One year after the assassination of the prominent human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko, demands for justice remain unanswered. Lawyers for Lawyers commemorates human rights lawyers Thulani Maseko one year after he was assassinated in his home on January 21, 2023.
Thulani Maseko was a prominent human rights lawyer from Eswatini. He was a senior member of Lawyers for Human Rights Swaziland and was one of the founding members of the Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Network. Furthermore, Thulani was the chairperson of the Multi-Stakeholder Forum, an umbrella association of civil society organisations, business and trade unions, political parties, faith-based organisations and women’s organisations, that advocates for a peaceful transition to multi-party democracy in Eswatini.
UN Special Rapporteurs, despite calls for justice and accountability, highlighted that “investigations conducted into Thulani’s death have made no substantive progress over the course of an entire year. This is outrageous and creates a climate of impunity and a chilling effect on the human rights movement in Eswatini”.
Lawyers for Lawyers joins other civil society organizations in the call for an effective, impartial, and independent investigation into Thulani’s death, and for concrete measures to protect and ensure the safety of lawyers in Eswatini.
The #JusticeForThulani campaign is designed to bring awareness, build support, and inspire action on behalf of Thulani and all lawyers imprisoned for their work.
