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube were shockingly given 68 years of collective imprisonment for advocating for democratic reforms.
The order to arrest and persecute the two Eswatini members of parliament were allegedly ordered by King Mswati, an absolute Monarch.
Furthermore, the report indicates that a total of 66 countries has had activists persecuted in 2023 alone, up from 36 in 2019, according to the Civicus Monitor. At least 63 countries detained human rights defenders (HRDs), up from 38 five years ago.
The shockingly starling growth of repression comes as a stark contrast to the vision of President Mandela. #StandAsMyWitness, launched on Nelson Mandela Day in 2020, calls for the release of leading global human rights defenders who languish behind bars for speaking truth to power.
Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora is now added as the 14th activist in the campaign. “As we add José Rubén Zamora to the #StandAsMyWitness campaign, we grow ever concerned that the world is becoming a more dangerous place for human rights defenders. He is a courageous journalist who has dedicated his life to exposing corruption and defending human rights in Guatemala,” said Isabel Rosales, Latin America advocacy officer at Civicus.
Zamora has been languishing behind bars for two years and the newspaper he founded, el Periódico, was shut down. Earlier this week, two #StandAsMyWitness Eswatini activists Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube were brutally sentenced to 68 years of collective imprisonment.
The 14 human rights defenders featured in the campaign represent a wave of persecution sweeping against civic freedoms and human rights around the world. Abuse of law for the prosecution of activists is ranked among the top ten rights violations, the Civicus report further indicates. CIVICUS Monitor.
Their stories are reminiscent of a handful of activists silenced for standing up for human rights and justice, among those still languishing behind bars are #StandAsMyWitness icons: Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, who has received a total of 31 years of prison sentence for standing up for women’s empowerment and promoting the abolition of the death penalty in Iran.
Hong Kong Pro-democracy activist Chow Hang-Tung was arrested and detained on June 4, 2021, for publishing two social media posts calling on the public to join the peaceful vigil for the 1989 Tiananmen massacre of civilians and protesters in Beijing.
Khurram Parvez, voted one of the 100 most influential people by Time magazine in 2022 remains in jail under charges of terrorism and conspiracy in India.
“This clampdown on defenders paints a bleak picture, with only two percent of the global population living in countries with open civic spaces – with a staggering 72% of people in the world lived in authoritarian regimes in 2023,” a statement from #StandAsMyWitness reads in part.
As the world honours the late former South African Stateman who spent 27 years in jail this Nelson, thousands of human rights defenders are in prison convicted in unfair trials and on trumped-up charges.
#StandAsMyWitness, which to date has been instrumental to the release of 30 defenders, urges people to call for an end to the imprisonment and harassment of human rights defenders worldwide.
The organisation invites people around the world to share the activists’ stories and demand their release. To do so, visit #StandAsMyWitness campaign here.
