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Liberia and Malawi concluded their 3rd Universal Periodic Review cycle at the 36th session in Geneva Switzerland in early November 2020.

The Universal Periodic Review is a UN OHCHR mechanism wherein each UN member state is reviewed for their human rights records every 4–5 years.

Small Media, through its UPRoar initiative, worked with The Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), based in Malawi, and [The Center for Media Studies and Peace Building](https://cemespliberia.org/) (CEMESP), based in Liberia to campaign and lobby for freedom of expression on and offline to be prioritised at the UPR.

**🇱🇷 LIBERIA**

On 2 November, in Monrovia, Liberia, CEMESP organised a public event with established journalists, activists, lawyers and other stakeholders in order to monitor the live UPR. Interviews on the radio and in print can be found here.

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##### *Participants at CEMESP’s UPR live streaming event on 2 November.*

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Liberia’s delegation affirmed that they had taken steps to promote and protect freedom of expression and the independence of the press and the media, stating that in compliance with the Declaration of Table Mountain, in 2018, the Government had repealed the law on sedition, criminal malevolence, and the Penal Law of 1978 on criminal libel against the President, and had instead enacted the Kamara Abdullah Kamara Act of Press Freedom in 2019.

Senegal, the United States, Czech, Timor-Leste, Philippines, Cuba and Georgia among others commended Liberia for its reforms in promoting freedom of expression, especially through enacting the Kamara Law on Press Freedom. However, the United States noted its concern against internet shutdowns during protests and through an advance question, probed the steps Liberia’s government has taken to thoroughly and transparently investigate the February 2020 death of broadcast journalist Zenu Koboi Miller. Sierra Leone further recommended the repeal the Penal Law of 1978 and decriminalization of speech, while the Maldives recommended that Liberia should uphold international standards to protect journalists and freedom of expression online and offline.

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##### *Ruth Gbatoe speaking on a local radio show on Liberia’s UPR.*

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Ruth Gbatoe, the Programme Assistant at CEMESP stated that they had worked tirelessly in the run-up to Liberia’s review, to ensure that human rights online and freedom of expression in general were upholded at the UPR. She expressed their disappointment with the insufficient recommendations on freedom of expression online, but showed optimism in engaging the Liberian government to advocate for key digital rights legislations, crucial to advancing the country’s social-democratic credentials.

**🇲🇼 MALAWI**

On 3 November, during Malawi’s Universal Periodic Review, CHRR hosted a Town Hall session for civil society and media to monitor the session.

During the Review, Malawi’s delegation stated that their government had put in place the Access to Information Act of 2017, in order to provide for a framework that would facilitate access to information with the aim of promoting accountability and transparency.

A handful of States including Bangladesh, Chad, Pakistan and Zimbabwe commended the government of Malawi for taking steps to pass the Access to Information Act. The United Kingdom and Northern Ireland also applauded Malawi on the Access to Information Act and advances at enhancing media freedom, while Kenya lauded the country for enacting freedom of expression legislation. No specific recommendation was made towards legal and policy reform on digital rights, besides Sierra Leone’s recommendation asking Malawi to implement the Access to Information Act. Belgium however inquired about the measures the government of Malawi is taking or planning to take in order to guarantee the safety of human rights defenders including journalists.

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##### *Participants monitoring Malawi’s UPR review live in Lilongwe.*

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>“We welcome Sierra Leone’s recommendation on the Access to Information Act along with the comments from the UK, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Kenya. We are still disappointed with the lack of additional recommendations, particularly from member states that have historically championed freedom of expression. In order to hold the government of Malawi further accountable, it is vital we receive more robust recommendations on digital rights, including freedom of expression and media during the next cycle.”

[Michael Kaiyatsa](michaelkaiyatsa@gmail.com), Executive Director, CHRR


On a positive note, Malawi accepted Sierra Leone’s recommendation on implementing the Access to Information Law, and following up on the delegation’s commitment to operationalize this Act, we urge the government to continue building capacities of all stakeholders including journalists and citizens in its implementation and to honor their pledge of mapping out all information holders in order to develop a comprehensive database.

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Commenting on the process, Hannah Machlin, *Advocacy Manager at Small Media*, said that she observed a decrease in the number of states participating in the UPR and in recommendations made on digital rights.

