Government has turned down calls from Members of Parliament (MPs), social commentators and civil society organisations (CSOs) to effect the death penalty, particularly on killers of people with albinism.
According to Minister of Information, Patricia Kaliati, such a move would be against international human rights agreements which Malawi signed.
“Other countries that signed this agreement have never implemented the death penalty. The only sentence that we can apply is the life imprisonment. Moreover, if the death sentence is implemented, it will be same people [MPs, CSOs and commentators] blaming the president in the end,” said Kaliati.
Member of Parliament for Mulanje South, Bon Kalindo, who has recently made headlines for his planned “naked-protest” at Parliament, to force fellow MPs to debate on the implementation of the death penalty, says he will still go ahead and hold the protests.
“Our planned demonstrations are still on. We have been given a go ahead by police and the Lilongwe City Assembly. I don’t want to look like I’m fighting my government, but Malawians are going to present their issues to Members of Parliament,” said Kalindo.
In an earlier interview, Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) Executive Director, Timothy Mtambo was of the view that implementing the death sentence would be going against human rights standards.
Mtambo suggested that life imprisonment would be a better punishment as compared to the death sentence.
Association of People with Albinism (APAM) Executive Member, Alex Machira, said that his organisation values human life, as such, they would not advocate for death sentences but rather for those guilty to spend their lives in jail.
This, he believes, is the best way to serve justice and also send across a warning to people involved in the act.
Section 201 of the Penal Code provides that individuals convicted of murder “shall be liable to be punished with death or with imprisonment for life.
Since the dawn of democracy, no head of state has showed willingness to sign off for death row convicts to be hanged.
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