ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a short overview of the historical background, on which the human rights provisions of the Constitution of Botswana, Malawi and Mozambique must be viewed. The catalogues in the constitutions of Botswana and Malawi are very similar, containing almost identical articles listed in the same order and with minor adaptations only. Similar to Botswana, and in contrast to Mozambique, Malawi was always dominated by British rule, which began with the various missions establishing European settlement from the latter part of the 19th century. The main difference between the colonial history of Mozambique and that of Botswana and Malawi, is that the former was under Portuguese and not British domination, and during that time the legal system was totally colonial in nature and application. Finally, one may categorize the Constitutions of Malawi and Mozambique as falling within a “third generation”, comprising these and other post-Cold War Constitutions particularly from Eastern Europe and Africa.
