IT’S LUDICROUS, RIDICULOUS TO ARREST, DETAIN KAMBWILI
By Fred M’membe, President of the Socialist Party
It’s ludicrous and ridiculous for the police, under the command of Mr Hakainde Hichilema and his UPND government, to arrest and detain Mr Chishimba Kambwili for unlawful assembly.
What type of liberal democrats are these? Are these the democratic credentials the United States is exalting and honouring them for? Or is it their anti China and Russia stance, the allowing of an AFRICOM office in Zambia they are exalting and rewarding them for?
The rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association are, together with the right to freedom of expression, at the core of a democratic and open society. These rights are clearly stated in most human rights instruments, including the UN Declaration on Human rights (art 21, 22) and the ICCPR, as well as in many regional rights instruments and our national Constitution.
Yet, this government of Mr Hichilema and the UPND, who claim to be liberal democrats are further diminishing the enjoyment of these fundamental rights to freedom of peaceful
assembly and association and are increasingly becoming more and more repressive,
increasing restrictions on these rights, and, in doing so are violating international human rights standards.
But while all these repressive practices are going on, the United States and its European partners are dead silent! Why? Double standards! Hypocrisy!
We demand the immediate release of Mr Kambwili and his colleagues.