Zambia: International protocols and conventions

Edda Costarelli, October 2001

The Republic of Zambia has ratified the following international human rights treaties:

  • The Convention relating the status of Refugees adopted by the United Nations Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Status of Refugees and Stateless Persons, held at Geneva from 2 to 25 July 1951, and entered into force on 22 April 1954 and its 1967 Protocol.
  • The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) adopted by the General Assembly on 16 December 1966 and entered into force on 3 January 1976.
  • The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights adopted by the General Assembly on 16 December 1966 and entered into force on 23 March 1976 (ICCPR) and the First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The First Optional Protocol to the Covenant provides for the confidential consideration of communications from individuals who claim to be victims of a violation of any of the rights proclaimed in the Covenant.
  • The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination adopted by the General Assembly on 21 December 1965 and entered into force on 4 January 1969 (CERD).
  • The International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid opened for signature at New York on 30 November 1973 and entered into force on 18 July 1976.
  • The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women, adopted by the General Assembly on 18 December 1979 and entered into force on 3 September 1981 (CEDAW).
  • The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) adopted by the General Assembly on 20 November 1989 and entered into force on 2 September 1990.

On 7 October 1998, the Republic of Zambia ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), opened for signature, ratification and accession on 4 February 1985, adopted by the General Assembly on 10 December 1984, and entered into force on 26 June 1987.

As of 7 May 2001, the Republic of Zambia had failed to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the Covenant, which aims at the abolition of the death penalty and entered into force on 11 July 1991.

On 6 December 1991, the Republic of Zambia ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), but as of 7 May 2001, it has failed to ratify the two Optional Protocols to the Convention (CRC-OP) on the involvement of children in armed conflict and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. Similarly, it has failed to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women, to which it became a party on 21 June 1985.

In addition, as of 7 May 2001, the Republic of Zambia has not ratified the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 9 December 1948 and entered into force on 12 January 1951 and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (MWC), which was adopted by the General Assembly in 1990.