>“As we see less participation in the UPR, internet access is more important than ever before. With hospitals to classrooms running online, it’s disheartening to see less recommendations were made on digital rights in UPR 36 compared to the previous cycle. We hope in the next reviews that member states not only participate in the UPR but also make recommendations that bolster freedom of expression online”

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Note to editors:

The [UPROAR](https://uproar.fyi/about) initiative is being coordinated by Small Media, in collaboration with a network of digital rights organisations working internationally.

[Small Media](https://smallmedia.org.uk/) is a London-based organisation, with a multidisciplinary team of researchers, designers and developers supporting networks of activists and advocates to work creatively, effectively, and safely.

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Activists discuss their campaigning and disappointments around Liberia and Malawi’s third UPR cycle

International Silence on Human Rights Online Alarms Front-Line Activists

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Fixed Broadband Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in 2017

Amend existing media and digital legislation and bring them into line with international rights standards.

A landlocked Southeastern African country with 19 million population. It is a unitary presidential republic

Freedom of expression has declined in Malawi over the last few years – both online and offline – as a result of a 2019 internet shutdown, and arrests related to political speech online. In February 2016, three political opposition members were arrested and charged with treason for allegedly plotting a coup through a WhatsApp conversation. The government has arrested social media users for their posts and deactivated SIM cards. During the May 2019 general elections, a network disruption on state-owned service providers raised suspicions that the government had orchestrated the blockage.

Malawi

We conduct advocacy during the pre-session through direct lobbying to UN member state representatives and support local advocacy events and workshops that amplify the UPR. During the reviews, we amplify the UPR process and the recommendations our partners have drafted through live- monitoring by our local partners and on social media. We then conduct advocacy during the post- UPR period with activities such as training for government officials and events that highlight the recommendations made during the UPR. 

The country clusters are a local working group in each Uproar target country made up of our partner organisations. The clusters are organised by local lead organisations, who then coordinate local civil society and human rights defenders with digital rights expertise to engage in national-level advocacy and campaigning.

A review cycle is a four-and-half-year period within which all UN Member states’ human rights records are reviewed.  Each 4.5-year period is called a UPR cycle. In this section, you can find all recommendations made organised by cycle.

Over a hundred local and international human rights organisations are part of the wider Uproar programme. You can find them listed here.

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Access Now

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Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation

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The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa

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Small Media

Malawi Factsheet.pdf

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Malawi.docx-1.pdf

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Free expression

Digital rights

LGBT+

Privacy rights

Protection from violence

Equality and non-discrimination

Journalists and media workers

Association and assembly

Human rights defenders

Justice and impunity

Advox is a project of Global Voices. They are a global network of activists and journalists dedicated to protecting freedom of expression and free access to information online. They report on threats to online speech, share tactics for defending the work and words of netizens, and support efforts to improve Internet policy and practice worldwide.
 
Global Voices is an international, multilingual, primarily volunteer community of writers, translators, academics, and human rights activists. The non-profit reports, translates, defends and empowers freedom of expression.

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Global Voices

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A global network of activists and journalists dedicated to protecting freedom of expression and free access to information online.

In partnership with Advox Global Voices - a global network of activists and journalists dedicated to protecting freedom of expression and free access to information online.

Uproar Tools are interactive data-driven tools that aim to show you how you can use the Universal Periodic Review to improve the situation of human rights in your country. 

Uproar Tools aims to show you how you can use the Universal Periodic Review to improve the situation of human rights in your country. 

The Tools were made in partnership between Uproar and Data4Change, a non-profit organisation working at the intersection of data, design, journalism and technology, collaborating with organisations on social and policy change interventions to forge real change and lasting impact.

Uproar Tools

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Use our free interactive tools to build recommendations and tailor advocacy efforts at the Universal Periodic Review.

Uproar Tools 

Advocacy Assembly is a free multilingual e-learning platform set up in 2015 aimed at educating campaigners, activists, human rights defenders and journalists in digital rights and digital skills. 
In partnership with leading digital rights organisations and experts, Advocacy Assembly offers self-paced online courses in Arabic, English, Farsi and Spanish using a variety of videos, quizzes and slides. The courses cover topics like design, data science, investigative journalism, open source investigations, effective campaigning for social change and much more.

Advocacy Assembly

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A free multilingual platform to access courses with leading organisations such as Amnesty International, Witness and Greenpeace. 

Advocacy Assembly is a free multilingual e-learning platform to educate on digital rights and digital skills.

Malawi

Upr cycle

Resources

Read more

Partner organisations