Human Rights Watch World Report 1999 - Zambia

Human Rights Developments

Zambia, once promoted as a model for democracy in Africa, was distinguished by human rights abuses in the wake of a military coup attempt on October 28, 1997 when soldiers seized the national radio station in the government's Mass Media Complex. A few hours later Zambian army commandos stormed the complex, regained control, and captured the rebel soldiers. The following day, a state of emergency was declared by President Chiluba and a crackdown ensued on suspected accomplices in the coup attempt and leaders of the legal opposition. A number of opposition politicians were targeted, including Zambia Democratic Congress (ZDC) leader Dean Mung'omba and, on December 25, ex-president and United National Independence Party (UNIP) leader Kenneth Kaunda. Constitutional guarantees of many basic human rights were suspended in the months that followed the coup attempt. In early January 1998 the number of detainees peaked at 104 people; by September this had declined to seventy-six as detainees were gradually released. Human Rights Watch received information that at least fourteen of the detainees, including Mung'omba, were tortured or beaten by police while in detention in early November 1997, although the government does not acknowledge this. One of the detainees, Corporal Robert Chiulo, died on November 7 at Lusaka's Maina Soko Military Hospital. The hospital said that he had died of malaria, but other medical sources at the hospital told us that he died of injuries resulting from torture and that a post mortem had not been done. Some of the detainees were reportedly tortured with the "kampelwa" (the "swing"), described as being suspended from a metal rod thrust between two tables, with hands handcuffed to the rod and rope binding their legs to it. Police officers reportedly beat them while they hung. In late November Human Rights Watch sought to independently verify the allegations of torture but was denied access to the detainees. In March we gained access to two detainees, Kaunda and the ruling-Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) women's chair, Princess Nakatindi Wina, but failed again to gain access to most, although we monitored their presence in court. Amnesty International was also denied access to most of the detainees in April, although it too gained access to Kaunda. Charges were dropped against UNIP leader Kenneth Kaunda and his head of security, Moyce Kaulung'ombe on June 1. Kaunda's release followed a deal struck between the government and his family in which Kaunda was to agree to retire from politics. On July 3, Kaunda told a UNIP Central Committee meeting that he would leave domestic politics. On June 9, the treason trial of seventy-seven soldiers and two politicians (Mung'omba and Nakatindi Wina) began. Detentions continued in the run-up to the trial: Ndola businessman and former Finance Bank Chairman Rajan Mahtani was detained on June 6 and charged in connection with the attempted coup and then released on July 15 with all charges dropped. In July Human Rights Watch monitored the treason trial's progress and was able to meet in court with Dean Mung'omba, who said he had been tortured and that he was being treated for TB which he contracted in prison. A number of other detainees in this case have collapsed in court due to illness brought about or exacerbated by poor remand prison conditions. The government-appointed Permanent Human Rights Commission submitted a report to the government on March 30, naming several individuals who detainees say were torturers. They included, police chief Teddy Nondo, who on June 25 was confirmed as Drug Enforcement Deputy Commissioner. The report's key recommendation was: "Immediate retirement in the public interest of officers involved in torture of detained or remanded persons" and, reflecting the HRC's semi-official status, that the authorities "work out a retirement package" for such officers. In a positive move, the government announced on August 11 that it had set up an independent commission of inquiry to probe into allegations of torture of the suspects in the failed 1997 coup and appointed High Court Judge Japhet Banda to head it, although he will only take up the post when the trial of the coup suspects has ended. In another welcome move, the cabinet in August approved the ratification of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The state of emergency was also marked by restrictions of the rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and association and by prolonged arbitrary detentions. Lawyers defending detainees linked to the coup attempt were harassed by police. Robert Simeza, Dean Mung'omba's lawyer, was harassed in early November 1997: he received anonymous phone calls, his supermarket