Kapito to report arrest to UN meet

The arrest of Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) chairperson John Kapito is one of the key issues to be tabled at a United Nations (UN) meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.

Kapito said in an interview on Wednesday his arrest has created fear in other members of the commission who are supposed to be free to publicly raise issues of human rights abuse.

Said Kapito: “Every human rights commission operates under the UN system. The arrest creates fear and intimidation which is against UN principles to operate free of any influence of the Executive. I do not think that any member of the commission will be intimidated and any acceptance to give in to the same is up to individuals. We will not let that happen.”

He said missing the meeting would mean a big loss for Malawians, but doubted whether government had anything to lose because “it was already on the brink of collapse in terms of human rights and good governance”.

Kapito was due to travel Wednesday after his trip was aborted on Saturday following his arrest for allegedly illegal possession of forex and alleged possession of seditious materials.