LAURA MITI MUST RESIGN FROM THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION..so that can freely praise and defend President Hichilema- Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba
..so that can freely praise and defend President Hichilema without hiding her views in the jacket of a member of the board of the Human Rights Commission…
Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba
It is extremely shocking that a member of the Human Rights Commission Board in Zambia could rise and condemn a Report of the United Nations on the state of human rights in Zambia.
Clearly, it is time that Laura Miti resigned as a Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission so that she can continue to serve, praise, and defend President Hakainde Hichilema without shame or hindrance.
Time and time again, she is engaged in bitter social-media fights with those keen to expose President Hichilema’s abuses, corruption, failures and shortcomings. Lelo ca mutwala kuli ba UN!
It is now clear that persons like her, sitting in critical oversight and democratic institutions, are so partisan and blind to the abuse and suffering of Zambians, that they unashamedly stymie even the expression of such abuses although it is their constitutional duty and mandate to do so.
I noticed a misguided tone in their defense against this Report by both Cornelius Mweetwa and Laura Miti, whereby they think the UN Report is ill-informed, distant, and therefore misdirected
But do we not know? That the UN and all its agencies are here in Zambia?
Further, the UN collaborates closely with institutions such as the International Monetary Fund ( IMF) and the World Bank Group,who also have country offices and resident representatives in the country.
The United Nations is a 193-member organisation. Why would a Report single-out Zambia?
It is because it is warranted as the sad development in Zambia, if left unchecked coukd send the country off its rails.
The situation in Zambia, the abuse of human rights and entrenchment of a dictatorship is NOT and is no longer in dispute.
Laura Miti might need to familiarise herself with recent and various media statements of concern issued by; the Law Association of Zambia, 12 NGOs led by Chapter One Foundation, Pastoral Statements from the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops ( ZCCB), Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ) and the Christian Council of Zambia (CCZ).
These statements decried the shrinking democratic and media space, the constitutional breaches by the President and his government, the wanton human rights abuses especially committed by the Zambia Police, the stiffle of democracy abd divergent views in Parliament, the systematic harrasment of the Opposition and the severe attack on the multiparty nature of our country, the sudden rise in large-scale acts of corruption and the looting of the Treasury.
Laura Miti has, instead,chosen to remain silent amidst the human rights crisis in Zambia and praises President Hichilema at every time but is obsessed with viciously attacking the former President, Edgar Lungu and the former ruling party.
Even when we listed the number of clergy that have been arrested, Laura doesn’t see it.
Even when we list disruptions to church services that took place, she ignores it.
It’s time we demanded that persons like Laura Miti resign from oversight institutions so that a modicum of genuine work could be done under this heightened dictatorship.
UN SPECIAL RAPPORTEURS
There are in the UN, mechanisms to take care of either a country’s specific issue or of thematic issues in every part of the world.
Among those mechanisms,
are the special rapporteurs.
Special rapporteurs are in charge of holding inquiries into violations and to
intervene on specific issues or urgent situations.
They, therefore, play an
important role in the protection of human rights.
They are independent. Their mission is to
study and draft a report on a country’s situation about a human right issue.
For that purpose, special rapporteurs visit countries. They can decide to visit a
State for themselves or further to specific allegations about human rights violations related to their mandates.
Special rapporteurs use a wide variety of information’s sources.
They conduct part of their research in concerned countries, discuss with authorities and victims, and collect proofs on the ground.
After their visit, the holder of special
procedures’ mandates presents a mission report with his conclusions and recommendations.
Special rapporteurs receive information from different sources including: governments, intergovernmental organisations, non-governmental
organisations, victims of human rights violations, and witnesses.
When they receive reliable information on a human rights’ violation related to
their mandate, they can discuss directly with the governments concerned.
Last week, the UN Special Rapporteurs of the Human Rights Council published a condemnation of the rapid decline of democracy and infringements on Human Rights in Zambia.