Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
The Paralegal Alliance Network (PAN), a network of organizations and individuals promoting access to justice and human rights, is disturbed by what it has termed as degrading and inhumane treatment of youths alleged to have defamed the head of state by a group of soldiers.
The network has also condemned in the strongest terms possible the uncouth utterances by the youths directed at the head of state and urged the appropriate law enforcement agencies to investigate the matter and allow the law to take its course.
Pan Board Chairperson Eugene Kabilika, however, states that it is not within the mandate of any member of the defense forces to mate punishment on citizens who may stand accused of committing any crime.
Mr. Kabililka says such acts if left unchecked will escalate to levels where torture at the hands of the state and its agents will become a norm.
He says this will not only erode Zambia’s human rights profile, but degrade the dignity of any individual on the soils of this country.
Mr. Kabilika has since urged president Hakainde Hichilema to seize the opportunity to move the country to domesticate the UN convention against torture (UNCAT) by enacting a national law criminalizing torture within this term of office as part of his resounding commitment to upholding the democratic rule of law and good governance.