LUSAKA, September 3 — Three weeks after Zambia’s contested general election, a United Nations rights expert has accused the authorities of mounting a violent crackdown on the political opposition, warning that the country’s democratic trajectory is under serious threat. Gina Romero, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to peaceful assembly and association, said in a statement that the post-election period has been marked by systemic violence, widespread intimidation, and the arrest of hundreds of opposition supporters.
Many of those detained, she noted, have been held beyond legally mandated timeframes without formal charges, while others face what she described as disproportionate charges. The sharpest allegation concerns the treatment of Brian Mundubile, the senior opposition alliance leader, and his running mate Makebi Zulu.
Romero said the pair face “concocted charges” of treason — an offence punishable by death under Zambian law. Mundubile, who lost to incumbent President Hakainde Hichilema, has claimed the vote count was rigged; the president and his party were declared the winners of the 13 August polls. The crisis escalated shortly after the results were announced, when government authorities raided a house in an operation that involved an exchange of gunfire.
A former minister, Mutotwe Kafwaya, was fatally wounded in the incident. Eleven people were arrested at the scene, including senior opposition figures, and accused of plotting a coup with the help of foreign militia — an allegation they deny.
UN human rights chief Volker Türk expressed concern at the time, urging authorities to stop making arbitrary arrests. Romero framed the current crackdown as the latest manifestation of a longer pattern. She pointed to years of arbitrary arrests, disproportionate charges including sedition and espionage, and restrictions on peaceful assembly — all of which, she said, violate Zambia’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The government’s de facto cancellation of RightsCon, a human rights and technology summit expected to draw more than five thousand attendees in May, was cited as a further illustration of shrinking civic space. For all the noise around the election result, the salient point for Romero is straightforward: authorities must release all political detainees, respect fundamental freedoms, and restore democratic accountability. A healthy democracy, she argued, requires that opposition members, religious leaders, civil society actors, and journalists be able to speak freely without fear.
Zambia has enjoyed peaceful transfers of power since returning to multiparty democracy in 1991, which makes the current turmoil all the more striking. Romero serves in an independent capacity; she and other special rapporteurs receive no salary from the UN or any other organisation.
The coming weeks will show whether Hichilema’s government heeds her call or continues down the path she has documented.
