Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has made to the Government of Eswatini on (a) allegations of police brutality, (b) mass arrests, including of minors, and (c) the arrest of Members of Parliament.

The UK remains concerned by the situation in Eswatini, including by reports of the use of excessive force and the arbitrary arrest of protestors in mid-October. We have called for all reports of incidents of police brutality to be investigated. The UK Government is clear that all citizens have the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression and that the Government of Eswatini must exercise restraint and respect the human rights of its people. We raised this most recently during Eswatini's Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council. In September I visited Eswatini and met Prime Minister Dlamini and King Mswati III, at his request, to discuss the civil unrest and violent confrontations, I urged him to listen to all parties and address the root causes. I also met with members of Eswatini's Multi-Stakeholder Forum to discuss how civil society can engage with the Government on these issues. The Government's recent commitment to draw up terms of reference, in cooperation with SADC, for a National Forum for Dialogue is welcome. The UK High Commissioner in Eswatini is continuing to engage with the Government to promote peaceful and inclusive dialogue and the early resolution of the charges against three MPs, two of whom remain incarcerated.