In 2025, civic space and the rule of law remained under threat in Eswatini. Impunity for human rights violations is still entrenched, and the authorities have yet to hold anyone accountable for the June 2021 crackdown against pro-democracy demonstrators. They have failed to apprehend the killers of Thulani Maseko, human rights lawyer and opposition activist, who was shot in January 2023. The rights of women and girls continue to be a concern as gender-based violence persisted, with rape on the increase.
Civil and Political Rights
Eswatini, Africa’s last absolute monarchy, continues to ban political parties and severely restrict civil rights. The country scored 17 out of 100 in Freedom House’s Freedom in the World 2025 report. It got 1 out of 40 on political freedoms and 16 out of 60 for civil liberties. As in past years, the report concluded that Eswatini is “not free.” The CIVICUS civic space monitor classifies Eswatini as a closed space.
If passed into law in its current form, the 2024 Non-Profit Organizations (NPO) Bill would further shrink civil space. It includes onerous registration, monitoring, inspection, and reporting requirements for non-profit organizations.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) visited Eswatini in July 2025 at the invitation of the government. They found that the Public Order Act of 2017, the Suppression of Terrorism Act of 2008, and the Sedition and Subversive Act of 1938 are routinely weaponized by the state to suppress dissenting voices and curtail freedoms of expression, assembly, and association.
Conduct of Security Forces
The authorities have not held anyone to account for the security forces’ crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in 2021. During these protests, the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) and the Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF) shot indiscriminately at protesters and passers-by with live ammunition, teargas, and rubber bullets. They also physically assaulted people, killed scores of protesters and injured hundreds more, including children.
Rule of Law
Nearly three years after the killing of Thulani Maseko on January 21, 2023, his killers have yet to be apprehended. Civil society, regional, and international actors pressed the government to investigate the case. But Maseko’s widow, Tanele Maseko, confirmed that she has not heard from the police, despite numerous inquiries. Thulani Maseko was fatally shot at home, in front of his wife and two children, hours after King Mswati III publicly warned those calling for democratic reforms that mercenaries would deal with them.
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) in a 2025 report on the independence of judges and lawyers noted that Maseko’s killing had a “devastating effect on the independence of lawyers in Eswatini and their ability to practice without fear of threat or reprisals.” The ICJ also noted that lawyers are inhibited from acting independently and “face adverse economic consequences for taking on cases or clients perceived as political.” This includes cases associated with the June 2021 unrest.
Women’s and Girls’ Rights
Violence against women and girls remained a concern in 2025 and is rising. The REPS noted an increase from 244 to 262 reported rape cases between April and May 2025 compared to the same period last year. These included statutory rape. Afrobarometer survey found that Emaswati consider violence against women and girls as the most pressing women’s rights issue. In addition, 43 per cent of people surveyed say violence against women and girls is “somewhat common” (24 percent) or “very common” (19 percent) in their community.
Efforts to progress gender inequality have been evident in some policies and laws, including the 2023 National Gender Policy and the 2018 Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act, as well as in education, with women’s and girls’ level of enrolment in education, roughly on par with men’s and boys’. However, there are persistent challenges in equal access to employment, more women experiencing poverty, women’s political representation, and violence against women and girls. Entrenched cultural norms and practices such as polygamy contribute to the discrimination of women and normalization of gendered violence.
In 2025, the Global Gender Gap Index for Eswatini recorded an index of 0.748, ranking the country 46th out of 148 countries. This index quantifies the gap between women and men in four key areas: health, education, economy, and politics and gives them a score from zero to one. A score of one indicates full equality between women and men, and a score of zero indicates full inequality.
Migrant Rights
Eswatini agreed to accept up to 160 third-country nationals expelled by the United States in exchange for US$5.1 million to “build its border and migration management capacity.” Human Rights Watch and other groups opposed the deal, which could put deportees at risk of arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, and refoulement. As of October 15, Eswatini had received 15 people from Cuba, Jamaica, Laos, Vietnam, Yemen, the Philippines, Ethiopia, Chad, Cambodia, and Congo, reportedly holding some in the Matsapha correctional complex, a maximum-security prison, under harsh conditions and without access to legal counsel. The Jamaican national was reportedly repatriated to his home country in September. According to an Eswatini official, the country was prepared to receive another 150 people. Lawyers and civil society groups have challenged the legality of detaining them.
Right to Health
Eswatini’s public heathcare system faced shortages of essential medicines in public hospitals, leading to preventable deaths and some patients being turned away. In July 2025, the Minister of Health outlined 10 challenges, including inadequate public funding, poor quality infrastructure and equipment, understaffing, and poor treatment of patients by public health professionals.
In June, Mbabane Government Hospital, Eswatini’s largest referral hospital was closed for two days due to lack of medicine and staff shortages. On September 9, the Ministry of Health announced the hospital’s closure for about an hour due to a power outage, including in the maternity unit. This posed health risks to mothers and infants reliant on electricity-powered medical equipment for their health care.
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
Eswatini’s law prohibits sodomy, defined as same-sex sexual relations between men, although no sentence is specified. The law fuels stigma, discrimination, and prejudice for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans (LGBT) community.