In order for one to give a fair assessment of human rights, one must look at a number of factors, said Dzonzi.
He said the components for proper assessment are; recognition, protection and promotion of human rights.
In general terms on the existence of human rights, one would say the Mutharika administration did recognize and protected political rights, said the vocal rights activist.
He said one of the major gains for the Mutharika administration could be the way it has recognized political rights.
During UDF time there were a lot of [political] interferences, he said.
Dzonzi said during the UDF era, political rights were threatened by violent acts of Young Democrats where opposition political meetings were disrupted.
We haven't seen that in the past five years. One can take that as an indication of recognition of human rights, said Dzozi in an interview monitored on Capital FM online.
On protection of human rights, Dzonzi said there has been some form of protection.
However, the rights lawyer criticized government for threatening press freedom.
A number of journalists were arrested, harassed for expressing opinion or criticizing the current government, said the head of Justice Link. The administration could have done better than it has.
He said there has been many initiatives in the promotion of human rights and credited government for doing things within its own limitation but it has done quite well.
Dzonzi, nonetheless, accused President Mutharika for delaying in appointing Commissioners to serve in the Malawi Human Rights Commission. The term for previous commissioners expired April 2008.
He said people in power must be committed to values of human rights.
Every government needs its own commitment. We cannot blame the failures on the existence or non existence of laws. We have the laws but commitment has been lacking, he said citing lack of holding local government elections.
Local government is a minus of the administration. The nation has not been given any proper explanation why we can't have local government elections.
It is correct to say that failure to hold local government election is an indication of bad governance issues. It's a minus, said the lawyer.
He also highlighted the sour relationship between the executive arm of government and the legislature and also judiciary all of which seriously point on an unwillingness of the executive to abide on tenets of the constitution.
Dzonzi said with the May 19 elections approaching, expectations are that the new government will commit itself to better adherence towards principals of human rights, principals of democracy and rule of law.
However, he said: We must not load the future with a lot of expectations particularly if it's the same people.
The United States (US) State Department recent human rights report concluded that the government generally respected the human rights of its citizens but noted problems in some areas.
US report said unlawful killing by security forces and police use of excessive force including torture occurred, but the government took steps to prosecute and punish some abusers.
Arbitrary arrest and detention, including politically motivated arrests, lengthy pretrial detention, societal violence against women, and corruption were problems, noted the US.
The government restricted freedom of assembly and, at times, limited freedom of speech and the press, said the report.
US said government efforts to combat trafficking in persons and child labor continued, but problems remained. Occasional mob violence and harsh and life-threatening prison conditions dents the country’s rights record.
Nyasa Times
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