National human rights institution 6. The Committee is concerned that the Malawi Human Rights...
Search results
ICJ submission on Malawi to Human Rights Committee
The ICJ has submitted to the Human Rights Committee information in preparation for the Committee’s examination of the initial report of Malawi under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
During its session in July 2013, the Committee is to adopt a List of Issues for the examination in 2014 of the initial report of Malawi under the ICCPR. The ICJ’s submission raises issues and suggested questions to be put to the Government of Malawi in preparation for the examination in 2014. The ICJ’s submission addresses:
- Malawi’s obligation to give effect to the provisions of the ICCPR;
- The right to life;
- The prohibition against torture and other ill-treatment;
- Conditions of detention;
- Rights to privacy and non-discrimination, focusing on the situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons; and
- Right to family.
Malawi-HRCttee108-LOl-LegalSubmission-2013 (download submission in PDF)
Concluding Observations, CCPR/C/MWI/CO/1, 18 June 2012: Malawi
7. The Committee is concerned about allegations regarding reported cases of violence and...
Symposium on the Role of the judiciary in the enforcement of economic, social and cultural rights in Malawi
The ICJ, in collaboration with Citizens for Justice and the Judiciary of Malawi will host on 27 – 29 September 2011 a Judicial Symposium on the Role of the Judiciary in the Enforcement of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
The symposium, to be held in Mangochi, aims to bring together judges from Malawi and the their peers from the SADC region and legal experts in the field of ESC rights to discuss on their role in the domestic implementation and enforcement of ESC rights. It is expected that at the end of the symposium, Malawian judges and magistrates will have acquired enhanced practical understanding of international ESC rights protection and ESC rights adjudication. This will significantly enhance victims’ access to justice and effective remedies and considerably increase public confidence in the role of judicial actors regarding ESC righ
Malawi-concept note-event-2011 (full text, PDF)
Malawi-enforcment of economic social and cultural rights-event-2011 (full text, PDF)
Malawi: security forces’ use of firearms against protestors
ICJ and other human rights groups call on the President of Malawi to immediately launch an independent, impartial and thorough investigation into the use of firearms against protestors.
Malawi-violence-against-protestors-open letter-2011 (full text, PDF)
Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture. Summary of information, A/HRC/16/52/add.1, 1 March 2011: Malawi
Malawi, 13 January 2010 Concerning Mr. T. C. and Mr. S. M.Mr. T. C. and Mr. S. M. were arrested on...
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, A/HRC/16/44/Add.1, 28 February 2011: Malawi
Malawi Urgent appeal 1489. On 13 January 2010, the Special Rapporteur sent an urgent appeal to the...
Republic of Malawi further entrenches discrimination based on sexual orientation
The ICJ deplores Malawi’s enactment of a law that criminalizes private consensual sexual activity between women.
Malawi-sexualorientation-news-2011 (full text, PDF)
Criminalisation of same sex relationships constitutes a violation of Malawi´s international human rights obligations
The ICJ expresses its serious concern at the unlawful detention, prosecution and conviction of Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, a Malawian gay couple.
The ICJ calls for the sentence against them to be unconditionally reviewed and their conviction immediately overturned.
Malawi-criminalisation-same sex relationships constitutes-press release-2010 (full text, PDF)
Letter to the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders in Malawi
This letter is alerting the Special Rapporteur on threats to Malawian human rights defenders.
Malawi-attention rapporteur defender-open letter-2010 (full text in English, PDF)
US and Malawi: rule of law compromised in fight against terrorism
The ICJ condemned joint Malawi/US action to deport five suspects from Malawi in the name of terrorism and in violation of a court order.
Final report of fact-finding mission and trial observation to Malawi
This is the report of two Missions sent by the ICJ to Malawi to investigate attacks on the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law.
Malawi: charges against judges dropped
The ICJ welcomes the decision of President Bakili Muluzi (photo) to dismiss impeachment charges against two High Court judges after reviewing the report of the Judicial Service Commission.
Malawi: threat to the Rule of Law
The ICJ is today attending, as an observer, closed hearings in Blantyre, Malawi on the removal of two High Court Judges.
Parliamentary and Presidential elections in Malawi: report of the team of observers of the ICJ
The IICJ, on behalf of the European Economic Community, commissioned a team of African experts to monitor the parliamentary and presidential elections in Malawi that took place on 17th Mav 1994.
