By Mubanga Mubanga
United Nations (UN) Rapporteur Irene Khan says current laws on hate speech and sedition are coached in vague terms, which make them to be at a risk to be abused by the police and prosecutors.
In her preliminary observations, after her visit to Zambia, issued on Friday, Khan, who was in the country at the invitation of the Zambian government, stated that the law on hate speech and sedition was not clearly defined and this gave the police discretion and prosecutors on how to implement them.
“I am concerned that criminal offences which restrict freedom of expression in contravention of international law, namely criminal libel, insult, seditious practices and hate speech not only remain on the statute books and are being actively used,” Khan Stated. “These offences are defined in vague and overly broad terms, giving undue discretion to the police and prosecutorial authorities that can lead to abuse.The offences carry disproportionately harsh penalties and can have a chilling effect on freedom of expression.”
Khan appealed to the Zambian government to consider revising the law on sedition, libel, insult, criminal and hate speech.
She further added that the Cyber Security and Cyber Crime Acts restricted online content beyond what was permitted under international law.
Khan stated that criminalising hate speech on grounds of falsity was not contrary to international human rights standards but also counterproductive because it created more distrust.
“The best antidote to disinformation is a multi-pronged strategy, combining proactive, factual information from the government, fact-checking by reliable and trustworthy sources,” she stated.
Meanwhile, Khan stated that significant challenges and threats to freedom of expression were yet to be attended to by the government.
She added that some stakeholders had expressed concern over the glowing intolerance to criticism and dissent by the government.
“In my interaction with different stakeholders in civil society, media and the political sphere, I have sensed disappointment with the slow pace of reforms and also growing concerns that the oppressive tools and tactics employed by the previous regime are being revived to suppress criticism against this government,” she Stated.
Khan stated that the Public Order Act had continued to be used by the police to restrict political campaigns.
“Another legislation that has drawn heavy criticism nationally and internationally is the Public Order Act which dates back to colonial times. The government has acknowledged that this law is defective and proposes to replace it with the Public Gathering Bill,” she stated. “Nevertheless, the Public Order Act continues to be used by the police as a license to restrict and disrupt public gatherings by opposition groups.”
However, Khan observed that the government was in the process of repealing the Public Order Act, with the Public Gathering Bill, which the government said they were going to submit to parliament.
However, Khan stated that the country was in a pre-election period, hence the need to strengthen laws on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
Khan concluded that the abuse of rights was more pronounced under the PF administration than it was now, but urged the government to act on the promises made to address people’s rights.
