STOP CLASSIFYING SUSPECTED MILITIA AS POLITICAL DETAINEES – UPND

PRESS STATEMENT

For Immediate Release

STOP CLASSIFYING SUSPECTED MILITIA AS POLITICAL DETAINEES

LUSAKA, September 3rd, 2026- The United Nations(UN) must stop classifying suspected insurgents as political detainees in Zambia.

The UN charter does not condone terrorism or insurgency.

Therefore, the UN should be the first to encourage arrests of all insurgents.

Since Zambia is a member state to the UN, and a signatory to the UN charter on sovereignty and the need to fight terrorism, the UN must respect Zambia’s sovereignty and also respect the credible  legal institutions that Zambia has in presiding over all criminal matters relating to treason or  insurrection.

It is not the first time  the Zambian courts are handling treason related matters; we had the Captian Solo case under FTJ Chiluba , Shamwana case and earlier  on, the Mushala matter.

The UN must also be concerned about some opposition political parties in Zambia who are sending their members for military training in some countries.

To sum it up, the UN has been a disaster in many African states when it comes to helping address political terrorism; we have cases where they have allowed the situation to degenerate in Sudan and they have done nothing much to redeem our fellow Africans losing lives there; we have had a situation in Eastern Congo in which the UN seems to be  a spectator and media commentator than a body founded on universal human rights.

It should be made clear that Zambia has vast experience in peace -keeping and has often come out with the best peace-keeping military practices.

As such, we are aware of how some countries lost it and ended up going  for civil war,  after endorsing such calls from the UN as , releasing suspected terrorists whom they are calling  “ political detainees“.

Releasing such persons without trial is basically endorsing terrorism.

The UN should not playing PR when armed civilians are illegally acquiring military guns in Zambia.

Let them stop playing games with the lives of Zambians by way of branding militia as political detainees.

Instead the UN should centre its effort in calling for trial as by law established.

Bravo, Zambia’s men and women in uniform for controlling the situation.

Mark Simuuwe
Media Director
United Party for National Development( UPND)