Media contacts:

Gift Trapence (CEDEP), Malawi: +265 991573514 or +265 888509732; gtrapence@yahoo.co.uk
Jessica Stern (IGLHRC), United States: +1 646 549 0130; jstern@iglhrc.org
Patrick Mutzenberg (CCPR), Switzerland + 41 78 619 1825, pmutzenberg@ccprcentre.org

(Geneva, 28 October 2011) – On October 25th, the UN Human Rights Committee concluded its review of Malawi in the absence of a State report. The Malawi state report on the implementation of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), due in March 1995, is now 16 years overdue.

"The Committee decided to trigger the special procedure of examination in absence of a report, which is usually used for States that refuse to comply with their reporting obligations," said Patrick Mutzenberg, Director of the Centre for Civil and Political Rights. Mutzenberg also revealed, "Among the 167 States that have ratified the Covenant, Malawi is one of the few States that never submitted its initial report on the measures taken to implement civil and political rights at the national level."

A Malawi Governmental delegation attended the UN Human Rights Committee’s three-hour review that took place in a closed session. No information from the review was provided although the main issues raised by the Committee were made public.

Pursuant to the Committee’s practice, the recommendations known as Concluding Observations will be transmitted on 4th November 2011 but will remain confidential pending additional responses from the State Party. This lack of transparency was criticized by non-governmental organizations including the Centre of Development of People (CEDEP), the Centre of Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) who submitted a report and briefed the Committee on the human rights situation in Malawi earlier this week.

During the NGO briefing, organizations referred to human rights violations against journalists, political opponents and vulnerable groups including the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. "In this context of regression of human rights, NGOs regret that the Committee held its session in a closed meeting and decided to make its recommendations confidential. This will make it extremely difficult for civil society to follow-up their implementation, and it only encourages the State to not cooperate with the Committee," said Gift Trapence from the Centre for the Development of People (CEDEP).

"Without doubt, this process made clear that the Government of Malawi routinely violates the human rights of all Malawians and failed to meet its obligations under the ICCPR," said Jessica Stern, director of programs at the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. "The persecution of LGBT Malawians must then be seen in this light : they live in a state that not only fails to protect those most vulnerable but actively incites violence and discrimination."