Siphosami Malunga

Siphosami Malunga's picture
Siphosami Malunga holds a PhD in International Law from the University of Witwatersrand. He is currently Programs Director at Open Society Africa. He was previously Executive Director of the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA). Siphosami is a human rights lawyer and an advocate for justice, transparent and accountable governance. He has previously held UN posts around the world focused on democratic governance, development, peacekeeping, post conflict recovery, justice sector reform, and transitional justice. He is also an international criminal lawyer, was lead defence counsel in the Special Panel for Serious Crimes in East Timor and defended the militia commander Johni Marques in the first crimes against humanity trial (Los Palos Case) and other militia commanders. He is a regular contributor on political and economic governance, human rights and accountability issues in national, regional, and international publications.
His most recent publications include: ‘Defending Open Societies in the Context of COVID-19: The role of philanthropic foundations in responding to the pandemic and the case of the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa,’ International Review of Philanthropy and Social Investment (2020); ‘The Killing Fields of Matabeleland: An Examination of the Gukurahundi Genocide in Zimbabwe,’ African Yearbook on International Humanitarian Law (2021); ‘Unpacking Gukurahundi Atrocities Against the Ndebeles of Zimbabwe: What Are the Possibilities for Individual Criminal Responsibility of the Perpetrators Under International Criminal Law?’ and ‘A History of Atrocity: Patterns, Perpetrators and Prospects for Accountability for International Crimes in Zimbabwe’ in: Lubaale E.C, Dyani-Mhango N. (eds) National Accountability for International Crimes in Africa, Palgrave Macmillan (2022) and ‘Evaluating the Individual Criminal Responsibility of Gukurahundi Perpetrators Under International Law,’ Comparative and International Law Journal of Southern Africa (2023).
Siphosami also holds an LLM from the University of Oslo and an LLB from the University of Zimbabwe.