The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of the above-mentioned individuals, all elected in the September 2011 parliamentary elections as members of political parties that are now in the opposition, and the resolution which it adopted at its 194th session (March 2014),

Recalling that, according to the complainant, immediately following the legislative and presidential elections in September 2011, the Patriotic Front Government embarked on a campaign of score-settling against members of the former government, abusing provisions of the Public Order Act, disrupting opposition activities and using the pretext of the “anti-corruption fight” to eliminate political competition; according to the complainant, apart from a few isolated cases that have gone to trial, the accusations against opposition members have proved groundless, and the unsubstantiated prosecutions have been abandoned in some cases, such as with respect to Ms. Sarah Sayifwanda, Mr. Mwalimu Simfukwe, Mr. Garry Nkombo and Mr. Request Muntanga, but in others the Government is pressing on despite the absence of evidence, like in the cases of Mr. Maxwell Mwale, Ms. Dora Siliya and Mr. Ronnie Shikapwasha,

Recalling that the parliamentary authorities observed that, in spite of judicial pronouncements on the administration of the Public Order Act, challenges persisted and that, while successive governments had insisted that the Public Order Act was impartially administered, the opposition felt that its administration was biased towards the Government and that the matter occasionally arose even on the floor of the House;  the parliamentary authorities affirmed that the criminal cases against members of parliament, which primarily concern charges of abuse of authority at the time when the individuals concerned were ministers in the previous government, were following their normal course before the courts,

Taking into account that the President of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, Senator Juan Pablo Letelier, conducted an on-site mission to Zambia from 22 to 25 September 2014 at the invitation of the Speaker of the National Assembly; his full mission report will be presented to the Governing Council at its next session (March-April 2015), after being shared with all parties for their observations; the preliminary observations regarding the mission are as follows:

• The authorities extended their full cooperation during the mission, thus permitting the President of the Committee to meet the relevant legislative, judicial and executive authorities, including the Vice-President, Speaker of the National Assembly, Minister of Home Affairs, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Attorney-General and Director of Prosecutions, as well as the parliamentarians directly concerned;

• The cases before the Committee have to be seen in the context of: (i) the unprecedented number of contested parliamentary seats and disqualified members of parliament following the 2011 parliamentary elections, thereby altering the balance of power in Parliament; (ii) incidents of political harassment and violence, in particular in 2012 and 2013, such as in the lead-up to the Livingstone by-election in February 2013, although, with the exception of the reported violence during the by-election in August 2014 in Mangango, by-elections held in 2014 appear to have been largely peaceful; and (iii) the lack of legislation on the financing of political parties and political campaigns, clear rules on floor-crossing and the absence of a new Constitution that could possibly address these and other outstanding critical questions with a view to enhancing democracy in Zambia,

• With regard to the observations on the specific human rights cases, the preliminary mission findings include the following:
  • In light of the detailed allegations of the arbitrary arrests of and legal criminal action in December 2012 against Ms. Anne Chungu, Mr. Michael Katambo, Mr. Howard Kunda and Mr. James Chishiba, and in February 2013 with respect to Mr. Garry Nkombo and Mr. Request Mutanga, which legal action – in the absence of any proof of wrongdoing – was subsequently abandoned in court, it appears that the police have indeed abused their authority in these cases and there is concern that no action appears to have been taken to look into these incidents and to hold police officers to account;

  • The Public Order Act, which existence and application are at the centre of several of the concerns in the cases at hand, puts undue strain on the right of freedom of assembly; there have been reports of instances of the police unduly limiting political activity by the opposition even in the face of court orders, such as in the case of the public meeting called for in September 2012 in Lusaka’s Kanyama compound; parliamentarians have not always been proposed alternative dates or venues in response to apparently justified security concerns from police, nor have they systematically used the legal process to challenge decisions taken by the police to limit the exercise of the right of freedom or of assembly in specific instances;

  • There has been a serious delay in handling petitions for the disqualification of seats, several of which remain pending three years after the parliamentary elections took place;

  • There has been a serious delay in the legal proceedings concerning the charges of abuse of authority (corruption) against former member of parliament Maxwell Mwale and concerns about the legal justification for the continued confiscation of member of parliament Kenneth Konga’s campaign vehicles and restrictions on the full use of other property;

  • No legal action has been taken against the alleged attacker of Mr. Garry Nkombo at a police station in February 2013, despite the existence of a report detailing Mr. Nkombo’s version of the facts and his injury,
• In order to address those specific concerns, the mission recommends that:
  • The Public Order Act be amended so as to reduce the discretion and powers of police in response to political opposition; the police be reprimanded when and where they continue to insist on the need for a permit for members of parliament, which under the current Public Order Act is no longer needed, abuse their discretion to cancel or postpone without justification duly announced public meetings or arbitrarily arrest parliamentarians taking part in such meetings; full support be given to the National Human Rights Commission’s work aimed at identifying and discussing solutions for human rights challenges that have arisen in the application of the Public Order Act; members of parliament who consider that, under the Public Order Act or any other law, the police have abused their rights, make effective use of national legal means of recourse;

  • Steps be taken to investigate and establish accountability for the arbitrary arrest and detention of members of parliament in December 2012 and February 2013;

  • The relevant courts decide swiftly on outstanding petitions for disqualification of seats and organize by-elections as quickly as possible, where called for;

  • Steps be taken to shed full light on and, if applicable, establish responsibility for, the alleged attack on Mr. Nkombo in February 2013;

  • Complaints by Mr. Kenneth Konga regarding the unlawful continued confiscation and limitation on the use of his property be dealt with swiftly;

  • Ongoing criminal cases of alleged abuse of authority against current and former members of parliament, in particular that of Mr. Mwale which has been going on since 2011, be expedited;

  • Action be taken to adopt a political parties act, a legal framework to address political party and campaign financing and floor-crossing, and to promote a full and open exchange of views on the Government’s plans for a new Constitution,

1. Thanks the Speaker and the other Zambian authorities for the full cooperation which they have extended to the mission, including the extensive documentation that they have provided;

2. Takes note of the preliminary mission observations and eagerly awaits the final mission report at the next IPU Assembly (March-April 2015); hopes that the Committee will in the meantime receive the observations of the authorities on the preliminary mission’s specific concerns and recommendations; 

3. Encourages the authorities to seize the opportunity to review and amend the Public Order Act now, well before the next parliamentary and presidential elections, and to put in place for this purpose a national consultative process involving all political parties, the police, the National Human Rights Commission, as well as other interested parties, with a view to ensuring that the  concerns and challenges that have arisen in the cases at hand are properly addressed; assures that the IPU stands ready to assist in those efforts, including by sharing relevant experiences from other countries, should that be requested;

4. Requests the Secretary General to convey this decision to the relevant authorities, the complainant and any third party likely to be in a position to supply relevant information;

5. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and to report back to it in due course.

---

Note: you can download a complete electronic version of the brochure "Results of the 131th Assembly and related meetings of the Inter-Parliamentary Union" in PDF format (file size 1026 Kb). This version requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can download free of charge.

HOME PAGEIPU ASSEMBLYMAIN AREAS OF ACTIVITYIPU STRUCTURE AND DOCUMENTS