Malawi: government says no to abolishing death penalty, yes to improve legislation on same sex relations

Overview 111th Session – Malawi

The Human Rights Committee regretted that Malawi has no immediate plans to abolish the death penalty despite the de facto moratorium. The Committee also expressed its concern about widow cleansing and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). The lack of recognition of marital rape as a crime in the laws of Malawi was also considered problematic. Moreover, the Committee also expressed concern regarding the high number of child marriages in Malawi.

The discussion also focused on the need to improve prison conditions. The Committee was concerned about the lack of effectiveness of the Prison Inspectorate and the Malawi Human Rights Commissions towards the protection of the rights of persons deprived of their liberty. Lack of access to legal aid, lengthy pre-trial detention periods and the backlog of cases in tribunals were additional issues of concern.

With regard to the issue of freedom of expression, the Committee welcomed the repeal of section 46 of the Penal Code, whereby the Minister of Information had the power to ban newspapers. However, concerns were raised about the remaining obstacles imposed to non-State controlled media and the arrests of journalists. Finally, the Malawi authorities reacted positively to concerns expressed by the Committee regarding the criminalisation of same-sex relations, and they announced steps to review the country’s harsh anti-gay law.

The Chairman of the Committee concluded that Malawi had come a long way since the period of dictatorship, but that several issues remain to be addressed in the future.

The Concluding Observations for which the State should provide information on the implementation within one year, concern:

• Extra-judicial killings
• Torture
• Sexual abuse of children
• Forced and child marriages

The Initial Report on the implementation of the ICCPR in Malawi was reviewed by the Human Rights Committee on the 9th and 10th of July 2014. For a comprehensive overview of the discussion, see the proceedings on the OHCHR website or watch the webcast of the session.

The next periodic report should be submitted by the State party on 31st July 2018.