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SALC auditorium panel discussion at Ford Foundation in New York to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 12 December 2023

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Invite to the NY panel discussion shared on social media

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Invite to the NY panel discussion shared on social media

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Join us for a discussion featuring leaders in the Global Campaign to Decriminalise Poverty, Status & Activism as we seek solutions to stem the anti-rights tide and reinvigorate the #UDHR75. #UDHR75UG2023 #HumanRights.
The event will be live-streamed on YouTube & Facebook.

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Join us for a discussion featuring leaders in the Global Campaign to Decriminalise Poverty, Status & Activism as we seek solutions to stem the anti-rights tide and reinvigorate the #UDHR75. #UDHR75UG2023 #HumanRights.
The event will be live-streamed on YouTube & Facebook. https://t.co/KLm5HQPHqJ

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Join us for a discussion featuring leaders in the Global Campaign to Decriminalise Poverty, Status & Activism as we seek solutions to stem the anti-rights tide and reinvigorate the #UDHR75. #UDHR75UG2023 #HumanRights.
The event will be live-streamed on YouTube & Facebook. pic.twitter.com/KLm5HQPHqJ
— SALC (@Follow_SALC) December 11, 2023

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Join us for a discussion featuring leaders in the Global Campaign to Decriminalise Poverty, Status & Activism as we seek solutions to stem the anti-rights tide and reinvigorate the #UDHR75. #UDHR75UG2023 #HumanRights.
The event will be live-streamed on YouTube & Facebook. https://t.co/KLm5HQPHqJ

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Join us for a discussion featuring leaders in the Global Campaign to Decriminalise Poverty, Status & Activism as we seek solutions to stem the anti-rights tide and reinvigorate the #UDHR75. #UDHR75UG2023 #HumanRights.
The event will be live-streamed on YouTube & Facebook. https://t.co/KLm5HQPHqJ

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Join us for a discussion featuring leaders in the Global Campaign to Decriminalise Poverty, Status & Activism as we seek solutions to stem the anti-rights tide and reinvigorate the #UDHR75. #UDHR75UG2023 #HumanRights.
The event will be live-streamed on YouTube & Facebook.

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To set the context, newspaper headlines showing increased criminalisation was available as a QR code

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To set the context, newspaper headlines showing increased criminalisation was available as a QR code

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A video was screened in advance setting the scene

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A video was screened in advance setting the scene

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The impact of anti-rights & anti-gender campaigns: Real-time reversals & community consequences.

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The impact of anti-rights & anti-gender campaigns: Real-time reversals & community consequences.

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Selected photos from SALC's work was shown outside the venue to explain the way in which laws are used to criminalise and marginalise groups

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Selected photos from SALC's work was shown outside the venue to explain the way in which laws are used to criminalise and marginalise groups

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Each photo had a QR code which explained the story behind the photo

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The panel discussion was livestreamed on Facebook and Youtube.

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The panel discussion was livestreamed on Facebook and Youtube.

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Anneke highlighted how anti-rights and anti-gender campaigns constantly walk back the successes in real-time and are felt by the communities on the ground. 

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Opening Remarks: Anneke Meerkotter, Executive Director at Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC)

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Opening Remarks: Anneke Meerkotter, Executive Director at Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC)

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Listen to SALC Executive Director Anneke Meerkotter open a panel discussion last month in New York, commemorating the #UDHR75 #UDHR #CivicRights 
She highlights the need for solidarity and collaborative efforts in finding universal solutions to the anti-rights movement. #Africa

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Listen to SALC Executive Director Anneke Meerkotter open a panel discussion last month in New York, commemorating the #UDHR75 #UDHR #CivicRights 
She highlights the need for solidarity and collaborative efforts in finding universal solutions to the anti-rights movement. #Africa https://t.co/neN4kpJH9V

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Listen to SALC Executive Director Anneke Meerkotter open a panel discussion last month in New York, commemorating the #UDHR75 #UDHR #CivicRights
She highlights the need for solidarity and collaborative efforts in finding universal solutions to the anti-rights movement. #Africa pic.twitter.com/neN4kpJH9V
— SALC (@Follow_SALC) January 10, 2024

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Listen to SALC Executive Director Anneke Meerkotter open a panel discussion last month in New York, commemorating the #UDHR75 #UDHR #CivicRights 
She highlights the need for solidarity and collaborative efforts in finding universal solutions to the anti-rights movement. #Africa https://t.co/neN4kpJH9V

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.original_text
Listen to SALC Executive Director Anneke Meerkotter open a panel discussion last month in New York, commemorating the #UDHR75 #UDHR #CivicRights 
She highlights the need for solidarity and collaborative efforts in finding universal solutions to the anti-rights movement. #Africa https://t.co/neN4kpJH9V

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.text
Listen to SALC Executive Director Anneke Meerkotter open a panel discussion last month in New York, commemorating the #UDHR75 #UDHR #CivicRights 
She highlights the need for solidarity and collaborative efforts in finding universal solutions to the anti-rights movement. #Africa

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Having successfully litigated to decriminalize poverty and status in Malawi, Chikondi highlighted the increasing influence of anti-rights rhetoric in the legal system, including against children connected to the streets and refugees. She emphasized that although strategic litigation has been used to challenge laws that criminalize poverty and status across the continent, the anti-rights rhetoric has significantly impacted the objectivity of courts and parliaments, requiring a change in strategy.

