Republic of Malawi - Universal Periodic Review - Death Penalty - April 2025
Country: Malawi
Partners: Centre for Human Rights Education, Irish Rule of Law International, Parliamentarians for Global Action, Reprieve, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty
Issues: Death Penalty
Mechanism: Universal Periodic Review
Report Type: Stakeholder Report
In its third-cycle Universal Periodic Review in 2020, Malawi noted, without explanation, several recommendations to abolish the death penalty, maintain its moratorium on executions, and consider ratifying the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Nevertheless, Malawi has made significant progress against many of those recommendations, and is now in a much more advanced position toward abolition of the death penalty.
At the 58th session of the Human Rights Council, held in March 2025, Malawi affirmed
its commitment to the absolute prohibition of torture. It added that it was “presently
implementing recommendations” from the UN Committee against Torture's recent review
and that Malawi would continue to work with both the Committee and Special Rapporteur
on Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment to address gaps
in the anti-torture legislative framework. Malawi did not specify which recommendations
from the Committee's December 2022 report it was seeking to implement. However, these
recommendations included abolition of the death penalty, the strengthening of legal
safeguards and due process guarantees for all offences, as well as ensuring that the
conditions of detention for condemned people are in accordance with international
standards.
