KAFWAYA WAS EXECUTED
…Rights watchdog fingers State, condemns disappearances
By Thandizo Banda
A DAMNING report by New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused Zambian armed forces of extra-judicially executing former minister Mutotwe Kafwaya during a raid on opposition leader Brian Mundubile’s home in August.
The global human rights defender has also accused the military of shutting down the courts to block petitions after the disputed August 13 general election.
In the report released yesterday, the leading global rights watchdog says 14 people were forcibly disappeared, 61 beaten and 71 arbitrarily detained, with 18 charged with non-bailable treason to stifle dissent.
“The August 14 raid is central. Police Inspector General Graphel Musamba claimed officers returned fire after ‘gunfire and resistance’, but in a High Court petition Mundubile states: ‘I saw a soldier fatally shoot Kafwaya at close range,'” the report states.
“Government first dismissed the raid as ‘disinformation’ and ZICTA [Zambia Information and Communication Technology Authority] texted all phones in Zambia to ‘Beware of false reports of shootings and abductions’ before Musamba later admitted a ‘joint security-led intelligence operation’,” the report states.
HRW says during the same raid, which took place on the night of August 14, 43 opposition election monitors were disappeared for eight days.
“When we found them, most of them were swollen and had terrible injuries, including broken bones. They said they had been brutalised by the military,” their lawyer told HRW.
“They were held 21 days without charge.”
“Bishop Trevor Mwamba and others were taken to a ‘military command centre’ then scattered to police stations that denied holding them. Bishop Mwamba spent four days without food or medication,” the human rights report states.
“Lawyers allege detainees were waterboarded, suspended from metal bars and interrogated by Special Forces led by Gen Moses Shapwaya to force them to incriminate Mundubile,” it says.
From August 24 to 28, government suspended judicial services, closing and cordoning off court premises.
“This was an ‘intelligence-led and preventive measure’ to stop ‘planned unrest’,” police said, HRW reports.
Lawyers told HRW: “We were told there would be no court services. You cannot file a petition if there is no court.”
The globally respected human rights watchdog said at least seven lawyers and journalists fled the country after being told they were on a “wanted list”.
One journalist told HRW: “I received a call saying, ‘Stop what you are doing. We are coming after you.’ I had to run.”
On September 11, government cancelled passports of six critics abroad in its continued crackdown on legitimate dissent.
“On September 11, government cancelled passports of six critics, including academic Sishuwa Sishuwa,” the report states.
HRW also documented reprisals against families of critics living in the diaspora.
“They came at 3 a.m. with guns, demanding we tell our son to remove videos. They said they would ‘squeeze’ our businesses and jobs,” a family member told HRW.
It is demanding an immediate halt to the ongoing crackdown, release of political detainees and an independent probe into Kafwaya’s killing.
“Zambia’s government should break this dangerous cycle of repression and ensure that all those unlawfully detained are immediately released,” said Ashwanee Budoo-Scholtz, Deputy Africa Director at HRW.
“The authorities should allow the Judiciary to function independently and investigate the killing of Mutotwe Kafwaya.”
The findings come as Zambia prepares to serve on the UN Human Rights Council from 2027 to 2029.
Former president of Botswana Ian Khama described President Hakainde Hichilema as “Africa’s newest dictator” and took the current government of his country to task for attending Hichilema’s inauguration despite the numerous violations connected to elections.
By press time The Mast was still awaiting a response from government.
