Zambia: UN Committee to review report on torture

The session will be held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 12 to 23 November 2001. As the session nears, the Committee will announce the exact date for the Zambia review.

As a state party to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Convention), the Zambian government is obliged to submit reports on the legislative, administrative, judicial and other measures undertaken to implement the provisions of the Convention.

The review of this report by the Committee, a 10-member body of independent experts, provides a good opportunity for press discussion, both in national and international media, on the contents of the report, the questions posed by the Committee, the government's answers, and the Committee's recommendations. During the examination the Committee poses questions to the government representatives and makes comments and conclusions about implementation of the Convention.

Amnesty International has its own concerns about torture in Zambia, which it will convey to the Committee. It reported that, during the year 2000, the Zambian police continued to torture arrested suspects as a routine part of criminal investigations. Some police stations were reported to have specially adapted rooms where torture of suspects regularly took place.