The Regional Campaign to Decriminalise Petty Offences has long argued for a change in police arrest practices and increased accountability of law enforcement agencies. Deprose Muchena, the Director of Amnesty International’s Southern Africa office, writes that the brutal killing of George Floyd…
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The COVID-19 pandemic has again highlighted the urgent need to decongest prisons throughout Africa. Although many countries have initiated decongestion measures, there is a simultaneous increase in arrests resulting from new COVID-19 laws. The impact of COVID-19 on courts and…
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The Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) is deeply concerned about the clampdown on expression and peaceful assembly in Zimbabwe following the arrests of investigative journalist Hopewell Chin’ono and opposition leader Jacob Ngarivhume We are concerned by the arrest of investigative…
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We the undersigned organizations reiterate our call for the immediate decongestion of prisons following two confirmed cases of COVID 19 in Mzimba and Chichiri Prison. On 14 July 2020, the Malawi Prison Service registered its first case of COVID-19 at…
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Commonwealth Lawyers Association 26 June 2020 Brigadier Siachitema In a recent decision of the High Court for Zambia, a community of displaced Zambian villagers succeeded in a land dispute against commercial farmers, the local authority, and the Zambian government. The…
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SALC is working with Centre for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance (CHREAA) – Malawi in a challenge to the law of defilement in s138 of the Penal Code,inasfar as it criminalises consensual sex between adolescents in Malawi. It is illegal to have sex with a girl under the age…
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Civil Society Organisations wrote a letter to the Sepecial Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers on the killing of Judge Raphael Yanyi Ovungu. Here is the English version of the letter. Here is the French version of the…
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29 June 2020 – On 25 June 2020, the Bulawayo High Court, per Justice Takuva, issued a judgment in the case of Silibaziso Mlotshwa v District Administrator, Hwange N.O & Saunders Mlotshwa, concerning the succession of a woman to chieftainship.…
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The Daily Maverick 26 June 2020 Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh On 11 June, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order to block the International Criminal Court (ICC) from action against US citizens. Trump’s order stated that the ICC actions were ‘illegitimate’…
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The BirGün and Yeni Yaşam 24 June 2020 SALC joins 34 bar associations and lawyers' organizations to draw attention to the deteriorating situation of lawyers in Turkey in an advertisement. The English translation of the advertisement can be found here.…
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