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Chikondi Chijozi, Malawi human rights lawyer, SALC’s Criminal Justice Cluster lead

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Chikondi Chijozi, Malawi human rights lawyer, SALC’s Criminal Justice Cluster lead

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Listen to @ChijoziChikondi speak at a panel in #NewYork last December to commemorate the #UDHR75. #HumanRights #CivicRights 
Full panel discussion on our YouTube page. #CivicRights #CriminalJustice #HumanRights #Dignity @DecrimPS @FordFoundation @OSFJustice

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Listen to @ChijoziChikondi speak at a panel in #NewYork last December to commemorate the #UDHR75. #HumanRights #CivicRights 
Full panel discussion on our YouTube page. #CivicRights #CriminalJustice #HumanRights #Dignity @DecrimPS @FordFoundation @OSFJustice https://t.co/lzh62cbFKj

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Listen to @ChijoziChikondi speak at a panel in #NewYork last December to commemorate the #UDHR75. #HumanRights #CivicRights
Full panel discussion on our YouTube page. #CivicRights #CriminalJustice #HumanRights #Dignity @DecrimPS @FordFoundation @OSFJustice pic.twitter.com/lzh62cbFKj
— SALC (@Follow_SALC) February 12, 2024

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Listen to @ChijoziChikondi speak at a panel in #NewYork last December to commemorate the #UDHR75. #HumanRights #CivicRights 
Full panel discussion on our YouTube page. #CivicRights #CriminalJustice #HumanRights #Dignity @DecrimPS @FordFoundation @OSFJustice https://t.co/lzh62cbFKj

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Listen to @ChijoziChikondi speak at a panel in #NewYork last December to commemorate the #UDHR75. #HumanRights #CivicRights 
Full panel discussion on our YouTube page. #CivicRights #CriminalJustice #HumanRights #Dignity @DecrimPS @FordFoundation @OSFJustice https://t.co/lzh62cbFKj

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Listen to @ChijoziChikondi speak at a panel in #NewYork last December to commemorate the #UDHR75. #HumanRights #CivicRights 
Full panel discussion on our YouTube page. #CivicRights #CriminalJustice #HumanRights #Dignity @DecrimPS @FordFoundation @OSFJustice

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Dr Kapya John Kaoma, Zambian academic and Anglican priest based in Boston  

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Dr Kapya John Kaoma, Zambian academic and Anglican priest based in Boston  

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Dr Kaoma addressed the import of religious doctrine to Africa and how it has been used to justify the criminalization of marginalized persons and voices.

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Jessica Stern, US Presidential Envoy on LGBTIQ+ Rights 

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Jessica Stern, US Presidential Envoy on LGBTIQ+ Rights 

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Jessica Stern reflected on the role of international partners in supporting grassroots movements and initiatives to uphold the UDHR and counter anti-rights rhetoric.

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Rob Robinson, activist and former community organizer of persons who experience homelessness based in New York

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Rob Robinson, activist and former community organizer of persons who experience homelessness based in New York

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Rob highlighted the importance of promoting a rights-based discourse emphasizing dignity and affirming terminology as a counter to the criminalization of poverty.

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Dr Adrian Jjuuko, Uganda human rights lawyer and Executive Director of Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum (HRAPF)

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Dr Adrian Jjuuko, Uganda human rights lawyer and Executive Director of Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum (HRAPF)

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HRAPF currently coordinates the Coalition to Decriminalise and Declassify Poverty and Status Offences in Uganda (CODPO) and leads strategic litigation efforts to challenge laws which criminalize poverty and status in Uganda, including the Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023. The Anti-Homosexuality Act criminalizes the “promotion of homosexuality,” contributing to the increased use of the law in Uganda to silence dissenting voices. Adrian highlighted challenges faced by grassroots activists and lawyers in a context where a coordinated anti-rights movement influences the legislature, police and judiciary.

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Victor highlighted successful actions by members of the Campaign to Decriminalize Poverty and Status to counter the anti-rights narrative and the criminalization of marginalized persons and voices. 

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Victor Mhango, Executive Director of the Centre for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance (CHREAA)

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Victor Mhango, Executive Director of the Centre for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance (CHREAA)

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Ian Southey-Swartz, LGBTIQ activist and then OSF programme manager

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Ian Southey-Swartz, LGBTIQ activist and then OSF programme manager

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Noting the changes in the donor landscape and the increased anti-rights rhetoric and criminalization of marginalized persons and voices, Ian reflected on the discussions and the continued importance of supporting grassroots movements and fostering a positive discourse on rights and reform of criminal justice systems globally.

