By State Gov.
Zambia is a constitutional republic governed by a democratically elected president and a unicameral national assembly. International and local observers considered national elections held in September 2011 to be generally free and fair.
Security forces reported to civilian authorities.Serious human rights abuses occurred during the year. The most important were abuses by security forces, including unlawful killings, torture, and beatings; lifethreatening prison conditions; and restrictions on freedom of speech, assembly, and association.
Other serious human rights problems included arbitrary arrest, prolonged pretrial detention, arbitrary interference with privacy, government corruption, violence and discrimination against women, child abuse, trafficking in persons, discrimination against persons with disabilities and based on sexual orientation,restrictions on labor rights,forced labor, and child labor.
The government generally did not take steps to prosecute or punish officials who committed abuses, and impunity remained a problem.
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life
There were several reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings. Senior officials encouraged police officers to use their weapons when apprehending suspects, despite a government directive that restricted the use of firearms by officers and a government pledge to retrain police on the use of force.
On May 23, police officers beat Edrick Simbeye to death. He was arrested for building a house on someone else’s land. On September 5, police fatally shot 50-year-old Wesley Mpundu as he drove to his home. Police claimed the shooting was accidental.
An investigative committee reported to the president concerning the killing of two persons and the injury of several others during riots in Barotseland in January AMBIA Country Reports on Human Rights Practicesfor 2012 United States Department of State • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor 2011.
Although its findings were not released to the public, the media reported the committee determined that police had violated the human rights of the rioters and that the courts had treated those detained inhumanely and unjustly. In addition to compensation for police brutality and negligence, the committee recommended the government offer an unqualified apology to the victims and to the families of those killed.
The government rarely punished perpetrators. No steps were taken to prosecute or punish officials who committed abuses.
b. Disappearance
There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
The constitution states that no person shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading punishment. However, there were reports that police frequently used excessive force, including torture, when apprehending, interrogating, and detaining criminal suspects.
Undertrained and underequipped police officers often used force, up to and including deadly physical force. For example, in January Ceaser Chalwe testified to the local chapter of the Legal Resources Foundation (LRF) that he and his friends were whipped with electrical cables, subjected to electric shocks, and threatened with death by police in an effort to force them to confess to theft of a motor vehicle.
Authorities also detained, interrogated, and physically abused family members or associates of criminal suspectsto coerce them into identifying the location of suspects.
For example, in February police falsely imprisoned and brutalized two relatives of Peter Berejana, who was wanted for armed robbery.
Officers who beat or otherwise abused suspects generally were not disciplined or arrested unless the abuses led to death and became public. In contrast with 2011, human rights groups received no reports of police demanding sex from female detainees as a condition oftheir release, nor were there reports that police officers raped women and girls in their custody.
Prison and Detention Center Conditions
Prison conditions were harsh and life threatening due to outbreaks of disease, food and potable water shortages, gross overcrowding, and poor sanitation and medical care.
Delays in court proceedings caused by an inefficient judiciary contributed to the holding of large numbers of pretrial detainees for extended periods.
Physical Conditions: The country’s prisons, which were built to hold 5,700 inmates, held approximately 17,000 in April, of whoman estimated 5,000 were pretrial detainees, according to the Prisons Care and Counseling Association (PRISCCA).
Approximately 3 percent of the detainees were women and 3 percent were juveniles, a significant decrease from 2011, when 18 percent were women and 10 percent were juveniles. These declines in the number offemale and juvenile detainees were attributed to pretrial nongovernmental organization (NGO) mediation, alternative sentencing, and presidential amnesties.
The Lusaka Central Prison, which was designed to accommodate 200 prisoners, held more than 1,500. Juveniles often were held with adults and were victims of sexual abuse. Pretrial detainees were held with convicted prisoners. Women and men were generally held separately.
By law police may detain suspects up to 24 hours in holding cells. The Zambia Prison Service operated 87 incarceration facilities nationwide, of which 53 were standard prisons, 33 open-air prisons, and one juvenile reformatory.
Overcrowding, poor sanitation, dilapidated infrastructure, inadequate and deficient medical facilities, meager food supplies, and lack of potable water resulted in serious outbreaks of dysentery, cholera, and tuberculosis. Prisons generally had inadequate ventilation, temperature control, lighting, and basic and emergency medical care.