business was raided, and he was aggressively followed until he complained to the inspector general of police. Mwangala Zaloumis and Sakwiba Sikota, lawyers defending Kenneth Kaunda also alleged police harassment in January. During this period the police acted in an arbitrary manner, allowing progovernment rallies to be held but banning opposition or independent demonstrations. NGOs also had their requests for parade permits turned down. A request by civic leaders for authorization of a march to mark Human Rights Day, December 10, 1997, was also turned down by the police. Police Service Commissioner Wynter Kabwiku said the planned march could not take place "due to the current security situation in the country." Freedom of expression was also curtailed by the state of emergency and there was harassment of journalists. On January 2 police physically assaulted and attempted to seize a camera from a CNN camera crew. A few days later, on January 6, four reporters -from Reuters, Agence France Press, Pan African News Agency, and the Zambia Daily Mail - were prevented by police from covering part of the Kaunda case because the court room, including the press gallery, was reportedly "full," although other journalists inside the court disputed this. State journalists that were working at the time of the coup were also brought under scrutiny and a number lost their jobs. In May, Zambia Daily Mail reporter Joy Sata faced disciplinary action by the paper after stating on a television discussion show that this government-owned newspaper practiced a policy of censoring stories critical of the government. Zambia Daily Mail acting news editor Justine Mwiinga was a few days previously indefinitely suspended for leading an editorial protest against the management's decision to limit coverage of the October 28, attempted coup. The state of emergency was extended on January 29, 1998 but lifted on March 17, following strong E.U. and U.S. donor protest and a clear message from the World Bank that a consultative group meeting could only occur once the state of emergency ended. President Chiluba announced that the measure was intended to assure the outside world that Zambia was a democratic country. Human rights abuses declined after the lifting of the state of emergency, but there remained areas of concern including extraordinary tax demands made against opposition leaders. Soon after Pastor Nevers Mumba declared in late 1997 that he was considering contesting the 2001 presidential elections as the candidate of the National Citizen's Coalition, the Zambian Revenue Authority issued him a tax demand for around U.S. $1.5 million, a figure backdated to 1993 based on the income of the church he heads, Victory Ministries International, which like other churches had been tax exempt. Reports of police brutality continued in the urban areas. Cases of illegal detention, torture in cells, killings, and custodial rape occurred during the year. On May 27, police officers picked up Steward Mwantende with four other suspects in connection with house breaking and burglaries in Mindolo Police Camp. For two days Mwantende was subjected to severe beatings by interrogating officers, he was also burned between his legs before dying of multiple injuries. In this case the Human Rights Commission acted and seven police officers reportedly involved were arrested in July in connection with the killing. Conditions in Zambia's prisons for the average daily population of 12,500 inmates remained a serious concern. Most of these prisons, especially in urban areas, were overcrowded, with a growing prison population. Kabwe prison, built for 300, had 528 inmates. It had a serious water problem and only fifteen toilets. Conditions appeared little better in Mukobeko maximum security prison, which had over 800 inmates, including those condemned to death. Those held on death row increased in 1998 to over 150, all of them held in small two meter square cells. Some convicts had been on death row for over twenty years, and none know whether they were scheduled for execution. The last execution was in January 1997, when eight condemned prisoners were hanged. Mukobeko also lacked provisions to isolate sick prisoners with communicable diseases thereby increasing the risk of illness spreading quickly. On September 17, Judge Japhet Banda, who presided over the treason trial, threatened to release the accused on bail if the state did not improve the appalling prison conditions at the prisons they were kept. A chronic respiratory infection at Lusaka Central and Kamwala Remand prisons had spread to many detainees. Judge Banda also disclosed that the Commandant at Maina Soko Hospital had stated in a report on the medical profiles of all detainees that a "rogue bacteria" had become uncontrollable because of congestion in the cells.

