Dear President Mandela

The Freedom of Expression Institute would like to express its concern about the deteriorating human rights situation in Zambia following presidential elections held in November last year.
Media freedom, freedom of expression and other basic human rights have been suffering numerous attacks both before and after the ruling Movement for Multi-Party Democracy claimed victory in the elections.

Less than 25 per cent of eligible voters cast their ballot in the November 18 poll as a result of flawed registration procedures, an opposition boycott, as well as general voter apathy and disillusionment. Former President Kenneth Kaunda, one of the main opposition figures in Zambia, was barred from contesting the presidency as a result of a hastily enacted amendment to the constitution. There have also been reports of irregularities in the voting process.

For these and other reasons, three Zambian non-governmental organisations - the Clean Campaign Committee, the Inter-Africa Network for Human Rights and the Zambia Independent Monitoring Team - declared that the poll had not been free nor fair. As a result of their questioning the legitimacy of the elections, these organisations and some sections of the media have been suffering a back-lash from the authorities.

A week after the elections the Zambian police obtained court orders freezing the back accounts of the three organisations, while journalists suspected of having had any links with the organisations have been harassed or dismissed from their work.

The Zambian government, particularly under President Frederick Chiluba, has become notorious for its intimidation of the independent press. One newspaper, The Post, has been targeted for some time, with its editors facing numerous cases against them. Earlier this year, two of the paper’s editors along with a columnist were forced  into hiding to avoid continued harassment and detention by the government. It was around the same time that the United Nations Human Rights Committee found that the Chiluba government had failed on several counts to honour Zambia’s commitment to the Universal Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Attached to this letter, please find a chronology supplied by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) detailing some of the violations before and after the elections.

In the light of these and other violations, we request you to clarify South Africa’s position on the matter and to inform us of the government’s attempts, if any, to address the issue. We also request you to clarify the position of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and its attempts, if any, to address the issue.

We implore you, as Chairperson of  SADC and a leader of great moral statue in the region, to unequivocally condemn the conduct of the Zambian government and to call on President Frederick Chiluba to recommit himself and his government to the Universal Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

We urge you to ensure that our representative at the SADC Consultative Meeting in Windhoek sends a clear message to the Zambian authorities to desist from violating the human rights of the Zambian people and to encourage freedom of expression and the independence of the media since these are integral parts of democracy and good governance.

Finally, we call for the establishment of a human rights commission in SADC that will be able to monitor the human rights situation in the SADC member countries and report to the SADC community annually.

We look forward to receiving your response on this matter.
 

Yours sincerely
 

Raymond Louw
Chairperson

CC:
Mr Alfred Nzo: Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mr Aziz Pahad: Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mr Tony Mongalo: Deputy Director General, Africa