Human rights in Zambia
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Human rights in Zambiaare addressed inZambia'sconstitution.However, theZambia 2012 Human Rights Reportof theUnited States Department of State(one of theUnited States' Country Reports on Human Rights Practices) noted that in general, the government'shuman rightsrecord remained poor.[1]The 2021 version of this report noted improvements in many areas.[2]
Serious abuses[edit]
TheZambia 2012 Human Rights Reportof the US State Department noted the following serious human rights abuses:[1]
- abuses by security forces, including unlawful killings, torture, and beatings;
- life-threatening prison conditions;
- restrictions on freedom of speech, assembly, and association; media freedom, noting levels of intolerance and harassment of journalists had increased in the year 2016 and suspensions of Itezhi-Tezhi radio station andMuviTV.[3]
- arbitrary arrestand prolonged pretrial detention;
- arbitrary interference with privacy;
- government corruption;
- violence and discrimination against women,child abuse, and trafficking in persons;
- discrimination against persons with disabilities and based on sexual orientation;
- restrictions on labor rights, forced labor, andchild labor;and
- that the government generally did not take steps to prosecute or punish officials who committed abuses, allowing impunity to remain a problem;
- unlawful arrests and application of wrong charges on wrong cases; eg. the treason case of Hakainde Hichilema in 2017;
- public access to information: The law does not provide for public access to government information;
- corruption and lack of transparency in government;
- arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence.
Freedom in the Worldratings[edit]
The following are Zambia's ratings since 1972 in theFreedom in the Worldreports, published annually byFreedom House(1 is best, 7 is worst).[4]
| Year | Political Rights | Civil Liberties | Status | President1 |
| 1972 | 5 | 5 | Partly Free | Kenneth Kaunda |
| 1973 | 5 | 5 | Partly Free | Kenneth Kaunda |
| 1974 | 5 | 4 | Partly Free | Kenneth Kaunda |
| 1975 | 5 | 5 | Partly Free | Kenneth Kaunda |
| 1976 | 5 | 5 | Partly Free | Kenneth Kaunda |
| 1977 | 5 | 5 | Partly Free | Kenneth Kaunda |
| 1978 | 5 | 5 | Partly Free | Kenneth Kaunda |
| 1979 | 5 | 5 | Partly Free | Kenneth Kaunda |
| 1980 | 5 | 5 | Partly Free | Kenneth Kaunda |
| 1981 | 5 | 6 | Partly Free | Kenneth Kaunda |
| 1982 | 5 | 6 | Partly Free | Kenneth Kaunda |
| 1983 | 5 | 6 | Partly Free | Kenneth Kaunda |
| 1984 | 5 | 5 | Partly Free | Kenneth Kaunda |
| 1985 | 5 | 5 | Partly Free | Kenneth Kaunda |
| 1986 | 5 | 5 | Partly Free | Kenneth Kaunda |
| 1987 | 5 | 5 | Partly Free | Kenneth Kaunda |
| 1988 | 6 | 5 | Partly Free | Kenneth Kaunda |
| 1989 | 6 | 5 | Partly Free | Kenneth Kaunda |
| 1990 | 6 | 5 | Partly Free | Kenneth Kaunda |
| 1991 | 2 | 3 | Free | Frederick Chiluba |
| 1992 | 2 | 3 | Free | Frederick Chiluba |
| 1993 | 3 | 4 | Partly Free | Frederick Chiluba |
| 1994 | 3 | 4 | Partly Free | Frederick Chiluba |
| 1995 | 3 | 4 | Partly Free | Frederick Chiluba |
| 1996 | 5 | 4 | Partly Free | Frederick Chiluba |
| 1997 | 5 | 4 | Partly Free | Frederick Chiluba |
| 1998 | 5 | 4 | Partly Free | Frederick Chiluba |
| 1999 | 5 | 4 | Partly Free | Frederick Chiluba |
| 2000 | 5 | 4 | Partly Free | Frederick Chiluba |
| 2001 | 5 | 4 | Partly Free | Frederick Chiluba |
| 2002 | 4 | 4 | Partly Free | Levy Mwanawasa |
| 2003 | 4 | 4 | Partly Free | Levy Mwanawasa |
| 2004 | 4 | 4 | Partly Free | Levy Mwanawasa |
| 2005 | 4 | 4 | Partly Free | Levy Mwanawasa |
| 2006 | 3 | 4 | Partly Free | Levy Mwanawasa |
| 2007 | 3 | 4 | Partly Free | Levy Mwanawasa |
| 2008 | 3 | 3 | Partly Free | Rupiah Banda |
| 2009 | 3 | 4 | Partly Free | Rupiah Banda |
| 2010 | 3 | 4 | Partly Free | Rupiah Banda |
| 2011 | 3 | 4 | Partly Free | Michael Sata |
| 2012[5] | 3 | 4 | Partly Free | Michael Sata |
| 2013 | 3 | 4 | Partly Free | Michael Sata |
| 2014 | 3 | 4 | Partly Free | Guy Scott |
| 2015 | 3 | 4 | Partly Free | Edgar Lungu |
| 2016 | 4 | 4 | Partly Free | Edgar Lungu |
| 2017 | 4 | 4 | Partly Free | Edgar Lungu |
| 2018 | 4 | 4 | Partly Free | Edgar Lungu |
| 2019 | 4 | 4 | Partly Free | Edgar Lungu |
| 2020 | 4 | 4 | Partly Free | Edgar Lungu |
| 2021 | 4 | 4 | Partly Free | Hakainde Hichilema |
| 2022 | 4 | 4 | Partly Free | Hakainde Hichilema |
Freedom of the press[edit]
Freedoms of expression and of the press are constitutionally guaranteed in Zambia, but the government frequently restricts these rights in practice.[6]Although the ruling Patriotic Front has pledged to free state-owned media—consisting of theZambia National Broadcasting Corporation(ZNBC) and the widely circulatedZambia Daily MailandTimes of Zambia—from government editorial control, these outlets have generally continued to report along pro-government lines. Many journalists reportedly practice self-censorship since most government newspapers do have prepublication review.[6]The ZNBC dominates the broadcast media, though several private stations have the capacity to reach large portions of the population.
The rights groupFreedom House,which publishes annual country reports on press freedom status, has ranked Zambia’s press as “Not Free” even in 2016.[7]
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
- 1.^As of January 1.
References[edit]
- ^ab"Zambia 2012 Human Rights Report",Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012,Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 22 March 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
- ^[1]
- ^"muvi tv".muvi television.
- ^"Country ratings and status, Freedom in the World 1973-2012"(XLS).Freedom House.2012.Retrieved22 August2012.
- ^"Zambia"Archived2017-07-02 at theWayback Machine,Freedom in the World 2013,Freedom House. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
- ^ab"Press Freedom survey on 186 countries".www.worldaudit.org.Retrieved2017-01-13.
- ^"Zambia | Country report | Freedom of the Press | 2016".freedomhouse.org.Retrieved2017-01-14.
External links[edit]
- Human Rights in the Republic of ZambiaArchived2014-09-15 at theWayback Machine,Amnesty International.
- Freedom in the World 2013 Booklet,Freedom House.
