Maravi

Human rights abuses are still rampant, reveals report

Human rights abuses are still rampant, reveals report
By Masuzyo Chakwe
Friday April 04, 2008 [04:00]

HUMAN rights abuses are still rampant in Zambia, the 2007 state of human rights report in the country has revealed. And United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) resident representative Aeneas Chuma said there were still considerable challenges and obstacles in protecting and promoting human rights in Zambia.

The report, which was released yesterday by the Human Rights Commission (HRC), stated that despite the Fifth National Development Plan acting as a human rights and governance contract between the people and the government, there was need to scale up measures to advance people's human rights.

It stated that there was need to improve access to education, improve quality of and access to health and safe water, thereby adequately protecting the right to life.

The report also stated that there was need to adequately protect individuals or groups of individuals against arbitrary and unlawful deprivation of life; the protection from torture and other cruel or inhumane treatment and protection from arbitrary arrest and detention.

It stated that there was need to also broaden the Bill of Rights in the Constitution to include socio-economic and cultural rights.

The report further stated that there was need to enhance the status of women's rights and adequately protect children.

According to the report, the right to education still posed a challenge in Zambia as equitable access to quality education was still a dream for most of the young population. It stated that human resource for health service provision was also scarce thereby undermining the right to health and the related right to life.

The report stated that currently in Zambia, there was one medical doctor for 17,589 persons; one nurse for 1,864 persons and one mid-wife for 4,999 persons.

The report further stated that although the right to life necessitates the government to protect its population from arbitrary deprivation of life and threats to human life, the death penalty was still applicable in Zambia especially when a person was found guilty of a most serious crime like murder.

"Currently, there are 211 persons on death row in Zambia. However, the application of the death penalty has been suspended since the current government came into office in 2001. Hence, between 2006 and 2007, there have been 97 commutations of the death sentence," it stated.

According to the report, in 2007, there were incidents of arbitrary killings by state agents in particular, the police.

The report stated that currently, there were 1,826 terminally ill prisoners countrywide and 42 prisoners had died since January as a result of various illnesses most of which were HIV/AIDS related.
It stated that there were also delays in suspects appearing before the courts of laws.

The report also stated that a constitution based on broad participation and national consensus might not be fully realised as major church organisations and some civil society organisations decided to boycott the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) citing inadequate consultation and representation as their major concern.

And during the launch, Chuma said the UN promoted rights-based development to which all actors should subscribe.

"For if development does not enlarge possibilities for the realisation of human rights then what is it for?" he asked.

Chuma said human rights underpinning Zambia's democracy become increasingly entrenched with the passage of time.

And acting HRC chairperson Palan Mulomba said it was pleasing that since independence, the state had provided for domestication of international human rights standards in the FNDP running from 2006 to 2010.

Labels: HUMAN RIGHTS, UNDP

posted by MrK @ 9:49 AM