Balancing rights and wrongs

TAFTER THOUGHTS GUESTWRITER

HE events of Tuesday and Wednesday this week have brought us even closer to the reality of just how deeply we are immersed in the political quagmire, a situation brought upon ourselves by the inability to resolve the protracted impasse.

The two days also displayed the high levels of fear that have permeated our society and what this can do to our daily lives. Not that some of us never knew such a day could come given the direction this conflict had taken. Our media professionals,those who are focused on helping us understand conflict in all its forms, long warned that the trends emerging in Eswatini were very similar to those witnessed by countries that have had this unfortunate experience.

They cautioned that at some point we would have a society that would adopt a mood of defeatism, in the face of attacks and polarised reactions driven by those who seek control.

We were informed to expect to see a society that has been split down the middle, with people turning against each other as others adopt the use of force to control a society and cause discord.

Tuesday and Wednesday were days of highlighting the extent to which those calling for change have taken grip of this country.

Some argue that this new era is the unshackling of a society from the fears of the past; the fear of authority. The roles, they say, are being reversed, in a more violent form.

This era is certainly one we could do without, and we cannot avoid questioning if we are now living in an era of terrorism. Some would choose to see the perpetrators of the violence that has been unleashed on our society, as freedom fighters, leaving us with the prospect of having to accept that a terrorist of today could be our statesman of tomorrow.

In the centre of all this is us, the media, who have a responsibility to provide verifiable information in the public interest as society has a fundamental right to access accurate and balanced information, especially when it may affect their own safety or freedom.It is such a right that helped people make informed decisions about whether they go to work, or whether they partake in the protests.

Rights

However, many other rights could not be enjoyed. The November 15 march was a call for the release of incarcerated Members of Parliament (MPs), Mdzuduzi Bacede Mabuza of the Hosea Constituency and Mthandeni Dube of the Ngwempisi Constituency.

Their supporters strongly believe the MPs have a right to be free from the charges they are facing because they were exercising their right to freedom of expression when voicing their concerns about how this country ought to be governed. The march was banned and could not take place as planned. The MPs’ supporters are aggrieved that they were denied their right to a peaceful demonstration against the incarceration of the MPs as security forces ensured nobody went anywhere near the High Court where the MPs’ trial was proceeding.

In the process, numerous rights were denied to thousands of citizens in one form or another as public transportation workers exercised their right to withhold transport. Those commuters who were eager to practise their right to work were unable to do so. Businesses and vendors couldn’t exercise their rights to trade, while pupils were deprived of their right to schooling, some of whom were writing external examinations. Access to basic necessities was denied to many. The families of those who lost relatives to the June 29 riots also feel denied their rights to justice. The list goes on.

It is also fair to say that many others simply didn’t even make an attempt to practise their rights out of fear.

UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information Moez Chakchouk advises that we may not be able to prevent terrorism every time, but what we do have control over is our reactions.

“To not allow it to provoke us into living our lives in fear, nurturing our own prejudices and hatred, or shutting down legitimate voices. In other words, to avoid letting terror dismantle all of the progress we have made in the advancement of democracy, freedom of expression, and human rights around the world.

Otherwise, we risk playing right into the hands of those engaged in terror, as well as others who instrumentalise attacks to justify suspicion, polarisation and violations of rights.” For us, this will take a lot of effort, and it starts with agreeing that we cannot ignore the problem of the on-going violence that is causing untold harm to lives and livelihoods, damage to infrastructure and destruction of our economy.

To wish it all away would be to surrender ourselves to a fate that has already been laid bare for even the most ignorant to see.