Group of 15 people who engaged with HRC
Cases- Location of case in SG report
- 2011-049-001
- Relevant SG report
- Year of the report
- 2011
- From Country
- Country Geolocation
Latitude: -13.254308
Longitude: 34.301525
- Country Geolocation (linked Cases)
- Malawi
- From Region
- UN body that raised the case prior to the SG report
- UN Special Procedures: Thematic
- Dates of prior UN action
- 28 March 2011
- Type of record
- Unnamed individual/group/organization
- Was the victim a foreign national?
- No
- Was the victim a minor?
- No
- Was the victim a civil servant, member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
- No
- Reported trigger of reprisal
a group of human rights defenders who had presented a statement at the sixteenth session of the Human Rights Council.
- Engagement with UN body
- UN Human Rights Council: UN Human Rights Council - General
- Dates of engagement
- between 28 February 2011 and 25 March 2011
- Type of attempted engagement
- Participation in meeting on UN premises
- Dates of mentioned reprisals
- Unclear
- Reprisal information
The President had made comments regarding a group of human rights defenders who had presented a statement at the sixteenth session of the Human Rights Council. The President allegedly declared that “there is a group of 15 people roaming in Europe saying that there is a violation of human rights because we don’t allow university professors to teach revolution... We are waiting for them to come back and to tell us what their agenda is”. A local newspaper reportedly published an article alluding to the possibility that United Nations aid to Malawi could be cut if human rights defenders continued their “irresponsible reporting” to the Council.
- Types of reprisals suffered
- Defamation / Defamation campaign
- Threats/Intimidations (incl. "fear of reprisal")
- Alleged/likely perpetrators
- State actors
- Was the reprisal based on new legislation?
- No
- Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?
- No
- Further case development
At the time of completion of the report, the Government had not replied to this communication.
- Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?
- No
- Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?
- No
- Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?
- No
- How many times has the case been followed up in subsequent SG reports?
- 0