LUSAKA, June 29, (Xinhua/GNA) — Zambia’s human rights body on Wednesday, urged the government to enact a law that criminalizes torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in order to effectively combat such crimes and violations.
The enactment of the anti-torture law will not only greatly contribute to the effective protection of suspects from acts of torture from law enforcement agencies, but also provide for adequate punishment of perpetrators and compensation of victims of torture, said Mwelwa Muleya, spokesperson of the Human Rights Commission (HRC).
The commission is an independent constitutional body with a mandate to promote and protect human rights for all people in Zambia. “As a result of lack of an anti-torture law, perpetrators are only charged with offenses relating to assault. By using the law relating to assault to punish crimes of torture, Zambia is falling short of meeting her international and national obligation to effectively combat the heinous acts of torture,” he said in a statement. He noted that acts of torture constitute a grave violation of the inherently dignity and worthy of a human being and are prohibited under international human rights law.
GNA