Rights groups complain over new bill

Zambian human rights groups are concerned that a new bill passed by parliament could render the courts “toothless” and hand the government a formidable legal weapon with which to intimidate the opposition.

The State Proceedings Amendment Bill, awaiting signature by President Frederick Chiluba, prevents applications for judicial reviews acting as a stay to decisions by the state or public officers.

“What this means is that injunctive remedies, or stays of execution, will be outlawed,” Muleya Mwananyanda of the human rights group Afronet told IRIN. “This is serious and a flagrant infringement on the rights of the individual because the major purpose of such remedies is to ensure that no harm is done to an individual by putting an interim stop to the acts complained of.”

She said that as an example, if the government decided to shut down Afronet, the NGO would be unable to seek a court injunction preventing the closure. Instead, it would remain closed until the courts dispose of the government’s case, which could take up to three years.

“The danger with enacting the amendment is that government officials, purporting to be acting under the law, could act with impunity as these actions will not be subject to any interim judicial intervention. This means that they can target opposition leaders. They can set tax officers to seize goods or impose heavy penalties aimed at crippling perceived opponents. And these people cannot seek any relief from the courts,” Mwananyanda said.

Opposition politician Ben Mwila told IRIN the bill would serve to “silence the opposition”. He alleged its provisions could also be used to prevent a legal challenge against the government should Chiluba decide to amend the constitution and run for a third term in 2001.

According to Mwananyanda: “The (State Proceedings) amendment will also have the effect of strengthening further the already strong executive, thereby effectively undermining individual rights enshrined in the constitution as well as distorting the last shreds of separation of powers.”