This mission was a follow up on an earlier mission of the ICJ that monitored the referendum conducted in June 1993 regarding the issue of whether or not Malawi would adopt a multiparty form of government.
The general terms of reference of the observer group were: To monitor the impartiality of the electoral authorities; the complete freedom of association, movement, assembly and expression of support of the alternative groups; verification that the voters polls are properly drawn up, that qualified voters are not denied identification and registration cards or the right to vote; to report to the electoral authorities on complaints, irregularities and interference reported or observed, if necessary requesting the electoral authorities to take action to resolve or rectify all activities related to the organization of the poll, and to prepare periodic reports on the fairness and freedom of the different stages of the electoral process.
Malawi-elections-mission report-1994-eng (full text inEnglish, PDF)
Jurists seek inquiry into death of Malawi opposition leader
The ICJ’s Centre for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers is seeking an investigation into the death of Orton Chirwa, a pro-democracy activist and Malawi’s first Minister of Justice, who had been imprisoned since 1981.
Africa: African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights calls for the full continental ratification and implementation of the African Disability Protocol
On the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the ICJ, Inclusion Africa, Sightsavers and Validity Foundation welcome the adoption by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights of a Resolution on 6 November aimed at advancing the ratification and effective implementation of the African Disability Protocol (“Protocol”) across the African continent.
Africa region: a gender-sensitive approach is crucial to realizing women’s and girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights in Africa
On 2 and 3 July 2024, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and the Centre for Human...
A human rights-based approach to criminal law: Africa regional consultation
On 5 and 6 June 2024, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and its partners – the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and the Commonwealth Secretariat – held an Africa regional consultation on a human rights-based approach to criminal law with stakeholders in Nairobi, Kenya.
The Commission
The CommissionThe Commissioners are 60 eminent judges, lawyers and legal academics – from all...
Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Public Health Emergencies featured in new documentary film and blog symposium
Today, the short documentary film titled “Beyond Siracusa: Human Rights in Times of Public Health Emergencies,” will be launched. The film looks at the 2023 Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights Public Health (PHE Principles), developed by experts through a process led by the International Commission of Jurists and the Global Health Consortium (GHLC). The film looks at the underlying motivation for the PHE Principles, including the imperatives for action compelled by the onslaught of the COVID 19 Pandemic, as well as the drafting process itself.
VIDEO: Beyond Siracusa: Human Rights in Times of Public Health Emergencies
“One of the important lessons learned from the COVID-19 experience is that a unified, cohesive elaboration of international law and standards prescribing how States should and should not respond to pandemics was lacking and sorely needed,” said Tim Fish Hodgson, ICJ’s Senior Legal Adviser. “The 1984 Siracusa Principles, also developed by the ICJ, elaborated a framework for a human rights-compliant response to emergency measures. The PHE Principles build on Siracusa and affirm the proactive measures that are required to secure human rights in times of public health emergency.”
The Principles, which address such questions as access to vaccines, lockdowns, and fortification of public health systems to prepare for future pandemics, expressly identify a number of responsibilities of States in the context of public health emergencies, including that they act in furtherance of:
- Universal enjoyment of human rights;
- International solidarity;
- The Rule of law;
- Equality and non-discrimination;
- Human rights protection from the conduct of non-State actors;
- Transparency and access to information;
- Meaningful and effective participation; and
- Accountability and access to justice for those harmed by human rights violations and abuses.
Elaborated by international experts through a three-year consultative process, and to date endorsed by over 50 leading experts, the Principles also provide a foundation upon which further human rights standards in public health emergency prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery may emerge and evolve. In the spirit of such evolution, the ICJ co-convened a blog symposium between October and December 2023 on the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School’s Bill of Health, which will culminate with a webinar on 18 January 2024.
“The Principles aim to be more than static guidelines. Their essence thrives through interpretation, application, and discourse among communities of scholars, advocates, practitioners and human rights defenders,” said Roojin Habibi, a law professor at the University of Ottawa and a member of GHLC. “We extend an open invitation to all interested parties to collaborate on the implementation of these Principles, from local to global settings.”