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Liesl Gerntholtz, inaugural director at the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Centre based in New York

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Liesl Gerntholtz, inaugural director at the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Centre based in New York

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Liesl started by reading a poem by a Palestinian poet who had just died. She highlighted the incarceration of writers in Africa, based on PEN’s annual Freedom to Write Index. She reflected on the importance of collective work to share stories from marginalized groups to highlight the effects of criminalization on rights.

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A street vendor by trade, Mayeso Gwanda was arrested on his way to sell plastic bags and charged with being “a rogue and vagabond”, an offence frequently criticised for the way it is arbitarily enforced. The offence of being “a rogue and vagabond” exists in the same wording in the Penal Codes introduced during the colonial era in many African countries including Nigeria, Gambia, Zambia, Uganda, Botswana, Seychelles, and Tanzania. Mayeso was fortunate. With the support of the Centre for Human Rights Education Advice and Assistance (CHREAA) and the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC), he challenged the validity of the rogue and vagabond law in Malawi, claiming it was unconstitutional. In February 2017, the High Court agreed with his claim that the offence was unconstitutional and invalid, violating his rights to dignity, freedom of movement, and security of person. Mayeso subsequently visited the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, where the Commission adopted its Principles on the Decriminalisation of Petty Offences in Africa. His case was cited in jurisprudence throughout Africa, including by the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, in its Advisory Opinion on Vagrancy Offences.

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Abdulaziz Robin was arrested in Bondeni at 10am while relaxing in a roadside kiosk drinking tea. County inspectorate police arrested him for idling and he was sentenced to 15 days or a KSh 1,000 (US$10) fine. As a fisherman, he could not afford the fine on bail.

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On 16 March 2016, the Court of Appeal in Botswana delivered a judgement in the LEGABIBO registration case (Attorney General vs Rammoge and 19 others) Thuto Rammoge, pictured above, and 19 other activists took the Registrar of Societies to court after rejecting registration of the LGBTQI+ organisation. On this day, members of the LGBTQI+ community in Botswana and activists celebrated the court's decision that refusal to register an LGBTQI+ organisation was irrational and unconstitutional.

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“If I must die” by Refaat Alareer, who died in Palestine on 6 December 2023

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“If I must die” by Refaat Alareer, who died in Palestine on 6 December 2023

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If I must die,

you must live

to tell my story

to sell my things

to buy a piece of cloth

and some strings,

(make it white with a long tail)

so that a child, somewhere in Gaza

while looking heaven in the eye

awaiting his dad who left in a blaze—

and bid no one farewell

not even to his flesh

not even to himself—

sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up above

and thinks for a moment an angel is there

bringing back love

If I must die

let it bring hope

let it be a tale

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In October 2021, a community that has lived and farmed peacefully and sustainably on its customary land for generations was stripped of its land by an investor who fenced it off without the community's consent, consultation, or compensation. When the community entered their rice fields to harvest the rice in 2022, their leaders were accused of criminal trespass and summoned to the Police, where they were questioned for the entire day in the presence of a SALC Staff member. Due to our intervention, the community managed to prove that the investor neither owned nor occupied the land. Consequently, the police did not formally charge the community leaders but told them that they still needed to conduct further investigation.

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Two Rastafari children were denied admission into two different government schools following their refusal to cut their dreadlocks and in defiance of a policy by the Ministry of Education that required all learners to cut their hair before admission into government schools. Following their refusal of admission into the schools, the Applicants applied for leave for judicial review, challenging the policy's lawfulness and constitutionality.  On 8 May 2023, the High Court of Malawi delivered a judgment declaring that the unwritten or written policy of the Government requiring all learners, including children of the Rastafari community, to cut their hair before admission into government schools is unlawful and constitutes a violation of the right to education, freedom of religion and amounts to discrimination on grounds of religious affiliation.

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Mphandlana Shongwe is an activist based in Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland). He has been arrested more than 20 times in his life, for protesting for a democratic government, often facing sedition and treason charges. A documentary on the history of the struggle for democracy is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pObfLLdnJ78

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Female Correctional Centre, Freetown, Sierra Leone

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Female Correctional Centre, Freetown, Sierra Leone

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The Freetown Female Correctional Centre is a maximum-security prison with about 90 female inmates, some with their children. Although women on death row and those serving life imprisonment sentences are also held at the facility, the majority of female prisoners here were arrested for petty offences such as loitering, possession of marijuana, disorderly behaviour or debt. These laws are vague, poorly defined and disproportionately affect the poor. Many women spend excessive time in prison awaiting trial or serving sentences simply because they cannot afford to pay the alternative fine.

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Prison conditions in Malawi, drawn by Charles Mamba

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Prison conditions in Malawi, drawn by Charles Mamba

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Decriminalise Poverty & Status - Global coalition advocating to repeal laws that target people based on poverty, status or their activism.

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All across the world, outdated laws as well as some newer laws are continually used to unfairly target poor and marginalised people because of who they are, rather than what they have done. In parallel, there is an increase in the use of criminal law to suppress activism and quell dissent.