CCJP for further probe in suspect Lule’s death

Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) has appealed for a comprehensive probe into February’s death in police custody of Buleya Lule, a suspect in the abduction of a Dedza teenage boy with albinism.

Reacting to the latest autopsy report that indicated the suspect was killed, CCJP national coordinator Boniface Chibwana said in a statement dated April 19 that Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) should investigate and treat the case as a critical human rights issue by making recommendations based on its findings.

He has also recommended that MHRC and Association of Persons with Albinism in Malawi (Apam) and other independent bodies should progressively monitor how government and its various relevant agencies will handle the case.

Reads the statement in part: “The commission’s [MHRC] investigations should be done independent and parallel to the action by the security agencies.”

But yesterday, MHRC executive secretary David Nungu said his organisation is working on finalising its report following parallel investigations it instituted.

Lule died while in police custody in February this year and Malawi Police Service (MPS) Deputy Inspector General Duncan Mwapasa is on record as having stated that an autopsy commissioned earlier showed that the suspect had died of natural causes.

But another autopsy done by independent pathologist Charles Dzamalala released last week on Tuesday indicated electrocution as the main cause of death.

Following the release of Dzamalala’s report, Apam president Overstone Kondowe said it confirmed their fears of the existence of an invisible hand in the cases of people with albinism (PWA).

“This was a third death of a suspect and we wondered why human rights bodies and government were quiet on these suspicious deaths,” said Kondowe.

National Police spokesperson James Kadadzera said they would comment after officially getting a copy of the Dzamalala report.

Lule was one of the suspects in the abduction of 14-year-old Goodson Makanjira, a boy with albinism from Dedza. He allegedly offered to buy the boy, who is still missing, for K800 000.