The Human Rights Commission (HRC) has said that it has no mandate to issue a statement on behalf of the Police regarding the allegation of torture of any suspect.
Human Rights Commission Chairperson, Mudford Mwandenga said that the onus of allaying the allegations of torture of a suspect squarely falls on the Police.
Mr. Mwandenga regrets the statement allegedly made by the Police that the Human Rights Commission is a competent body to state whether or NOT Former President Edgar Lungu’s Barber Shebby Chilekwa was tortured by the police.
He has called on the Police Service to do the right thing and prove whether or not Mr. Chilekwa had been tortured.
Mr. Mwandenga said torture constitutes gross human rights violation and is a serious crime which must not be trivialized.
Meanwhile, Mr. Mwandenga has regretted that the Commission has not successfully instituted allegations of torture of Mr. Chilekwa as the police service was uncooperative in the process.
Even if the Commission confirmed having visited Chilekwa who now faces the charge of murder, HRC Mudford Mwandenga said it is not in a position to confirm whether or not Sheeby Chilekwa, former president Edgar Lungu’s barber was tortured by the police in their custody or not.
Mr Mwandenga explained that the Commission was not able to meaningfully engage with the suspect as he was met with the presence of a Police officer.
He further disclosed that efforts by the Commission to undertake adequate investigations were not successful because the police officers were not cooperative.
Mr. Mwandenga however wondered why the police created an impression that HRC was the competent body to issue a statement on the allegations of torture of the suspect.
“…….it is not within the mandate of the Commission to be the mouth piece of the Police on the allegations of torture against the suspect. The onus of allaying the allegations of torture of the suspect squarely falls on the Police and not the Commission. The Commission therefore calls on the Police to do the right thing and prove whether or not the suspect had been tortured. Torture constitutes gross human rights violation and is a serious crime which the Police must not trivialize as demonstrated by their actions and press statements,” he said.
“I wish to put it on record that the Commission took an interest in the Chilekwa case because it was brought to its attention informally by a concerned person and from the fact that it is now in the public domain.”
Mr Mwandenga urged the police to uphold the Bill of Rights and specifically bear in mind that suspects must not be subjected to torture, “or to inhuman or degrading or punishment or other like treatment and that they are entitled to legal representation of their own choice” as they carry out their investigations.
“The Commission notes that the Chilekwa debacle is now playing out in the High Court and as such the matter is sub juice. Therefore, the Commission shall not make any further comments on this matter until the matter is concluded in Court. Nonetheless, the Commission will be keenly monitoring the matter as it progresses till its conclusion to ensure that there is no maladministration of justice,” he said.
Torture is a no no. However on the other hand I have no sympathy for people who where above the law. They killed without being held accountable because they where the elite. Those who have been truly tortured are Lawrence Banda’ s family who never got justice.
I equally do not feel sorry for this uncultured Barber man. He must be a villager, because a civilized individual should have considered the fact that governments change and cautioned his own actions. Let justice prevail for the Lawrence Banda family.
Toothless….commission.
Are we real? The gentleman has just added more confusion to the issue.
#1 , 2 Torture is not part of an investigation. The guy has been identified as the alleged murderer of someone so the onus weighs on the police to convince the court which in turn will punish this person…. nobody else is allowed to mete punishment on a suspect. The way you are thinking is that anyone associated with the PF has no right to have a fair process of Justice. Yes what he’s alleged to have done is an evil which deserves the maximum punishment. But if we cloud our judgement with vengeance, then we are not different from the vilified PF…we are even worse because we want to continue with the same viciousness of the PF. Eventually we shall have no end to vengeance.
I totally agree with you @Quest. And what was the Barber man doing in the political campaign field in the first place?
There are two distinct cases here: 1. That of torture; and 2. That of murder. Chilekwa has been charged with murder and he will have his time in Court. Those that tortured him and all those involved in this debacle who include the Attorney General will one day have their time as well. My advice is that please ensure that you don’t expose yourself in such a manner in the course of your duties as you will one day face the Law alone. You’ll answer for your actions. Bally will be enjoying his retirement while you face the music. It’s better for you to learn from the PF mistakes than to repeat them. Times have changed. It’s depressing to be arrested for offenses committed years ago, ask those that have gone through that. I feel sorry for you
Where was the HRC when this killer pulled the trigger on Lawrence Banda? He is a murderer who should be rotting in a grave somewhere than generating undeserving publicity.
