Rights Group Says Zambia Cracked Down on Opposition After August Election

Photo: AP/Anita Reed via Al Jazeera (file)

Human Rights Watch says Zambia's police and military disappeared, detained and beat opposition members, journalists and lawyers after the country's August election. The rights group is calling on President Hakainde Hichilema's government to end the crackdown at once and free everyone held without good cause.

Al Jazeera reported that the group accused Zambia's government of silencing its critics after Hichilema claimed victory in the disputed August vote. The group said the post-election climate of fear has had a chilling effect on civic and political groups, above all on voices that disagree with the government.

The numbers in the report are stark. The Associated Press reported that the report documented 14 cases of apparent enforced disappearance involving opposition members and supporters, and 61 cases in which detainees, their lawyers or relatives alleged beatings or other violent abuse during arrest and detention. A further 71 arrests or long detentions without charge may have been politically motivated.

At the centre of the story is opposition leader Brian Mundubile, who came second in the vote. Police raided his home the day after the 13 August election, and a former cabinet minister, Mutotwe Kafwaya, was shot dead during the operation. Mundubile was later arrested with his running mate and charged with treason after claiming the opposition had won. Police have said officers in the raid came under gunfire and returned fire. Human Rights Watch wants an independent investigation into the killing.

The crackdown did not stop at one man. About a dozen other opposition figures who questioned the result have been arrested, and several leaders remain in detention and are expected in court later this week. In one incident, 43 opposition members serving as election monitors were detained on 14 August, and a Lusaka court later ordered them freed on 10 September. Authorities also shut the country's courts two weeks after the vote, a move police called an intelligence-led preventive measure. The rights group says that closure blocks the opposition from filing legal challenges against the vote.

Hichilema was sworn in for a second term on 1 September. His critics insist the election was marred by vote rigging, and observers pointed to irregularities including the suspension of vote counting. Amnesty International had already warned in August that the authorities were tightening curbs on assembly and association, and the United Nations human rights chief raised concerns about the arrests of opposition officials a week after the vote.

The key figures:

• 14 apparent enforced disappearances documented
• 61 cases of alleged beatings or violent abuse in detention
• 71 arrests or long detentions that may have been politically motivated
• 18 people charged with treason, with two also facing sedition charges
• 13 August, the date of the disputed general election

For ordinary Zambians, the report describes a country where speaking against the result carries a real risk. The rights group is asking the government to allow detainees access to lawyers and medical care, to release everyone held arbitrarily, and to hold security forces to account for abuses. The same questions about power, accountability and who gets heard run through other African stories this week, from Sudan's power grid attacks to Sudan's complaint to the UN, while diplomacy elsewhere shows how quickly governments move when they want the world's attention.

Sources

• Al Jazeera, HRW calls on Zambia to halt post-election crackdown
• The Week (Associated Press), Rights group accuses Zambia of violent post-election crackdown on opposition
• Zambia Monitor, Human Rights Watch accuses Zambia of post-election crackdown on opposition

What happens next is the court appearances of detained opposition leaders later this week, and whether the government answers the call to free them.

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