CSOs query rights violations at African Commission
Civil society organistions (CSOs) have decried deteriorating trends towards sexual and reproductive rights, arbitrary killings of persons with albinism or those accused of witchcraft and shrinking civic space in the country.
Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) executive director Michael Kaiyatsa expressed the concerns on Wednesday during the 75th Ordinary Session of the African Commission and Human People’s Rights (ACHPR) in Banjul, Gambia.
He also lamented over continued existence of social and traditional norms which continue to drive the practice of child marriages and teenage pregnancies, lack of access to modern contraceptivesas well as restrictive abortion law.
“We also ask the commission to urge Malawi to ensure that adolescent girls and young women have confidential access to modern forms of contraception and information on sexual and reproductive health, including through comprehensive sexuality education,” he said.
Kaiyatsa, who represented five CSOs, said they are concerned with the shrinking civic space due to enactment of the NGO Amendment Bill, which he argued, contains provisions that threaten NGOs’ independence, existence and operations.
“We have over 16 individuals answering various criminal charges related to freedom of expression online. Since 2019, over 70 people, mostly the elderly, have been subjected to torture and arbitrary killings on the basis of witchcraft accusations.
“Up to now, despite the gravity of these human rights violations, there is no robust State-led response to address the attacks and prosecute perpetrators,” he said.
The State, through principal State advocate in the Ministry of Justice Mathews Gamadzi, said government was enhancing access to justice through expansion on operations of the Legal Aid Bureau, while the Judiciary is deploying more magistrates across the country.
Among other government positives, he mentioned President Lazarus Chakwera’s April 2023 general amnesty to prisoners serving determinate sentences, reducing their sentences to six months leading to 2 755 prisoners released, but also camp courts as means of decongesting prisons.
The ACHPR is the premier human rights body of the African Union, established under Article 30 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the founding treaty of the African Human Rights system, for the promotion and protection of human rights in Africa
