Petty Offences Newsletter: Increased Criminalisation in Response to the COVID-19...
Regional Campaign partners remain deeply concerned about the criminalisation of poverty across our continent. It is critical that the Principles on the Decriminalisation of Petty Offences are implemented by all States. The global COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the enactment…
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News Release: Challenge to use of Defilement Offences against Adolescents Engage...
Blantyre, 26 August 2020 – Yesterday, the Child Justice Court sitting in Blantyre, Malawi, issued an order for a stay of criminal proceedings against an adolescent boy who was charged with the offence of defilement pending determination of the High…
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JOINT STATEMENT CONCERNING THE JUDGMENT AGAINST LAWYER BEATRICE MTETWA...
We, the undersigned non-governmental organizations and individuals note with grave concern the decision of the Zimbabwean Magistrates Court to disqualify Beatrice Mtetwa from continuing as defence legal counsel for journalist Hopewell Chin’ono, who is currently being tried on charges of…
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SALC and LEGABIBO hosting a Virtual Dialogue...
SALC and LEGABIBO will host a virtual dialogue on 21 August. To attend, please register here.
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SALC statement condemning the barring of Zimbabwean human rights lawyer and SAL...
The Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) condemns the recent barring of Zimbabwean human rights lawyer and SALC board member, Beatrice Mtetwa, from representing her client, Hopewell Chin’ono, in a bail application before a magistrate’s court in Zimbabwe. SALC’s Executive Director,…
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Joint Letter to the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General of Tanzania...
On 07 August, the Southern Africa Litigation Centre, SADC Lawyers Association and Centre for Strategic Litigation issued a letter to the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General of the Republic of Tanzania raising concerns around the recently enacted Written…
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Petty Offences Newsletter: Digest On Excessive Use Of Force In Response To COVID...
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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Petty offences newsletter: Decongest prisons now!...
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…
Read More SALC statement on arrest of Hopewell Chin’ono and Jacob Ngarivhume...
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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CIVIL SOCIETY CALLS FOR THE URGENT DECONGESTION OF PRISONS AFTER COVID-19 CASES ...
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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A new dawn for the protection of the rights of vulnerable communities with unreg...
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…
Read More MALAWI: CHALLENGING CRIMINALISATION OF ADOLESCENT SEXUALITY...
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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