In 2024, the World Health Organization is set to continue its work in drafting a “Pandemic Treaty,” expected to culminate with the International Negotiating Body (INB) appointed by the WHO submitting its “final outcome” to the World Health Assembly in May 2024. At the same time, a process is under way to amend the 2005 International Health Regulations stemming from experiences of their (non)application during COVID-19.
“It is our hope that the content of the Principles inform all processes currently under way within the WHO to develop and consolidate international law and standards,” Fish Hodgson said. “We reiterate the consistent calls of civil society to ensure that the WHO’s processes are fully and meaningfully participatory, resulting in the development of a Pandemic Treaty and International Health Regulations that are grounded in human rights, providing States with clear guidance on their obligations,” he concluded.
Event
Register to join the webinar discussing the Principles on 18 January at 16.00 (CET) featuring Justice Zione Ntaba (Judge of the Malawian High Court), Alicia Ely Yamin (Harvard University), Paul Hunt (New Zealand Human Rights Commission), Kayum Ahmed (Human Rights Watch) and Luisa Cabal (UNAIDS) at this link.
Links
VIDEO: Beyond Siracusa: Human Rights in Times of Public Health Emergencies
PHE PRINCIPLES: ICJ & GHLC – Human Rights & Public Health Emergencies (2023). A one page overview of the Principles is available here: One Pager – Principles and Guidelines on HR & PHE.
SIRACUSA PRINCIPLES: The Siracusa Principles on the Limitation and Derogation Provisions in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (September 1984) are available here.
SYMPOSIUM: Posts from the Blog Symposium From Principles to Practice: Human Rights and Public Health Emergencies are available here.
ICJ, Amnesty International, GI-ESCR and Human Rights Watch Draft “Pandemic Treaty” fails to comply with human rights (July 2023), available here.
ICJ, Amnesty International, GI-ESCR and Human Rights Watch Joint Public Statement: The Pandemic Treaty Zero Draft Misses The Mark On Human Rights, February 2023, available here.
For more information:
Timothy Fish Hodgson timothy.hodgson@icj.org
Roojin Habibi rhabibi@uottawa.ca
ICJ makes submission on the decriminalization of homelessness and extreme poverty to UN Special Rapporteurs
On 5 October, in response to a call for input from the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing and the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) filed a submission on the decriminalization of homelessness and extreme poverty.
The ICJ’s submission is based, in part, on “The 8 March Principles”, a new set of legal principles elaborated by jurists for a human rights-based approach to criminal laws, including criminal offences proscribing conduct associated with sex, reproduction, drug use, HIV, homelessness and poverty, which the organization published earlier this year.
In this regard, the ICJ submission focuses, in particular, on Principle 21 on the criminalization of “life-sustaining activities in public places and conduct associated with homelessness and poverty”. In addition, the submission draws on the ICJ’s analysis of legal frameworks, including criminal laws, and practices that are at odds with general principles of criminal law, and that continue to violate the human rights of marginalized and disadvantaged persons, including in India, Malawi, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
The submission outlines various examples of laws criminalizing poverty or homelessness either explicitly or as result of their enforcement. Among those, the ICJ has recommended the repeal of:
- Laws criminalizing begging, public nuisance, soliciting and “living on the earnings of prostitution” in India.
- Laws criminalizing begging, vagrancy and public nuisance generally and laws criminalizing similar conduct by transgender persons, in particular, in Pakistan.
- Laws criminalizing vagrancy, “living on the earnings of prostitution” and soliciting in public in Sri Lanka.
- Laws criminalizing poverty by extensively prohibiting broad swathes of conduct described as public nuisance and laws criminalizing homelessness by prohibiting a wide range of conduct associated with unlawful occupations of land in South Africa.
- Laws criminalizing vagrancy and informal traders’ efforts to making a living in Uganda.
In its submission, the ICJ has also expressed concern about laws implemented in a manner that criminalizes informal traders’ efforts to make a living in Malawi and Nepal.
The ICJ’s submission recalls how international human rights law and standards require States to address the root causes of homelessness and poverty and to provide support to those experiencing them. States’ failure to do so often amounts to violations of their international human rights law obligations to realize a range of human rights, including the rights to adequate housing, work and social security, for example, under the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights.
