Zambia: Capital punishment and torture

Edda Costarelli, October 2001

The Republic of Zambia is not a signatory to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights aimed at the abolition of the death penalty. Therefore, in Zambia, capital punishment is applied to a wide range of offences.

According to Amnesty International, at least 66 people were sentenced to death during 1999, including those sentenced in the treason trial, bringing the total number of people on death row to more than 220. On a positive note, Amnesty International reported that no executions have been carried out in Zambia since 1997, and also that public debate on the death penalty was growing, with major opposition politicians and non-governmental organisations openly pronouncing for its abolition.

The Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of Torture, Abuse or Violation of Human Rights on the Persons Suspected of Involvement in the Attempted Coup of 28 October 1997 was established by the Government to investigate allegations of torture. The Commission published a report on 30 March 1998 that revealed that the torture inflicted on some of the suspects was so ruthless that it permanently destroyed and impaired both the dignity and the capability of the victims. In its report, the Commission recommended that officers accused of the offence of torture, including the deputy director of the Drug Enforcement Commission Teddy Nondo, be retired in the public interest. Despite these accusations alleged torturers continued to serve and some chief torturers were promoted. For its part the Zambia Human Rights Commission remained active on non-controversial issues like employment and prison conditions, avoiding direct criticism of the government.

Torture is forbidden by article 15 of the Zambian Constitution and the Convention against Torture, Cruel, and Inhuman Treatment (CAT), which the government of Zambia ratified on 7 October 1998. After some foot dragging, the government also withdrew the reservations it had entered on the Convention on 19 February 1999. Reports of police torture, however, continued, including, the practice of Akampelwa, a method of torture whereby victims are suspended on a swing and subjected to severe beatings. The beating and death of an eight-month pregnant suspect was headline news on 2 August 1999.

On Tuesday November 20, 2001 the UN's Committee against Torture concluded its consideration of a report by the Zambian government by questioning a government delegation on the lack of a domestic law defining and prohibiting torture. As one of the 126 states party to the Convention against Torture Zambia is required to report periodically to the committee about national efforts designed to implement the Convention's provisions. The Committee noted a "lack of consonance" between the Zambian legal regime and the Convention ratified on 4 February 1985. Amongst the discrepancies noted, the committee greatly condemned the admissibility in court of evidence extracted under torture. According to the committee, the tolerability of such practice induced widespread abuse of suspects.

The government delegation described the compilation of the report as an "eye-opener" in the following year steps were taken to address some of the problems. Actions taken by the government included the creation of a police complaints authority, amendments to the penal code and the establishment of a Juvenile Justice Administration Scheme to improve the handling of juveniles in the criminal justice system. The Rapporteur on the situation in Zambia, Andreas Mavrommatis, described the government's report as demonstrating a political will "to do the right thing".

Sources

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH 2000, Human Rights Developments Zambia.

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH 1999, Human Rights Developments Zambia.

IRIN 2001, "UN Committee Against Torture probes government," UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Johannesburg, South Africa, 20 November.