Amnesty International Report 2015/16 - Malawi

Republic of Malawi
Head of state and government: Arthur Peter Mutharika

Attacks against people with albinism increased sharply. In May, Malawi's human rights record was assessed under the UPR. The government adopted 154 out of 199 recommendations, mainly rejecting those concerning abolition of the death penalty and repealing sections of the Penal Code criminalizing same-sex sexual conduct between consenting adults.

DISCRIMINATION – PEOPLE WITH ALBINISM

There was a sharp increase in attacks on people with albinism by individuals and gangs seeking body parts to sell for use in witchcraft. People with albinism and their families lived in fear of attacks and in some instances children with albinism stopped going to school. The Association of People Living with Albinism in Malawi recorded at least 19 cases of killings, attempted abductions or disappearances. Fifteen of those cases involved children, 10 of them girls.

On 19 March, the President issued a statement condemning attacks on people with albinism, and called on security agencies to arrest perpetrators and provide protection to people at risk of attack. The Minister of Internal Security reported that eight suspects had been arrested in connection with some of the attacks.

In May, police reported that they had arrested four men for abducting and killing Symon Mukota, a man with albinism, in December 2014. The men were caught with the deceased's bones after failing to find a buyer.

In September, a primary schoolteacher, Philip Ngulube, pleaded guilty before the Principal Magistrate in Mzuzu of attempting to sell a woman with albinism to a foreign national, who reported the matter to the police. In December four people appeared in court after being arrested in Mchinji district in connection with the alleged murder of Pepuzan Prescote, a man with albinism who had disappeared in August. The four were remanded in custody at Lilongwe Maximum Prison.

RIGHTS OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER AND INTERSEX PEOPLE

During the UPR the government accepted a recommendation to take measures to protect LGBTI people against violence and to prosecute the perpetrators. The authorities also agreed to guarantee that LGBTI people have effective access to health services, including treatment for HIV/AIDS. The government rejected recommendations to repeal provisions in the Penal Code criminalizing consensual same-sex sexual conduct between adults.

REFUGEES' AND MIGRANTS' RIGHTS

Concerns remained about unregistered migrants kept in detention beyond expiry of their custodial sentences, with limited prospect of being released or deported. At least 500 such detainees, mostly from Ethiopia, were held in overcrowded prisons after being charged with illegal entry and fined US$35 or imprisoned for between two and nine months. However, in November the International Organization for Migration in collaboration with the Ethiopian government facilitated the return of 223 Ethiopians. Earlier in the year at least 164 of the most vulnerable cases, including minors and elderly people, were also returned to Ethiopia. At the end of the year, 20% of the total prison population were awaiting trial with some having been on remand for years without appearing before a court.

DEATH PENALTY

After years of delay, in February the process was begun to re-sentence death row prisoners following the 2007 High Court ruling declaring mandatory death sentencing unconstitutional. Forty-six prisoners were released immediately and five were sentenced to terms of imprisonment.