Maravi

ZP violated human rights under Mtonga, alleges Sikatana

ZP violated human rights under Mtonga, alleges Sikatana
By Emily Mujuda and Chibaula Silwamba
Monday March 19, 2007 [02:00]

FOREIGN affairs minister Mundia Sikatana on Friday violated that the Zambia Police Service was notorious and violated human rights at the time Kanyama PF member of parliament Henry Mtonga was inspector general. But Mtonga rose on a point of order and argued that Sikatana was mixing up issues of court ruling, corporal punishment and treason.

However, Sikatana said Mtonga should not mislead the National Assembly and the nation that it was lawful to do harm to people. Debating the estimates of expenditures for the Human Rights Commission, Sikatana said he would make reference to the police service then a force, which Mtonga was leading because he was there to defend himself.

“When Honourable Mtonga was IG the police was notorious,” he said. Sikatana said there were several human rights abuses during the first and second Republics. He said the first Republic had constitutionalised dictatorship and detained people for many years without trial.

Sikatana alleged that a person was once killed in the prisons and was buried the same day and they only knew about it weeks later. “We exhumed the body, hired a medical doctor to do the postmortem, the medical doctor found 201 assult spots of canes on his body, and when I wanted to take up the case I was locked up,” he narrated. Sikatana said there was even a time when he confronted then president Dr Kenneth Kaunda about the human rights violations.

According to his curriculum vitae, Sikatana has been a lawyer specialised in human rights, mostly representing political detainees since 1974. He said the human rights were dear to the MMD government. Sikatana therefore urged all parliamentarians to support the budgetary allocation to the Human Rights Commission. But Mtonga said Sikatana should know that the courts passed punishment and that the police just had to execute the courts’ ruling, even if it meant canning the offender. However, he admitted that Sikatana had confronted Dr Kaunda over human rights violations.

Mtonga said the Human Rights Commission should do more to investigate human rights violations such as the death of prominent politician Baldwin Nkumbula and the Gabon air disaster, in which Zambian footballers died. Kasama Central member of parliament Dr Saviour Chishimba said human rights were a symbol of freedom. Monze member of parliament Jack Mwiimbu urged the Zambian government to speak out on human rights violations in neighbouring countries.

Labels: MTONGA, ZPS

posted by MrK @ 4:55 AM