Eritrea Wire

BLANTRYE, MALAWI – Malawi’s Supreme Court of Appeal says the death penalty remains constitutional in the southern African country.  The decision reverses a ruling from just four months ago, when the same court abolished the death penalty.  Rights campaigners say the development is disappointing.

The ruling in April stemmed from the petition of a convicted murderer, who wanted the Supreme Court to re-hear his case.

In his judgment, Justice Dunstan Mwaungulu, now retired, said Malawi’s constitution respects the right to life – and said the death penalty negates that right.

He emphasized the sanctity of life, saying without the right to life, other rights do not exist.

Justice Mwaungulu also ordered the re-sentencing of all cases where the death penalty was handed down.

However, in a document released this week, the other Supreme Court justices say Mwaungulu’s ruling only expressed his personal opinion.

Justice Anaclet Chipeta said he dissociates himself from the judgment because it did not reflect the views of the majority of the appeal court justices.

Another justice, Rezine Mzikamanda, said the issue of the constitutionality of the death penalty was not part of the case they were handling.

Peter Dimba is chairperson of the legal committee of Malawi’s parliament.

“The views of the majority of the judges on the panel would have carried the day because that’s what it means. So as it stands, it means death penalty still stands,” Dimba said.

Michael Kaiyatsa is executive director for the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation in Malawi.

He says although the justices have valid reasons for not backing Mwaungulu’s opinion, the Malawi government needs to move quickly to formally abolish the death penalty.

“We think Malawi has an obligation under international human rights law to ensure that it complies with that resolution,” Kayiyatsa said. “But also we know that Malawi has not executed anybody since the 1990s. So the country needs to continue on that path. But we need a lasting solution. That’s why we think that a way should be found to repeal this death penalty”

The death penalty has long been mandatory in Malawi for those convicted of murder or treason, and optional for rape.

Court records show that 27 people are under a death sentence in Malawi.

However, according to Amnesty International, Malawi last carried out an execution in 1992 when 12 people were hanged.

Lawmaker Dimba noted that many countries are abolishing death penalty.

He said his parliamentary committee would opt for abolishing the death penalty if the proposal came to parliament in the form of a bill.

“This is an issue that was supposed to be done by the government,” Dimba said. “If they see to it, they actually bring an amendment bill to parliament and I don’t think parliament would have problems in abolishing the death penalty.”

However, some critics say abolishing the death penalty may lead to an increase in acts of mob justice.

In December 2020, a mob killed a 47-year-old man in Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe, who had allegedly killed another man suspected to have raped his daughter.

 

Source: Voice of America

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reportedly intends to grant full approval to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine on Monday.

The New York Times said the agency had planned to complete the approval by Friday but still faced “a substantial amount of paperwork and negotiation with the company.”

The FDA, which the Times said had previously set an unofficial approval deadline of about September 6, declined to comment.

Final approval could bolster the Biden administration’s vaccination program by convincing unvaccinated citizens that Pfizer’s vaccine is safe and effective while also easing concerns among local officials about vaccine mandates.

Elsewhere, Reuters reported Friday that authorities in India had approved emergency use of a second locally developed vaccine, while British drugmaker AstraZeneca unveiled a new antibody therapy to fight COVID-19.

India’s latest vaccine, developed by Indian pharmaceutical firm Zydus Cadila, is the world’s first DNA-based inoculation against the coronavirus. The vaccine uses a section of genetic material from the virus to instruct cells to make a specific protein to which the immune system can respond.

The three-dose vaccine has been approved for use in adults as well as children 12 and older. It is the sixth vaccine to be approved in India, including another locally developed vaccine by Indian firm Bharat Biotech.

New antibody therapy

AstraZeneca on Friday released data from a late-stage trial for a new antibody therapy, showing it reduced the risk of people developing any COVID-19 symptoms by 77%. The company said the therapy could be used preventatively and could be particularly helpful to people who respond poorly to immunization shots. It said that 75% of the participants in the trial had chronic conditions, including some with a lower immune response to vaccinations.

