The United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council member States have put under the spotlight Malawi’s human rights situation, calling on authorities to act on several recommendations to address existing gaps.
During the ongoing 50th Session of the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva, Switzerland on Tuesday, the council spent about three hours reviewing Malawi’s status.
The Malawi delegation was led by Permanent Representative to the UN Caroline Bwanali Mussa who also orally presented an updated report in addition to the initial 23-page report submitted in August this year.
Member States called on Malawi to act on several areas, including abolishing the death penalty, ensuring peaceful assembly rights, protecting the elderly, safeguarding prisoners’ rights and achieving gender equality, according to a copy of the proceedings made available to The Nation.
While commending Malawi’s efforts to achieve human rights, Belgium, France, Australia and Portugal called for the abolition of the death penalty.
In his contribution, Belgium representative Pieter-Jan Hamels said: “Formally abolish the death penalty, strengthen the capacity of the Independent Complaints Commission to enable it to conduct timely, impartial and effective investigation of all allegations of extrajudicial killings and suspicious death in police custody.”
Kuwait representative Ahmad Salmeen was among those that urged Malawi to pursue efforts towards national policies on the rights of the elderly and to integrate people with special needs.
Responding to concerns on violations to peaceful assembly, Assistant Commissioner of Police in-charge of legal branch Charles Panyani reaffirmed Malawi’s commitment to ensuring the right to peaceful assembly.
In her initial presentation, Mussa highlighted a number of successes and progresses, before commenting on the challenges the country is experiencing in achieving full human rights.
On the death penalty, she said while it remains in the statutory books, a moratorium is observed and that the government is consulting whether to abolish it or not.
Meanwhile, the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation and the Centre for Development of People have called on the government to act on the Council member States recommendations.
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