In March 2015, a street vendor named Mayeso Gwanda was arrested on his way to work in Malawi for being a ‘rogue and vagabond’. He was one of thousands of people a day across Africa to be affected by the enforcement of petty offences – archaic, colonial-era laws that are...
Petty Offences
The Ouagadougou Declaration and Plan of Action on Accelerating Prison and Penal Reform in Africa of 2003[1] endorsed recommendations calling for reducing the size of prison populations in Africa. The Plan of Action recommended the “Decriminalisation of some offences such as being a rogue and vagabond, loitering, prostitution, failure to...
Arrests for petty offences
The ICCPR guarantees everyone the equal enjoyment of civil and political rights in the Covenant,[1] the right to liberty and security of person,[2] and not to be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention.[3] The deprivation of liberty must be done in accordance with a procedure established by law.[4]All persons deprived...