In South Africa on Friday, officials opened vaccine eligibility to all adults as they sought to protect the population from a surge fueled by the highly contagious delta variant.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets of France for a sixth straight Saturday against a new COVID-19 health pass that is needed to enter restaurants and other eating establishments, entertainment venues and long-distance travel.

The protesters see the pass as a restriction of their freedom in a country of more than 60 million people, more than 60% of whom have been fully vaccinated.

In Australia, police clashed Saturday with COVID-19 lockdown protesters in Melbourne.  Police said more than 4,000 people attended the demonstration. Six police officers were taken to the hospital for injuries and more than 200 protesters were arrested.  A much smaller protest was held in Sydney, drawing about 250 demonstrators, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.  Forty-seven people were arrested at the Sydney rally.

Sri Lankan action

Sri Lanka began a 10-day lockdown on Friday in an effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus. The nation recorded its highest single-day COVID-19 death toll of 187 on Wednesday.

In Israel, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett received a third shot of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, as the country began administering additional shots to people ages 40 and older to combat an increase in coronavirus infections.

The United States on Friday extended the closure of its land borders with Canada and Mexico for nonessential travel through September 21. The move came despite Canada’s decision to open its border to vaccinated Americans.

Officials in San Francisco on Friday began a program of requiring proof of full vaccination against the coronavirus from those entering indoor restaurants, gyms and concert halls. The city is the first major U.S. metropolitan area to require full vaccination at such venues and goes further than a New York rule, which requires people to be at least partially vaccinated to attend many indoor activities.

 

Source: Voice of America

The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened problems of conflict, terrorism, and scarce resources in Central Africa to plunge millions of people deeper into poverty. That’s according to members of the regional bloc CEMAC. CEMAC heads of state Wednesday called for solidarity to improve living conditions in the six-nation economic bloc.

During a virtual heads of state summit Tuesday, the central African leaders said the advent of COVID-19 forced the closure of many businesses and caused millions of workers to lose their jobs.

Cameroon’s President Paul Biya is chairman of the CEMAC heads of state conference. He says it is regrettable that many people are reluctant to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Biya says it is not possible for CEMAC to attain herd immunity when fewer than 5% of its close to 60 million people have agreed to be vaccinated against COVID-19. He says CEMAC member states should make sure all their people are vaccinated against COVID-19 so that the economic bloc can get to the crucial point of revamping its economy to fight against hardship.

Christophe Mbelle is an economist at the University of Yaounde. He says the COVID-19 crisis increased unemployment by between 60% and 70% across CEMAC countries.

Not even pharmaceutical companies were immune to the effects of the pandemic.

Mbelle says local companies only produced 5% of medicines needed by central African countries last year. He says in 2020, CEMAC countries invested more than $269 million to import drugs from Europe and America. Mbelle says if not for COVID-19, he is sure the $269 million would have been invested in home industries to create jobs and improve the well-being of suffering civilians.

The six nations of CEMAC are dealing with multiple crises within their borders in addition to COVID-19. Cameroon and Chad are fighting Boko Haram terrorism on their common borders with Nigeria.

Cameroon is fighting armed separatists in its English-speaking western regions. The U.N. also says that rebels have continued to challenge authorities in the Central African Republic with unending clashes since 2014.

The region is also dealing with the effects of climate change. This week, CEMAC said several thousand people fled intercommunal violence sparked by conflicts over water from the Logone River that separates Cameroon from Chad. The Lake Chad Basin Commission says the lake’s water resources have diminished by 70% within the past 50 years, and several million people in the area lack water and food.

Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, issued a statement Tuesday after her virtual participation in the CEMAC summit from Washington. She said in 2020, COVID-19, combined with an ensuing decline in oil prices and security issues, had led to a deep recession and imposed a heavy toll on CEMAC member states.

She said the countries’ fiscal positions were weakened and external reserves depleted.

Georgieva said CEMAC must accelerate the vaccination campaign to ensure a sustainable economic recovery.

CEMAC anticipated a 2.8% economic growth rate in 2021. In April, though, the Bank of Central African States, which serves as the central bank for CEMAC countries, cut the anticipated growth rate to 1%, saying COVID-19 was slowing the economy.

Source: Voice of America