By KBN TV
ZAMBIA FOUND GUILTY OF HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES – UN SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR REPORT
The UPND Government is abusing human rights, implementing selective justice and effecting targeted prosecutions against his Opponents and Critics
…recommends institutional and legal reforms to improve human rights practices…
The Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Irene Khan, visited Zambia from 20 to 31 January 2025.
In the present report, she acknowledges progress, including the adoption of the Access to Information Act and the repeal of the offence of defamation of the President.
She notes on-going challenges regarding freedom of expression and the need for legal and policy reforms.
In her key recommendations, she calls for the implementation of the Access to Information Act, the decriminalization of defamation and the revision of some speech-related offences in the Penal Code and other restrictive laws to bring them into line with international standards.
She also calls for strengthening the media and State institutions. She notes the rise
of disinformation and the need to address it with multipronged strategies grounded in human rights.
The Special Rapporteur encourages the Government to continue its efforts to expand
Internet connectivity to support freedom of expression and access to information.
She calls upon the Government to accelerate reforms, foster a culture of transparency and engage with civil society to strengthen the protection of human rights.
● Implement Access to Information law.
● Decriminalise defamation laws.
● Revise restrictive laws on speech-related offences under the penal code.
● Abandon disinformation as increasing toxic polarising speech, misleading the public and sowing seeds of discord.
●accelerate reforms to foster culture of transparency.
● strengthen human rights.
● Parliament authorities denied members of the Opposition to meet her despite government assurances that she would meet all stakeholders.
Key Findings;
● Suppression of dissent and critical voices. Growing trend to attack dissenting voices.
● Criminal Justice Weaponised to silence legitimate.
● Harassment by the Police of political and civil society activists and journalists, bloggers and Opposition figures.
● Abuse of legal system to target arrests and prosecution of political and critics.
● Continued abuse of the Public Order Act.
● Cyber Crimes ad Cyber Security laws to undermine freedom of expression, journalism and public-reporting
PF in full blown propaganda trying to link put it together with ECL’s funeral!
This report is welcome but the USA is never covered. There are appalling human rights abuses in the USA.
So that makes it OK for Zambia to carry out human rights abuses?
I expect much better from you.
VOTE FOR CHANGE IN 2026.
The report is contradicting itself, and I doubt it was produced by someone who knows what they were doing, if at all, it’s a real report. For instance, it indicates a growing trend of disinformation, but on the other it’s against the enactment of the laws that should deal with such. How, then, can disinformation be dealt with if there are no laws guiding how people must conduct themselves?
The report echos what I complain about on this forum. Rampant tribalism, giving immunity from arrests to UPND members and his tribesmen, corruption and gross oppression.
REJECT TRIBALISM, CORRUPTION AND OPPRESSION.
DO NOT BE FOOLED.
DO NOT BE A FOOL.
VOTE FOR CHANGE IN 2026.
I think the report was prepared by Indigo
Hahaha. Iwe, have order. Just try to be a patriot, not a cadre. Help create a better Zambia. Criticise the wrongs, even if it is your relative committing those wrongs.
VOTE FOR CHANGE IN 2026.
This is fake news.
Given what is going on right now and the utterances of the likes of Nakachinda; about ECL being poisoned. Would such a report have any sort of crediance?
I highly doubt can the UN office authenticate please? Too many spokesmen said to have been speaking for ECL. Now that he is gone. I wonder if they are now speaking for the UN?