STATEMENT ON THE WORRYING DETERIORATING STANDARDS OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN MALAWI The Youth Association for Democracy (YADEMA) wishes

to express its deepest indig nation at recent developments in Malawi which signify a blatant abuse and total disregard for human rights and the rule of law. We are shocked and horrified by the arrest and subsequent detention without tria l of prominent lawyer and human rights activist, Ralph Kasambara. It is a well known legal phenomenon that every person is innocent until proven o therwise by a legitimate court of law. We, therefore, find it totally unacceptable in a democracy that a suspect can be detained in solitary confinement at the dreaded Zomba Maximum Prison before bei ng convicted and being found guilty of any offence in a court of law. To hold Mr. Kasambara at the Maximum security prison and in a cell normally rese rved for persons convicted of murder, even before commencement of trial proceedi ngs is an unprecedented, despicable and outrageous act that has no place in demo cracy. YADEMA considers this to be a new law in the erosion of our hard won democracy. It adds to a litany of worrying trends of a rapid shift towards autocracy in thi s country through state sponsored harassment of its critics. We all know church leaders, civil society activists, donors and journalists have continuously been subjected to castigation and name-calling at political podium by leadership of this country and his party cohorts. In recent months we have seen, for first time since attainment of multiparty dem ocracy, an onslaught on civil liberties, culminating in such hideous acts as tor ching of homes and offices of leading human rights activists. Memories are still fresh of the curtailment of academic freedom through the dete ntion of a University lecturer and his subsequent dismissal alongside three othe rs, the unexplained death of a young university student and passage of several d raconian pieces of legislation, among them laws that empower a minister to close newspapers and allow police to search homes without a warrant. YADEMA calls upon the youth, and all Malawians of good will to stand up, reject, oppose and fight these trends and ensure that our beloved country does not retu rn to dark days of autocratic rule. We believe it is high time Malawians stood and made it known to the police that we are watching them. The choice is theirs to either be with the people and stop being the law unto th emselves, or be against the people by continuing to fight other people s political b attles, in which case they need to be prepared reap the rewards of their brutali ty when the people s time comes. Malawians must also stand up to our chiefs who, despite the fact that they are n ever elected, have taken it upon themselves to be agents for promotion of dictat orships by deifying the country s leadership and conferring upon him titles that mak e him feel like the most important person in the country, as opposed to the serv ant he is supposed to be. It is our considered view that the president must hold only those powers conferr ed on him by the Malawi Constitution which is the supreme law of the land and th at he must always act to uphold the constitution in ensuring the protection and enjoyment of rights by all citizens, including those he may consider to be his c ritics.

Failure to do so puts him on collision course with the people when that happens, he can never win. All persons standing in the way of people be held accountable. s enjoyment of their human rights need to

YADEMA also demands that the Malawi Human Rights Commission must continue to tak e a serious view in all matters pertaining to protection of people s rights, includi ng the protection of human rights defenders like Mr. Kasambara. We also wish to remind all that those in power today cannot be guaranteed to rem ain in high office forever as such they need to always remember that a day will come when they will be held to account for whatever action they take, whether vo luntarily or on instruction from their superiors. No matter how long it may take, justice shall take its course. Finally, YADEMA shall continue to be on the lookout for cases of violation of hu man rights and take whatever action necessary and within the law to seek correct ive measures. In the meantime we demand the immediate and unconditional release of Mr. Kasamba ra and cessation of hostilities against all civil society, media, religious grou ps, the donor community and all defenders of human rights. Alexander Mkandawire Vice President (YADEMA)