Amnesty International Asks President Hichilema To Repeal Oppressive Laws

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL ASKS PRESIDENT HICHILEMA TO REPEAL OPPRESSIVE LAWS

Amnesty International has urged President Hakainde Hichilema to move with speed to honour his promise on human rights during his tenure, including repealing oppressive legislation such as the Public Order Act that has been used by successive administrations to curtail human rights.

Organisation Secretary General Secretary General Agnès Callamard met with President Hichilema at State House in Lusaka last week during her three-nation high level mission to Africa, after being in Kenya and proceeding to South Africa where she will launch the organization’s global assessment of the state of human rights on 28th March.

In a statement issued, Ms. Callamard said during the previous administration, Zambia’s human rights situation deteriorated drastically, most notably with authorities using vague and wide-ranging tactics to muzzle independent and critical voices.

She said President Hichilema must show leadership and keep his human rights pledges by turning the tide against oppression and human rights violations that Amnesty and others have documented in the past few years.

Ms. Callamard is concerned that Police regularly used the overly broad and vague provisions of the Public Order Act and the Penal Code to clamp down on rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, especially protests against allegations of government corruption and attack on the rule of law.

She has insisted that the Authorities must repeal the repressive legislation, especially the Public Order Act, and the Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act that have been used to suppress human rights, including freedom of peaceful assembly, association and expression.