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Malawi human rights record dented

Government is failing to address human rights abuses despite the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) reporting it to the United Nations Human Rights Council, it has been established.

MHRC spokesperson Kate Kujaliwa confirmed the commission has for more than five years reported government to the UN body with little change.

Kujaliwa: Donor confidence undermined

Nation on Sunday observed that between 2017 and 2021, MHRC raised the same human rights violations in its reports to the UN body.

Kujaliwa said where a State continues to perpetuate human rights violations, its international relations and donor confidence is eroded.

She said: “For example, multilateral donors and governments use these reports for human rights respect and protection to decide whether to cooperate with that country or not. Even the provision of financial grants and loans can be influenced by these reports, especially by countries that uphold human rights.

“The UN Human Rights Council does issue a statement condemning deteriorated human rights situation in any member State. However, the UN does not have the power to impose sanctions on any member State.”

But Kujaliwa said the citizenry of member States are at liberty to sue their countries for violating human rights as long as they are a member to a legally binding convention or treaty such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The most significant human rights violations MHRC has reported repeatedly to the UN Human Rights Council include excessive use of force by security officers, harsh and life-threatening conditions in prisons and detention centres due to overcrowding and poor sanitation.

As of September 2017, MHRC reported 41 deaths in that year and leading cause were tuberculosis, diarrhoea, anaemia and malaria.

In its 2018 report on the state of affairs, MHRC reported Malawi to the UN Human Rights Council that between January and August of that year, 43 suspects died at the hands of police.

Mhango: We are a bad apple

In 2021, the commission raised similar concerns of abuses police officers were committing and horrible conditions in prisons.

They also reported arbitrary arrests or detentions; serious government corruption; lack of investigation and accountability for gender-based violence; and criminalisation of consensual same-sex sexual conduct between adults.

“In some cases the government took steps to prosecute officials who committed human rights abuses or engaged in corrupt practices, but impunity remained a problem,” reads the 2021 report in part.

A human rights activist Victor Mhango, whose work is concentrated in prison projects, said failure to address the violations make Malawi appear as a bad apple in terms of its standing on human rights issues.

“This can have an impact on donors’ interest to support the country if it fails to address key human rights issues. The MHRC within its mandate can only make recommendations. It is up to government to take up those recommendations,” said Mhango, Centre for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance executive director.

But Mzondi Banda, a public relations officer to Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Titus Mvalo, said in a response to a questionnaire Thursday that government acts on issues raised at the UN Human Rights Council.

He said: “The President exercises his powers of clemency under the Constitution by pardoning convicted offenders on the advice from the Advisory Committee on Granting of Pardoning. In this way, congestion in prisons is reduced.

“The Inspectorate of Prisons, a constitutional body visits and inspects prisons to see the conditions under which prisoners live and come up with reports of their findings to be read before Parliament.

“So, the gatherings which the Malawi Government and MHRC attend are very important because from the same the Malawi Government receives recommendations regarding our prisons and prisoners which government is able to address.

“Regarding food, accommodation and medication, government is aware of these shortcomings in these areas. The problem is funding. Prisoners who are unwell and for serious cases, are taken to government hospitals for treatment.”

Banda further said most problems are not unique to the country as they are also there in prisons in Europe.

He explained that the role of the ministry in criminal matters is to prosecute fairly to achieve a just result before the courts.

“The ministry is not involved from arrest, trial to conviction, but the ministry being responsible for justice still maintains a link with the prisoners through MHRC which operates independently and reports to the ministry which speaks for the Executive and Parliament,” said Banda.

In its 2008 report to the Council on suspects that die in the hands of police, after a similar report was made in 2017, the commission reported that on June 16 police arrested 11 persons in Blantyre, but four individuals Humphrey Sakhumwa, Dave Sembele, Dave Gondwe, and Ashbu Daiton were isolated from the group to be transferred to another facility. However, later that day officers dropped their bullet-riddled bodies at a local hospital mortuary.

MHRC reported that a reputable non-governmental organisation and the UN carried out a preliminary investigation into the deaths and found the allegations generally credible and warranting a more in-depth inquiry.

A complaint also reported in 2018, which featured in reports of other years, was that police officers regularly extracted sexual favours from sex workers under threat of arrest.

Child labour is another problem featuring in MHRC reports between 2017 and 2021, and in the 2018 report, the commission reported that the problem remained serious and widespread.

The 2021 report, just like it was stated in the previous reports, reads that while the Constitution prohibits the use of torture or cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment; police sometimes used excessive force and other unlawful practices, including torture, to extract confessions from suspects.

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