Many prisoners were malnourished because they received only one serving of cornmeal and beans per day, called a combined meal because it represented breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
As a consequence of these conditions, death in prison was believed to be a common occurrence.There were 1,800 prison officers. Prison rules require prisoners receiving medical attention to be escorted by a prison officer. There were not enough prison officers to perform escort duty,so prisoners were routinely denied access to medical care.
For example, on August 15, Weva Muchimba died from tuberculosis after prison authorities allegedly denied him access to medical care. There was a significant lack of prison health services; 25 clinical officers and one medical doctor staffed 19 prison clinics.
The supply of tuberculosis drugs was erratic. Failure to remove or quarantine sick inmates resulted in the spread of Labor tuberculosis and other airborne illnesses, leading to infection and death in prison populations.
Antiretroviral treatment was available to some prisoners infected with HIV/AIDS, but poor nutrition often rendered the treatment ineffective. PRISCCA acknowledged the prevalence of homosexual conduct in prisons. Because the law criminalizes sodomy, authorities denied prisoners access to condoms.
The prevalence of HIV/AIDS among prisoners was 24.1 percent, compared with 14.3 percent in the general population. There were no facilities for breastfeeding and expectant mothers. Incarcerated women who had no alternative for childcare could choose to have their infants and children under the age of four with them in prison. However, prisons provided no food or medical services to children, and mothers had to share their meager rations with their children in an environment lacking appropriate medical care that often exposed children to disease.
Administration: Record keeping was inadequate, and there were no alternatives to sentencing for nonviolent offenders. There were no ombudsmen to promote the interests of inmates.
Prisoners and detainees had regular access to visitors and were permitted religious observance. The government did not actively investigate or monitor prison and detention center conditions. Prisoners and detainees generally could not submit complaints to judicial authorities or request investigation of credible allegations of inhumane conditions.
Monitoring: During the year the government permitted prison visits by both domestic and international NGOs, including by religious institutions and the LRF.
Improvements: There were improvements in the handling of prisoners’ affairs during the year. Judges increasingly applied community service, fines, and other sentencing alternatives for minor offenses, especially for female and juvenile detainees. Pretrial detention of juveniles was reduced by expedited reformatory placement.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention
Although the constitution and law prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, the government did not always respect these prohibitions.
Role of the Police and Security Apparatus
The Zambia Police Service (ZPS)reports to the Ministry of Home Affairs. Divided into regular and paramilitary units, it has primary responsibility for maintaining law and order. The Zambia Security Intelligence Service (ZSIS), under the Office of the President, is responsible for intelligence and internal security.
The Central Police Command in Lusaka oversees 10 provincial police divisions with jurisdiction over police stations in towns countrywide. Although the government identified a need for 27,000 police officers, there were only 15,283 officers on duty at year’s end, with 1,500 recruits in training.
The defense forces, composed of the army, air force, and national service totaled approximately 21,600 members. The commander of each service reports to the minister of defense.
By law defense forces are to have domestic security responsibilities only in cases of national emergency. In addition to security responsibilities, the national service performs road maintenance and other public works projects and runs state farms for displaced children.
Paramilitary units of the ZPS, customs officers, and border patrol personnel watch over lake,river, and other border areas. The Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) is responsible for enforcing the laws on illegal drugs, fraud, counterfeiting, and money laundering. ZPS, DEC, customs, and border patrol personnel operate under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Lack of professionalism, poor investigatory skills, and corruption–attributed to inadequate salaries, training, and equipment–remained serious problems.
Civilian authorities maintained control over security forces.
The Police Public Complaints Authority (PPCA) encouraged aggrieved members of the public to report cases of human rights abuse by police. During the year the PPCA reviewed complaints regarding police conduct that were not resolved through internal police channels. However, many cases of abuse went unreported due to lack of public awareness of the PPCA and fear of retribution.
Government investigation of corruption cases generally targeted leaders of the former ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), a move publicly perceived as politically motivated.
Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor The constitution and law require authorities to obtain a warrant before arresting a person for most offenses.
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