Thulani Rudolf Maseko (1 March 1970 – 21 January 2023) was a Swazi

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

who was imprisoned from 2014 to 2015, and declared a prisoner of conscience by

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

. He launched a court challenge to King

Mswati III Mswati III (born Makhosetive; 19 April 1968) is the king (Swazi: Ngwenyama, Ingwenyama yemaSwati) of Eswatini and head of the Swazi royal family. He was born in Manzini in the Protectorate of Swaziland to King Sobhuza II and one of his younger wi ...

of Eswatini in 2018 and was assassinated in 2023. He was a member of the

People's United Democratic Movement The People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO; ss, Insika Yenkhululeko Yemaswati) is the largest opposition party in Eswatini. It is a democratic socialist party. Formed in 1983 at the University of Eswatini, it is led by Mlungisi Makhanya. ...

(Pudemo).

Early life and education

Maseko was born at Luhleko, near Bhunya in Swaziland's

Manzini Region Manzini is a region of Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland), located in the center-west of the country. It has an area of 4,093.59 km² and a population of 355,945 (2017). Its administrative center is Manzini. It borders all three other re ...

on 1 March 1970. He attended the

University of Swaziland The University of Eswatini (or UNESWA; formerly known as the University of Swaziland, or UNISWA) is the national university of Eswatini. It was established by act of parliament in 1982. The university developed from the University of Botswana, ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Law in 1994 and a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

in 1997. In 2011, he earned a Master in International Legal Studies from the

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

Washington College of Law The American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL or WCL) is the law school of American University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C. It is located on the western side of Tenley Circle in the Tenleyto ...

Later life

Maseko was a democracy advocate, and a human rights lawyer noted for his efforts to protect minority groups and people who had been evicted from their homes. On 18 March 2014, Thulani was jailed for contempt of court after criticising Swaziland's judicial system. In April 2014,

General Secretary Mlungisi Makhanya was arrested for wearing a party T-shirt to protest the incarceration of Maseko and journalist Bheki Makhubu. In August 2014, Maseko wrote to United States President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

from prison, seeking his intervention ahead of the 2014

United States–Africa Leaders Summit The United States–Africa Leaders Summit 2014 was an international summit held in Washington D.C. from August 4–6, 2014. Leaders from fifty African states attended the three-day summit, which was hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama. The summi ...

. Maseko was released from prison on 30 July 2015. He had been declared a prisoner of conscience by

. In 2018, Maseko launched a court challenge against

's change of the country's name from Swaziland to Eswatini.

Death

Maseko was assassinated in his own living room, in front of his family on 21 January 2023. This followed intensified efforts to silence pro-democracy and human rights advocates in Eswatini. Speaking earlier on the day of the assassination, King Mswati III said, publicly, that "People should not shed tears and complain about mercenaries killing them. These people started the violence first".

Reaction

After Maseko's death, Zimbabwean journalist

Hopewell Chin'ono Hopewell Rugoho-Chin'ono is a Zimbabwean journalist. He has won numerous awards in journalism and has worked in both Print media, print and broadcasting journalism. He was a fellow at Harvard. History Hopewell Rugoho-Chin'ono is a documentary film ...

tweeted that the assassination was "a chilling reminder of how the corrupt political elites are prepared to do anything to shut down pro-democracy voices". Numerous human rights organisations, as well as the

National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) is the biggest single trade union in South Africa with more than 338,000 members, and prior to its expulsion on 8 November 2014, the largest affiliate of the Congress of South African Tr ...

, the

South African Federation of Trade Unions The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) is a trade union federation in South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the s ...

, the Law Society of South Africa, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

, and many other organisations, condemned the assassination. Pudemo president Mlungisi Makhanya said that "There is absolutely no doubt that the assassination was carried out at the King's order ...Thulani's assassination by King Mswati represents one thing and one thing only – the assassination of peace. Comrade Thulani was a man of peace. He was a principled leader who gave his all in the fight for human rights and democracy, but always employed peaceful methods." On 23 January 2023, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for East and Southern Africa, Flavia Mwangovya said that Maseko’s murder was a chilling reminder that those who call for political reform in Eswatini were not safe. Amnesty demanded “an effective thorough, impartial and transparent” investigation into Maseko’s murder to ensure his killers were brought to justice. The organization said the investigation should be conducted by an agency independent of the government

References

External links