CSOs against anti-abortion demos
The nationwide demonstrations by the faith community against pregnancy termination, among others, slated for today does not have the blessings of some rights-based organisations in the country.
A few days ago, the Ethics, Peace and Justice Commission [EPJC]— a social governance arm of Evangelical Association of Malawi [EAM], announced plans to hold demonstrations against legalising abortions. The association is an umbrella body for at least 122 church denominations and Christian organisations in the country. The demos will run concurrently in all the 28 districts in the country.
And speaking at Kamuzu Palace when President Peter Mutharika met the newly-elected Malawi Assemblies of God leadership last Wednesday, the Malawi leader said the problems facing the country are signs of “moral degradation in our society” and that Malawians are “far away from God’s Commandments.”
But civil society organisations (CSOs) that met in Lilongwe yesterday fear the demos may culminate into violating the rights of other minority groups, as the march also targets same-sex marriages. The CSOs include Centre for Development of People (Cedep), Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) and the Malawi Network of Religious Leaders living with HIV/Aids (Manerela).
In a joint statement released after their meeting, the rights groups said the faith community is wrong to call for nationwide protests on the issues, saying they have no mandate to “dictate the feelings of everyone in the country.”
“To begin with, Malawi is a secular state, and as such, all views should be considered equally. The framers of our Constitution were cognisant of the importance of protecting views of minority or secular views.
In a separate interview, CHRR programme manager Michael Kaiyatsa, argued “everyone in the country knows that people want to do away with the colonial laws criminising such rights but are only stifled by the churches who are misguided on the same themselves.
However, the rights groups were at pains when quizzed to explain their pessimism on the impending demonstrations when they themselves have all along been advocating for the absolute right to expression. n
