By Chancy Namadzunda:
The Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) has demanded the immediate and unconditional release of activists Joshua Chisa Mbele, Levy Luwemba, and 31 other protestors.
Mbele and Luwemba led the anti-government demonstrations yesterday, demanding for the resignation of President Lazarus Chakwera.
In a statement released on Saturday and signed by HRDC Chairperson Gift Trapence, the group said that the entire government machinery should know that the right to protest is a basic right that is enshrined in the republican Constitution.
Section 38 of the 1994 Constitution of the Republic of Malawi state that “Every person shall have the right to peaceful assembly and demonstrations’’.
“As such, the arrest of the protestors yesterday for exercising their constitutional right is illegal and ought to be condemned in the strongest terms by all well-meaning Malawians. The arrest of people for excising their right to freedom of assembly and right to demonstrate is retrogressive and undermines Malawi’s hard-won democracy.
“The Tonse Government enjoyed and exercised the very same right it is denying its own citizens to exercise. The Tonse Government should not take us back to the dark era of the one-party Government where freedom of assembly, expression, and opinion were curtailed.
“As human rights advocates, we are further disturbed and disappointed by the fact that these arrests are being effected by the same government that, as an opposition party enjoyed the very same rights when they protested against the ills of the DPP regime.
“The Malawi Congress Party (MCP) led Tonse Government should not threaten its own citizens to enjoy and exercise their rights by intimidating them through arrests. The Tonse Government should spend its energy in addressing the issues being raised by the demonstrators,” reads part of the statement
Trapence said what the Government should know is that the issues being raised by the protestors are valid.
“These are issues that have previously been raised by several CSOs, including HRDC. Ignoring the raised issues by arresting protestors will not make them go away; rather Government needs to expend its energy in addressing the issues.
“Failure to address the issues Tonse Government should know that protests as these will become the order of the day. We have been there before and the Tonse Government should be well aware enough as where this could lead up to.
“Further, we wish to emphasise here that Malawi is not a Police state and, as such, the Government should desist from using the Police politically in an attempt to silence dissenting voices.
“The Malawi Police service should also avoid being used as a political tool to silence the very same citizens they are supposed to protect. Malawians want to see a professional Malawi service. HRDC, therefore, would like to retaliate its call for the Government to immediately release all the protestors unconditionally,” said Trapence
