SUMMARY

The Kingdom of Eswatini, formerly named Swaziland, became independent from the United Kingdom in 1968. The country adopted a Westminster-style constitution at independence and elections were held under this constitution the year prior to the independence but the democratic constitution was annulled on 12 April 1973 by King Sobhuza II. The King assumed supreme powers in all executive, judicial, and legislative matters and turned Swaziland into an absolute monarchy. The current King Mswati III, came to power in 1986 and the main resistance in the country has been directed against the royal hegemony. In late June 2021, pro-democracy protests erupted in several towns. A harsh government crackdown on protesters resulted in at least 45 fatalities over two days, making the Government of eSwatini (Swaziland) active in one-sided violence. Smaller protests continued during 2022 and 2023.

During 2022, the militant group Swaziland International Solidarity Forces (SISF) conducted multiple attacks against security forces and police. The group claims its goal is to pressure King Mswati to “listen to the voices of the pro-democracy movement”. However, the conflict did not become active during the year, as the number of battle-related deaths fell under the threshold of 25 deaths.