Jon Robins considers the vital work of the southern african litigation centre in upholding the rule of law

At the start of the year, Swaziland's King Mswati III outraged critics by jailing a group of political activists, claiming that they were destabilising his regime and were linked to a spate of petrol bombings.


In a triumph for human rights campaigners, Judge Annandale, the acting chief justice, allowed 16 of those accused of treason - all of whom are alleged to be supporters of the opposition group, the Peoples' United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) - to be released on bail in March. All political parties have been banned in the country since 1973. The judge also ordered that the prime minister establish a commission of inquiry to investigate allegations of torture.


That is one of 13 human rights test cases that have been brought with the backing of the Southern African Litigation Centre (SALC) in its first 12 months of operation. 'Some 13 of the 16 people accused of treason allege that they were tortured during their detention, details of the torture were substantially the same and generally involved suffocation with plastic bags. They were consistent with reports carried out by organisations such as Amnesty International,' says SALC director Nicole Fritz.


The judgment reflected Judge Annandale's 'obvious distress at the allegations of torture made repeatedly by the accused and [in the judge's words] "unbelievably also allegations of denial of access to legal representation"', she continues. Making reference to the Swaziland constitution's own prohibition on torture and international conventions, Judge Annandale observed that 'the courts of Swaziland have a duty to uphold the values of the constitution and human rights, specifically the right to fair trial, and to see that justice is done'.


The Johannesburg-based centre opened last June, and is a partnership between the International Bar Association (IBA) and the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA), which is backed by the financier George Soros. The initiative has also been supported by DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary, which has identified it as one of its global pro bono projects. The centre provides expert support, resources and training to lawyers taking cases that advance human rights, the rule of law, public interest and constitutional issues in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.


'We were concerned that cases that might have substantive issues and might be worthwhile, might never get to court in the first place because the people bringing them just can't afford to hire the lawyers,' says Phillip Tahmindjis, programme lawyer at the IBA's human rights institute. 'When you are talking about human rights cases, usually you are talking about a victim who's not well off and a respondent - usually the government - with a bottomless pit of money. The idea behind the centre was to help with free training and practical support for those cases to get into court.' As for the centre's achievements to date, he points to its involvement in challenging the criminal defamation laws of Zambia, and a challenge to compulsory HIV testing in Lesotho.


The SALC is also campaigning against 'the unconstitutionality of imminent interception legislation in Zimbabwe' that will increase government surveillance powers. Ms Fritz explains: 'Jurisdictions around the world are getting used to this type of legislation in the wake of 11 September. But usually that interception can only be granted by the courts. However, in Zimbabwe, the courts are being sidelined altogether. For the state agencies to monitor communications, they only need to obtain a warrant from the Minister of Communications.' The SALC will do its part to stop that happening.