Under international human rights law, States are legally obliged to address the plight of those experiencing homelessness and those living in poverty. Very often, however, States not only fail to comply with these obligations but, making matters worse, subject people experiencing homelessness and poverty to harsh criminal law sanctions solely for conduct that is critical to their survival. In this context, the ICJ is particularly concerned that in many national jurisdictions people commonly continue to be imprisoned if they are unable to pay fines for minor “criminal infractions”.
Overall, decriminalizing homelessness and extreme poverty is not only consistent with general principles of criminal law and States’ legal obligations under international human right law, but it also a necessary step to begin addressing the root causes of the violations of economic and social rights of particularly marginalized persons. The ICJ submission underscores that, instead of enacting and enforcing criminal laws with a disproportionate impact on such persons, under international human rights law, States are required to provide all people with the opportunity to rebuild their lives and fully integrate into society while respecting their dignity and human rights.
Download:
[Submission] ICJ’s submission to the UN Special Rapporteurs
Background
The ICJ is a member of the Campaign to Decriminalize Poverty and Status, which is a coalition of organizations from across the world advocating for the repeal of laws that target people based on poverty, status or for their activism and campaigning against the overuse and abuse of criminal law across the world in keeping with international law and standards.
The 8 March Principles for a Human Rights-Based Approach to Criminal Law Proscribing Conduct Associated with Sex, Reproduction, Drug Use, HIV, Homelessness and Poverty, recently published by the ICJ, offer a clear, accessible, and operational legal framework and practical legal guidance for a variety of stakeholders, including judges and legislators, on the application of criminal law to conduct associated with consensual sexual activities, such as consensual same-sex sexual relations and sex work (Principles 16 and 17); the criminalization of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression (Principle 18); drug use (Principle 20); as well as homelessness and poverty (Principle 21). Principle 21, in particular, states that “no one may be held criminally liable for engaging in life-sustaining economic activities in public places[…] or on the basis of their employment or means of subsistence or their economic or social status…”
Additional resources:
- International Commission of Jurists, Living with Dignity: Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity-Based Human Rights Violations in Housing, Work, and Public Spaces in India, June 2019, accessed at: https://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/India-Living-with-dignity-Publications-Reports-thematic-report-2019-ENG.pdf
- International Commission of Jurists, “Unnatural Offences”: Obstacles to Justice in India Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, February 2017, accessed at: https://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/India-SOGI-report-Publications-Reports-Thematic-report-2017-ENG.pdf
- International Commission of Jurists, Sri Lanka’s Vagrants Ordinance No. 4 Of 1841: A Colonial Relic Long Overdue for Repeal, 2021, available at https://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Sri-Lanka-Briefing-Paper-A-Colonial-Relic-Long-Overdue-for-Repeal-2021-ENG.pdf
- International Commission of Jurists “The 8 March Principles for a Human Rights-Based Approach to Criminal Law Proscribing Conduct Associated with Sex, Reproduction, Drug Use, HIV, Homelessness and Poverty” (8 March 2023), available: https://icj2.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/8-March-Principles-Report_final_print-version.pdf
- International Commission of Jurists, Pakistan: Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018 : A briefing paper (March 2020), available : https://icj2.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Pakistan-Transgender-Advocacy-Analysis-brief-2020-ENG.pdf
- International Commission of Jurists, Sri Lanka’s Vagrants Ordinance No. 4 of 1841: A Colonial Relic Long Overdue for Repeal : A briefing paper (December 2021), available: https://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Sri-Lanka-Briefing-Paper-A-Colonial-Relic-Long-Overdue-for-Repeal-2021-ENG.pdf
Africa region: Human rights advocates call on authorities to support the work of NGOs advancing the human rights of LGBTQI+ people in East and Southern Africa
On 11 April 2023, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) convened an online panel of five human rights advocates from East and Southern Africa to discuss the obstacles preventing organizations working to advance the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) people in their countries from registering to operate. The webinar unpacked the advocacy and legal strategies that can, and indeed have been successfully used in some contexts, to challenge discriminatory laws and policies.
Sri Lanka: Judges affirm the need to address unconscious bias and gender stereotypes in the administration of justice
At a Judicial Dialogue on Access to Justice for Women conducted by the International Commission of Jurists in partnership with the Sri Lanka Judges’ Institute, participants agreed on the need to confront implicit biases and stereotypes that hamper substantive gender equality enhance women’s access to justice.