UN OVERSTEPPED MANDATE
…There’s no post-election crackdown or political detainees – govt
By Mast Reporter
THE Zambian government has strongly pushed back against the demand by United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association Gina Romero to release all political detainees and halt the ‘crackdown’ on opponents and critics.
But in a lengthy point-by-point response through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Relations, government expressed displeasure at the language and tone of the demand, accusing Romero of commenting on internal matters which were beyond her mandate.
“The press release contains a fundamental and readily verifiable error of law, presents contested allegations as established fact, adopts language that prejudges matters currently before the courts and pronounces on questions well beyond the Special Rapporteur’s mandate,” the statement said.
In a strongly-worded press release issued from Geneva on Wednesday, Romero urged the Zambian government to immediately stop the criminalisation of political dissent, restore freedoms enshrined in the constitutional law and release all political detainees arrested on “concocted charges” during and in the aftermath of the August 13 general elections.
“Authorities must release all political detainees, respect fundamental freedoms and restore democratic accountability,” she said.
However, Zambia’s foreign ministry said Romero’s news release was not only in sharp contrast with the position taken by the UN but also fell short on each count.
“Moreover, the Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General was present in Zambia during the events in question and personally facilitated the handover of the two leaders into the care of the Church and subsequently to the security agencies, on the basis of assurances made by the Government of the Republic of Zambia that the fundamental rights of the suspects will be respected at every stage of the due process,” it said.
Government denied the assertion that treason, with which some of the detainees have been charged, was a capital offence saying Zambia abolished the death penalty in 2022, for which reform it had won international recognition.
“First, the news release is wrong on the law. It describes treason in Zambia as a ‘capital offence’. It is not. Zambia abolished the death penalty under the Penal Code in December 2022 and removed it from military law through the Defence (Amendment) Act signed in December 2023,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said.
“No offence in Zambian law today carries the death penalty. No person charged with treason faces execution. This is not a matter of interpretation but of public record, verifiable in the statute book, in the proceedings of the National Assembly and in the depository records of the United Nations itself.”
Government said it was disappointed that a UN mandate holder had overlooked one of Zambia’s most significant and internationally commended human rights reforms.
It was also concerned that allegations attributed to unspecified sources had been reproduced as authoritative conclusions with insufficient acknowledgment that they remained contested, were under investigation or awaited determination by competent national institutions.
“…the cumulative effect of this language raises serious concerns under the Code of Conduct for Special Procedures Mandate-holders. ‘Crackdown’, ‘political detainees’ and ‘concocted charges’ are not neutral descriptions of reported allegations. They are conclusions about the motives of State institutions and about the legitimacy of judicial proceedings,” the statement said.
It rejected the description of the recent election-related events as a ‘post-election crackdown’, and persons facing criminal proceedings as ‘political detainees’.
Government has demanded that Romero and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights “correct publicly the erroneous description of treason as a capital offence, promptly and with the same prominence as the original statement”.
It urged the UN human rights mandate holder to reflect Zambia’s responses and legal reforms accurately in any further public communication.
“Zambia remains committed to constitutional democracy, political pluralism, freedom of peaceful assembly and association, the rule of law, and constructive cooperation with the United Nations Human Rights System, conducted on those same standards,” the statement said.
The country is in the throes of post-election tension with local and internal calls for peace.
