this is t w news africa coming up in the next fifteen minutes takes more steps to restrict criticism president. has been isolated internationally to seize been critical of his actions we'll hear from the un rights activists. and bring huge concerns attacks on people with albinism in malawi as the country prepares for a general election we'll hear from campaign is demanding. do small. i'm christine wonderwall come to the news africa i'm glad you're cheated in but on days government has forced the u.n. human rights office in the country to close off to twenty three years this is the latest step in what appears to be a crackdown on criticism by international observers the country's deepening

political crisis began in twenty fifteen when president announced he would run for another disputed term that led to months of violence that the un has said killed more than one thousand two hundred people in twenty seventeen buendia made history by becoming the first country to withdraw from the international criminal court this year has already seen about thirty of the international n.g.o.s shut down their services in the east african country is the un's human rights folks person on the situation in but already we have very credible reports of human rights violations in abuses including killings forced disappearances ill treatment arbitrary arrests and detentions threats and restrictions on the freedom of association expression and movement these are ongoing allegations that we are receiving from november two thousand and sixteen until september two thousand and eighteen. our office received at least eleven thousand and fifty so that's eleven

zero five zero allegations of arbitrary arrests and detentions in brindisi. all right lois madge is central africa director for human rights watch and he joins me now from he's home in vermont louis welcome to news africa why is. cracking down on human rights groups in this way. well this is this is a trend that has been emerging in since two thousand and fifteen. has been a protracted crisis now coming on to four years and human rights groups historically both a lively vibrant civil society that used to exist in the country and groups such as human rights watch used to have a real role in trying to guide the government on policy human rights abuses i think it's important to note that up until two thousand and fifteen in terms of civil society in terms of media and in terms of human rights organizations was

a real beacon for the region. an example for freedom of expression freedom of association and despite major problems in the country in terms of arbitrary detention torture and killing things these groups still have the space with within which to work that all change in twenty fifteen there was an attempted coup. the president has been increasingly more and more isolated and with that come a crackdown on anyone who seeks to to do any type of investigations or in your reporting so sadly this is just part of a trend and unfortunately in our opinion and we don't think this trend is going to be changed anytime soon i think the government is becoming more and more. as we move into a period all right get us i mean you've spent twelve years on this continent right

when we talk about organizations such as yours losing access to a country like this is there still some way you are able to monitor what's going on in a given country or does that really just mean you lose the visibility. well we certainly do lose a degree of his ability to be clear the last time human rights watch has worked in twenty sixteen since then it's been difficult for us to gain access to the country so to a degree it is more difficult however that certainly doesn't mean that we stop work on the country the fact of the matter is that technology has made it a lot easier to access people in the country without with limited surveillance capabilities on the part of the government so we use what's app where you signal but more importantly you must remember that there are hundreds of thousands of burundians who have fled the country and who continue to flee the country on a daily basis they go countries such as tanzania rwanda uganda with our regional teams we are able to continue to keep an eye on the situation of the city these

refugees who are coming out with fresh information regarding state oppression the killings and people being obliged to both donate and join the ruling. party all right you know it's what does the international community do. look burundi was in twenty fifteen twenty sixteen to really kind of got back on the agenda for the united nations and it's been one of an intractable situation since then and in some ways in our opinion there india is kind of fallen back off of the agenda we think it's vital that ruby maintain its place in the public eye at every occasion really should be reminded that this type of this type of behavior france is not acceptable it's certainly shouldn't have a seat on the human rights council and you know international donors and international partners of burundi should remind it that it really needs to take a step back to where it was in the twenty eleven twenty twenty thirteen period it's

not to say that things were going swimmingly then there were problems then but there was a type of a political space and there was a space for free association and free expression so it really is going to be in the burden remains on international partners to keep this country in the focus especially as we move into these electoral periods all right lewis mad central africa director for human rights watch thank you. thank you nick story takes us to malawi which as you know launched a crackdown on superstition announcing it will offer cash rewards of up to seven thousand u.s. dollars for information about abductions and killing of people with albinism the move comes in response to growing anger of the government's lack of action on the issue that's off to a recent spate of attacks on people with albinism which is a genetic order that causes a lack of pigmentation in the skin eyes and hey they have long been targeted in

malawi and other african countries have belief that they body parts can be used in witchcraft to increase wealth amongst other things. this young girl might never see her brother again she's afraid he's been murdered because like her he was born with albinism. he was abducted from their home in central malawi three weeks ago the family fear the attackers could return. i'm worried about my daughter's safety. who. i don't know how i'm going to protect the murderer. and i'm really worried. that. the u.n. says one hundred fifty people with albinism in malawi have been attacked abducted or killed in the last five years. and if there were no one that we as people with albinism in malawi have no peace and we're not protectors devoted.

following the boy's abduction in february demonstrators took their concerns to the streets of malawi's deads a district calling on our thirty's to address the issue. so far the response has been slow you know if you look. here in our troop. in terms. of. victims of crime the evil practice has gone way down perhaps the same could work here it could be that. in an attempt to curb the killings the government is now offering a generous reward for information about attacks on people with albinism but some people say the move doesn't go far enough. ok deborah was in the china is regional director for amnesty international in seven africa he joins me now from

johannesburg mr chen it's good to have you on and welcome to news africa we know that attacks on people with albinism in malawi typically tend to spike around an election period and election is coming up in may what's what is behind that. thank you very much for having me it is generally true that there are moments in which attacks take a spike and election mormons are one of them because of the existence of a deep seated culture of false beliefs that bourne's on body parts of a person with albinism give you lucky charms but there is a general problem in the country. the tucks of people are going to. people with albinism discrimination and deep seated feelings that the criminal justice system is feeding so that is a culture of impunity destroyed old times you're likely to find objections killings in the tux so it might not necessarily be a good lections but it's

a general program that requires decisive leadership all right and speaking about decisive leadership we're hearing some rumblings in the malawian government some minister is considering the death penalty for people who kill people with albinism what do you make of that. or kill people who kill people to demonstrate that killing people is bet i think the idea that if you impose the death penalty you will miss suddenly vanish and disappear the program off systematic discrimination deep seated attacks and killings of persons with albinism his followers as you normally since the national is opposed to the death penalty for crimes and believes that in malawi these enough tools in the criminal justice system to work with in order to ensure that this problem has disappeared in twenty sixteen when we did face to reporting the country we were with the government to ensure that there were legislative reforms on the anatomy act as well as the panel court but what has not

happened is the slow pace of justice here the absence of investigative. the absence of skills within the police to do d.n.a. testing as well as simply so that you are able to ensure that kind committed in various parts of the this can come together and be limited once and for all right you've done i mean i'm listening to that has come out about two reports on this in malawi the most recent being lost to the chinese sixteen one what has culminated from that with. one of those wiki has resulted in good news about the human rights of persons with albinism across the country because we've mounted a huge human rights education campaign together with as was the issue of persons with albinism the un country team and the civic bodies but we also have seen legislative changes and the anatomy at the pen cord and provision of sun's congressional government all facilities what is not moved is the community justice

system that it is not responded efficiently and would speak to ensure that those arrested taken through if it kept protection and security protection and safety these are the things that continue to create powerful and that we now see over the last two months at least three abductions killings of cases that have not been concluded in terms of investigation so the government need to strengthen its criminal justice system and it needs to sit secure a social security protection of just seven thousand people in malawi sort of talking about a huge population group right much and a regional director for amnesty international southern africa thank you. and that is it funny that the news africa that well today so next time i fight. it's all happening to children in africa. during link time news from africa around

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