YAS demands MHRC investigation, prosecution of cops accused of sexually harassing women in Nkhata Bay

Malawi: Youth and Society (YAS) has demanded that the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) conduct an extensive investigation and refer to prosecutorial authorities police officers suspected of sexually harassing women while attempting to defuse tensions and fighting between community members and Kawalazi Estate Limited in Nkhata Bay, writes Watipaso Mzungu.

YAS, a registered human rights and governance watchdog dedicated to the promotion and protection of human rights and democratic governance in Malawi, says it has received complaints of sexual harassment of women, physical assaults on civilians, arbitrary arrests, and stern intimidation perpetrated by the police in support of the estate in a land dispute.

According to the organization's Executive Director, Charles Kajoloweka, such actions by the police are a blatant violation of their duty to protect human rights, a clear abuse of office, the ugliest form of impunity, and utter criminality that should not go unpunished.

Kajoloweka expresses her feelings in a letter to MHRC Executive Secretary Habiba Osman.

The letter was copied to the Malawi Police Service's Inspector General of Police, the District Commissioner of Nkhata Bay District Council, the Regional Commissioner for Lands (Northern Region), the General Manager of Kawalazi Estate Limited, Traditional Authority Kabunduli, and community leader and activist Patani Gondwe.

Kajoloweka further reports to the Commission that the estate is "alleged to be responsible for unleashing terror on the community in the form of destruction of crops, the demolition of community school structures and death threat/attempt against Mr Patani Gondwe, a community activist with no response or protection from the police.

He warns that the untenable situation has far-reaching implications for the realisation and protection of citizens' fundamental rights.

He recommends that the MHRC's investigation look into the types and severity of human rights violations suffered by the community at the hands of the police and/or Kawalazi Estate Limited, as well as Kawalazi Estate's complicity in causing, enabling, aiding, exacerbating, abetting, and facilitating the community's human rights abuses.

YAS also invites the Commission to refer to the UN Principles on Business and Human Rights on the duty of companies to protect human rights, the proximity (accomplice relationship) of Kawalazi Estate to the Malawi Police Service and the implications for the police's professional conduct, death threats against Mr Patani Gondwe, and arbitrary arrests, harassment, intimidation, and torture unleashed on community activists and community leaders, including