This document reports the allegedly severe repression of public dissent in Malawi. In recent months police have searched offices and homes and made many arrests in an effort to find the disseminators of pro-multi-party literature. Those arrested include office and computer workers, e.g. some 20 employees of the National Bank of Malawi, the computer section of the Electricity Supply Commission and Krishna Achutan, director of Rank Xerox in Malawi, whose arrest is apparently due to an interview he gave to the BBC about his father-in-law. Repression of the churches, especially in the wake of the Catholic Bishops’ letter, is reported, as is that of students and trade unionists, e.g. Chakufwa Chihana. Other concerns are reported torture and harsh prison conditions.
