The Youth and Society-YAS says it has reported various human rights violations happening in the country to the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights.
This is according to Charles Kajoloweka executive director of YAS who is in Arusha in Tanzania attending the 77th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights.
In an interview with MIJOnline, Kajoloweka said they have reported on four key issues on violations of rights of refugees in Malawi, shrinking civic space, abolition of death penalty and food crisis in Malawi’s prison took center stage in their presentation on the state human rights in Malawi.
“There are a number of violations that have taken place in Malawi targeting refuges following the refugee relocation exercise that government rolled out in May this year. There are cases of rape, extortion, corruption, loss of property and the criminal hijacking of the whole relocation exercise,” Kajoloweka said.
On food crisis in the country’s prisons Kajoloweka said it is sad that prisons have stayed four months without receiving any funding from government a thing he said has exacerbated the food shortage leading to malnutrition of some inmates.
“People have died in prison because of malnutrition and from January to October this year there has been about 16 cases of malnutrition and one of such cases led to death of an inmate at Bvumbwe Reformatory Center and this is in addition to the overcrowding we witness in our prisons,” lamented Kajoloweka.
Meanwhile, Kajoloweka has told us that government’s continued efforts to shrink the civic space through establishing punitive laws and the slow pace government is moving to abolish death penalty are some other issues in the country saying despite government through the ministry of justice committing to draft a bill aimed at abolishing death penalty, there is nothing to show on the same.
According to Kajoloweka, he hopes to see the Commission engaging the government of Malawi with an aim of ironing out the highlighted violations of people’s rights for all people to fully enjoy their rights in the country.
Established in 1987 the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights is charged with three major functions of protecting of human and peoples’ rights, promotion of human and peoples’ rights and interpretation of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
