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Friends of Swazi Freedom (FSF)

Website:

linktr.ee/friendsofswazi
Type:

Anti-Monarchist Advocacy Group
Formation:

2021

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Friends of Swazi Freedom (FSF) is a left-of-center advocacy organization that protests the government of King Mswati III of Eswatini (formerly and also known as Swaziland). The Mswati government is the last absolute monarchy in Africa.  Friends of Swazi Freedom aims to abolish the monarchy. 1 2

Friends of Swazi Freedom supports the Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS) and launched the “Hands Off CPS” campaign after the government “kidnapped” alleged “CPS militants.” All were later released. 3 The “Hands Off CPS” campaign was also endorsed by the Workers World Party, a radical-left “Marxist-Leninist political party” dedicated to starting and fighting a “socialist revolution in the United States and around the world.” 4 5

Friends of Swazi Freedom was one of the organizations that signed an open letter calling for countries to submit Declarations of Intervention to the International Court of Justice in support of South Africa’s invocation of the Genocide Convention against Israel. 6

Background

Friends of Swazi Freedom is a left-of-center advocacy organization that protests the Mswati government of Eswatini, also known as Swaziland, a land-locked country in Southern Africa. The Mswati government is led by King Mswati III and is the last absolute monarchy in Africa. 7 8

Under Eswatini’s 2006 constitution, King Mswati has the power to appoint the prime minister, the council of ministers, and judges, as well as to veto legislation and dissolve legislative bodies. Although the last legislative elections were held in 2018, political parties are not legally recognized in Swaziland due to a 1973 decree. 9

King Mswati has been accused of using state finances to fund an extravagant lifestyle, and his close circles have been criticized for becoming wealthy while much of the country’s population live in poverty. Human Rights Watch claimed that the courts are “severely compromised,” and that the police have “sweeping powers under the Public Order Act.” 10

Communist Affiliations

Friends of Swazi Freedom notes that the two main groups campaigning against the monarchy are the People’s United Democratic Movement and the Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS). 11

Friends of Swazi Freedom launched the “Hands Off CPS” campaign after the government “kidnapped” alleged “CPS militants.” All were later released. 12 The “Hands Off CPS” campaign was also endorsed by the Workers World Party, a radical-left “Marxist-Leninist political party” dedicated to starting and fighting a “socialist revolution in the United States and around the world.” 13 14

Friends of Swazi Freedom also led a campaign “for activists to send Marxist books to comrades in Swaziland,” and finished a campaign to fund the building of a health clinic which it states will provide health to the community and to anti-monarchist activists. 15

The organization, on its Instagram page, posted the “Friends of Swazi Freedom Declaration on ‘Amerikkkan Independence Day’” which claimed that the United States is “built upon the continued genocide of the original stewards of Turtle Island,” adding that America was built through “imperialist terror and colonial fascist rule” and that it is a “prison house of nations.” 16

The organization also wished for the United States to be “sent into the dust bin of History and may humanity be liberated from the capitalist epoch,” adding “may socialism flourish!” 17

Anti-Israel Advocacy

Friends of Swazi Freedom signed an open letter calling for countries to submit Declarations of Intervention to the International Court of Justice in support of South Africa’s invocation of the Genocide Convention against Israel. 18

The letter claims that Israel is committing “genocidal actions, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.” The letter refers to the Israeli military as “Israeli Occupying Forces,” and claims that Israeli leaders have “made brazenly genocidal statements.” The letter also claims that Israel is “denying water, food, medicine, and fuel to an occupied population.” 19

The Committee of Anti-Imperialists in Solidarity with Iran (CASI) is a nonprofit organization that advocates against U.S. and Israeli foreign policy and defends the Islamic Republic of Iran. In April 2024, CASI released a statement titled “No war on Iran, stand with the resistance.” It endorsed 20 organizations including Friends of Swazi Freedom that it sees as supporting Iran’s right to self-defense against “Zionist aggression,” citing Israel’s alleged “illegal attack” on an Iranian compound in Damascus that resulted in the “murdering” of “high-value personnel” in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. 20 21

