JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Zambia ’s government carried out a violent crackdown on opposition parties after August’s election, in which President Hakainde Hichilema won a second term, according to a Human Rights Watch report published Monday.
Police and military personnel forcibly disappeared, arbitrarily detained, beat and threatened opposition members, lawyers, journalists and government critics, the report said. It described a post-election climate of intimidation, harassment and repression that “had a chilling effect on civic and political organizations, particularly on dissenting voices.”
Observers said the election was marred by irregularities.
The report documented 14 cases of apparent enforced disappearance involving opposition members and supporters, as well as 61 cases in which detainees, their lawyers or relatives alleged beatings or other violent abuse during arrest and detention.
“The authorities should immediately halt the ongoing post-election crackdown, allow access to lawyers and provide medical care for those in detention, release everyone arbitrarily detained, and ensure accountability for abuses by security forces,” said Ashwanee Budoo-Scholtz, the rights group’s deputy Africa director.
Several opposition leaders, including Brian Mundubile, who ran against Hichilema, remain in detention and are expected to appear in court later this week.
“In many cases, the people detained were never charged with a crime while in others, the charges against them appear to be politically motivated. The government has not disclosed how many people were arrested during the crackdown or the charges against them, prompting concerns that the number of people detained is higher than presently known,” Budoo-Scholtz said.
In August, Amnesty International warned that Zambian authorities had intensified restrictions on the rights to peaceful assembly and association through hastily passed laws, curtailing public participation ahead of the election.
A week after the vote, the United Nations human rights chief raised concerns about the arrests of opposition officials.