The Human Rights Commission

The Zambian Human Rights Commission showed some initiative in this period and publicly condemned the use of torture in December. However it made this statement the government withdrew its offer of a government property, Ndeke House, as the commission's premises, a warning to the semi-autonomous body to be more compliant. The commission's composition and its limited resources and power still raised questions concerning its independence. Although the commission obtained permanent premises in June, it complained in July that the government had cut most of its funding to it. In June the commission also announced that its probe into alleged police gunfire during an opposition rally, injuring Kenneth Kaunda and self-exiled Liberal Progressive Party chairman Rodger Chongwe in Kabwe in August 1997, was shelved because the commission had not raised the K65m (U.S. $50,000) needed for the enquiry. Human Rights Watch published its own findings from ballistic and forensic analysis in May and concluded that a bullet from an assault rifle struck and seriously injured Rodger Chongwe. Fragments from the bullet reportedly slightly wounded Kaunda and an aide. According to eyewitnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch no warning had been given prior to live ammunition being used by police. A small number of police that day carried AK-47 assault rifles, senior officers had revolvers, and a few G-3 assault rifles were held by a police mobile unit.

Defending Human Rights

A number of NGOs continued to monitor human rights abuses. The Inter-Africa Network for Human Rights and Development (AFRONET) monitored police brutality and prison conditions and in June published its first annual report on human rights in Zambia. AFRONET and the Zambia Independent Monitoring Team (ZIMT) came under attack from government twice: for their statements about the curtailment of rights under the state of emergency and for their call for an independent investigation into allegations of torture of coup detainees, and in May 1998 for being "unpatriotic" because of their lobbying for human rights conditionality during the World Bank meeting in Paris. One of Zambia's outstanding human rights activists, Lucy Sichone, died in August after a long illness, but her NGO, the Zambia Civic and Education Association continued to provide rights advice for the poor. In July ZIMT began campaigning for gay and lesbian rights and assisted the setting up of an association despite hostile press coverage and a threat from government in September to arrest practicing gays and lesbians. In July AFRONET and Human Rights Watch conducted a joint field mission to the Angolan border and camps receiving Angolans in Zambia.

The Role of the International Community

The international community's efforts to press for improved human rights protection and governance remained exemplary. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) and especially the governments of Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe played an important role in pushing for rights improvements in Zambia. The bilateral donors' resolve to offer balance of payments support in return for positive actions by the Zambia government had results in the runup to the May Consultative Group meeting in Paris. The World Bank postponed this meeting in December 1997 and told the government that it would only be held when the state of emergency was lifted. At the May meeting, donors pledged U.S. $235 million in balance of payments support and U.S. $295 million in project aid. These pledges were conditional to specific benchmarks including measures reflecting improved respect for human rights (especially an independent investigation into allegations of torture). Unheard of for a consultative group meeting, the World Bank's final press statement specifically mentioned human rights concerns, a response to robust lobbying in Paris by NGOs.

European Union, Canada, Norway, Japan

The European Union condemned the October coup attempt and issued a strong statement calling for the protection of human rights. When former president Kaunda was arrested, the E.U. issued a statement calling on the government to "fully respect the human rights of all political detainees in accordance with internationally agreed standards and in particular strongly condemns the use of torture against persons under arrest." A high level visit from the United Kingdom, scheduled for January was canceled when unhindered access to Kaunda was not guaranteed. When a new British High Commissioner, Tom Young, presented credentials on January 6, he reaffirmed that democracy and human rights remained priorities for his government. Denmark in this period froze funds for a U.S. $43 million road building aid project until allegations of torture were adequately dealt with. The E.U. also set three preconditions for balance of payments resumption for its members, also supported in practice by Canada, Norway and Japan. These three conditionalities were that the coup attempt detainees should be charged or released; that the state of emergency should be lifted; and that the allegations of torture should be officially addressed. When the government extended the state of emergency on January 29 the E.U. promptly issued a statement condemning the "continued suspension of basic human rights." The E.U. also strongly urged the government to urgently "investigate allegations of torture made by some detainees." When the state of emergency was lifted on March 18, this was welcomed but the E.U. reiterated its position on "the need for a full investigation into allegations of torture."

United States

The United States is not a major player in Zambia but made efforts through the year to push for improved respect for human rights. In December 1997, Reverend Jesse Jackson, President Clinton's special envoy for the promotion of democracy in Africa, visited Zambia. On December 3 and 4 he met with government officials, opposition members, NGOs, civic groups and the Human RightsCommission. Jackson on his arrival urged the government "to do something" about the reported torture of detainees allegedly involved in the failed coup. When Kaunda was arrested on December 25, the U.S. released a statement condemning the arrest and on December 29, special envoy Jesse Jackson phoned President Chiluba to seek assurances that Kaunda was well and would be released. Following the extension of the state of emergency in January, the U.S. issued a strong statement deploring the decision as an action that "undermines [the] government's efforts to build Zambia's democracy and to assure internationally recognized human rights for all Zambians." The U.S. also called for an investigation into allegations of torture.

Relevant Human Rights Watch report:

No Model for Democracy: Continuing Human Rights Violations, 5/98