References

  1. “#HandsOffCPS Phase 2.” Google Documents. Accessed August 1, 2024. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YqoSP-xH-9Y9Kta8HpQoBqJj8MIQhGSs3sHDOgtB57Y/edit.
  2. “International support needed for pro-democracy campaign in Swaziland.” Green Left. September 28, 2022. Accessed August 1, 2024. https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/international-support-needed-pro-democracy-campaign-swaziland.
  3. “International support needed for pro-democracy campaign in Swaziland.” Green Left. September 28, 2022. Accessed August 1, 2024. https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/international-support-needed-pro-democracy-campaign-swaziland.
  4. “CP of Swaziland, Friends of Swazi Freedom Launches #HandsOffCPS Campaign.” Solidnet. Accessed August 1, 2024. http://www.solidnet.org/article/CP-of-Swaziland-Friends-of-Swazi-Freedom-Launches-HandsOffCPS-Campaign/.
  5. “About.” Workers World Party. Accessed August 1, 2024. https://workersworld-party.org/about/.
  6. “The GPR2C joins 1500+ organizations worldwide to call on States to Support South Africa’s Genocide Convention Case Against Israel at the ICJ.” Right to the city. Accessed August 1, 2024. https://www.right2city.org/news/the-gpr2c-joins-1500-organizations-worldwide-to-call-on-states-to-support-south-africas-genocide-convention-case-against-israel-at-the-icj/.
  7. “#HandsOffCPS Phase 2.” Google Documents. Accessed August 1, 2024. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YqoSP-xH-9Y9Kta8HpQoBqJj8MIQhGSs3sHDOgtB57Y/edit.
  8. “Pro-democracy protests in Eswatini.” House of Commons Library. Accessed August 1, 2024. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9316/.
  9. “Pro-democracy protests in Eswatini.” House of Commons Library. Accessed August 1, 2024. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9316/.
  10. “Pro-democracy protests in Eswatini.” House of Commons Library. Accessed August 1, 2024. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9316/.
  11. “International support needed for pro-democracy campaign in Swaziland.” Green Left. September 28, 2022. Accessed August 1, 2024. https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/international-support-needed-pro-democracy-campaign-swaziland.
  12. “International support needed for pro-democracy campaign in Swaziland.” Green Left. September 28, 2022. Accessed August 1, 2024. https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/international-support-needed-pro-democracy-campaign-swaziland.
  13. “CP of Swaziland, Friends of Swazi Freedom Launches #HandsOffCPS Campaign.” Solidnet. Accessed August 1, 2024. http://www.solidnet.org/article/CP-of-Swaziland-Friends-of-Swazi-Freedom-Launches-HandsOffCPS-Campaign/.
  14. “About.” Workers World Party. Accessed August 1, 2024. https://workersworld-party.org/about/.
  15. “International support needed for pro-democracy campaign in Swaziland.” Green Left. September 28, 2022. Accessed August 1, 2024. https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/international-support-needed-pro-democracy-campaign-swaziland.
  16. “Friends of Swazi Freedom Declaration on “Amerikkkan Independence Day”.” Instagram. Accessed August 1, 2024. https://www.instagram.com/p/C9AfGn_uYa-/?igsh=MTYzN2tlOWFxZG9wMg%3D%3D&img_index=1.
  17. “Friends of Swazi Freedom Declaration on “Amerikkkan Independence Day”.” Instagram. Accessed August 1, 2024. https://www.instagram.com/p/C9AfGn_uYa-/?igsh=MTYzN2tlOWFxZG9wMg%3D%3D&img_index=1.
  18. “The GPR2C joins 1500+ organizations worldwide to call on States to Support South Africa’s Genocide Convention Case Against Israel at the ICJ.” Right to the city. Accessed August 1, 2024. https://www.right2city.org/news/the-gpr2c-joins-1500-organizations-worldwide-to-call-on-states-to-support-south-africas-genocide-convention-case-against-israel-at-the-icj/.
  19. “The GPR2C joins 1500+ organizations worldwide to call on States to Support South Africa’s Genocide Convention Case Against Israel at the ICJ.” Right to the city. Accessed August 1, 2024. https://www.right2city.org/news/the-gpr2c-joins-1500-organizations-worldwide-to-call-on-states-to-support-south-africas-genocide-convention-case-against-israel-at-the-icj/.
  20. “Iran says Israel bombs its embassy in Syria, kills commanders.” Reuters. Accessed August 1, 2024. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-bombs-iran-embassy-syria-iranian-commanders-among-dead-2024-04-01.
  21. “CASI Statement: No War on Iran, Stand with Resistance.” Anti-Imperialist Solidarity with Iran. April 18, 2024. Accessed August 1, 2024. https://solidarityiran.org/2024/04/18/casi-statement-no-war-on-iran-stand-with-resistance/.
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