Project Description: In fall 2010, the Leitner Clinic partnered with the Center for Human Rights Education Advice and Assistance (CHREAA), a paralegal advice agency and human rights NGO based in Blantyre, Malawi to provide a one-week free mobile legal clinic staffed by Leitner Clinic students and staff and CHREAA paralegals in two rural communities in Mpemba. The free legal clinic was an extension of services already offered by community-based educators in CHREAA’s legal aid program and focused on two types of cases: property grabbing and witchcraft accusations.
Students Amit Aulakh (`11), Jocelyn Brooks (`12), Alexandra Rizio (`12) and Theodore Sangalis (`12) worked on the project over the course of a semester under the supervision of Leitner Clinic Director Chi Mgbako and Human Rights Clinical Teaching Fellow Katherine Glenn. The Leitner team's fieldwork in Malawi was supported by additional Clinic students Sarah Borsody (`11) and Stephanie Peguero (`12). Helen Shin, an associate at the law firm of Skadden Arps, provided pro-bono assistance in New York and Malawi.
Partner Organization: Since 2006, CHREAA paralegals have educated and trained forty community-based educators in Southern Malawi to work with communities on justice issues in Blantyre’s rural and semi-rural areas. Since 2008, the Leitner Clinic and CHREAA have worked in partnership on several projects, including human rights trainings and capacity building, submissions to U.N. bodies, and public interest litigation in Malawian courts.
Background & Outcome:
Property grabbing: The practice of property grabbing, whereby a widow’s deceased husband’s relatives usurp her inheritance rights by stealing property, is widespread in Malawi. This practice also often impinges on the inheritance rights of the deceased’s children. In 1998, the Malawian Parliament passed a wills and inheritance bill that bolstered widow’s rights. However, these rights are rarely respected under customary law, which is often the prevailing authority in Malawi, particularly in rural areas. Parliament recently passed a child protection and domestic violence bill that addresses property grabbing, allowing for tough criminal sanctions for individuals who infringe upon women’s and children’s inheritance rights. CHREAA receives a significant number of property grabbing cases in their legal aid practice. The Leitner Clinic and CHREAA accepted individual property grabbing cases during the free legal aid clinic and provided mediation services among the parties involved and provided legal advice.
Witchcraft cases: Although the Malawian constitution does not recognize witchcraft, it is widely practiced throughout Malawi. CHREAA reported a significant number of witchcraft cases brought to their office in which villagers had accused individuals and families of practicing witchcraft and causing misfortune. These accusations often result in imprisonment for those accused, the destruction of property, and in some instances mob justice. The Leitner Clinic and CHREAA accepted individual witchcraft cases during the free legal aid clinic and provided mediation and education services for the parties involved.