Where was HRC when the murder victim in question and family were denied justice for all these years? Just shut up Sir
A bit strange to ask the alleged torturer to prove that he did not torture
PF chaps were the law unto themselves, up to now we do not know which Police officers shot dead Mapenzi Chibulo, Vespers Shimuzhila and Frank Mugala. The level of Police brutality and unprofessionalism in the past was very sickening. This barber kills somebody, allegedly, and he was very sure he would get away with it, that is the reason PF threw in a lot of public money in the campaigns to try and win and cover up such crimes. We even saw fake opinion polls that PF would win by 70%. How? Please we demand to know which PF Police officers murdered innocent and defenceless citizens in cold blood lying dead in their graves for not committing any crime. Justice must prevail, we are a Christian country
What is difficult for people to understand here? HRC is refusing to be a mouthpiece for the police. The police spokesman refused to answer the allegations of torture and instead asked the HRC to report.
HRC is refusing, rightly, to act as a representative for the police.
Short example, theft occurs, police refuse to comment and ask the media to explain. Media has the obligation to refuse to answer.
Secondly, whether one is charged with murder or not does not warrant them being tortured, let’s follow the law at all times, whether you happen to hate the suspect or not.
The police can never investigate themselves especially ZP …you can change IGs but the mentality will still be them. Look at Vespers case even with HH7 in State House the report hasn’t been released. You need a constitutionally appointed body like an internal affairs body.
Why are you still talking about torture of a barber man, a hired thug who killed with impunity. Let’s mourn Lawrence Banda and those who died during PF thuggish rule. We Zambians we easily forget. PF completely reduced political space. Nakachinda is a known fraudster who can alarm the situation to please his masters. Let the political hooligans learn a lesson from barber man.
Mukaveli.
You are wrong a suspect is not guilty, and the guilty must be punished in a lawful manner.
That man is not different from you or from that man in state house.
Now that Satan is in state house more pain will be inflicted on zambians.
Some will die from starvation others by torture.
That is the Zambia people wanted.
Pensulo
You are wrong what was wrong with the past government is still wrong in your government, we thought change had come but, you have started too early , which means you are worse than the previous government.
People changed government to have a better one, but you are the worst of all.
This leadership is bad
An armed insurrection is a very strong possibility with these terrorist……….
They have been armed to the teeth………
If they can gass innocent people resulting in the lynching deaths of 50 innocents,
They are capable of destroying zambia……
Terrorist are treated in certain ways to protect the wider society……….
Most of the people above crying torture were very silent when PF were at a rampage…………….
Now police are trying to protect Zambians from these terrorist, we have noise…….
When armed robbers are treated in this way , no one complains………
Now these armed terrorists are having information extracted from them to protect wider society , people want to complain………
Who appointed this Click and what is there background?
Five (5) Directors who were part of the hacking of people’s phones and blocking internet during elections have been dismissed at ZICTA.
Their as follows;
1) Mwenya Mutale Acting DG
2) Mofya Chisala Director Consumer protection and Information Management
3) Chisanga Mulenga Director Economic Regulation
4) Thomas Matandala Director HR
5) Thomas Malama Director Legal
The Human Rights Commission must admit that they understand that they fail to understand the key thesis. Added to my argument, the simple fact is that the complainant is trying to build a criminal case against the police. In this instance, the complainant has the responsibility to prove that his evidence is beyond reasonable doubt. That being said, it is the onus of Chilekwa (not that of the police) to prove that his allegations are correct. This means that the police must not be accused of non-existent crimes. The police enabled contact between the HRC and the suspect. Clearly, police actions exhibited law and order, as well as fairness. The suspect’s utterances do not consist of an offence or an omission(s) on the part of the police. The HRC did not see any physical evidence of…
@Nshilimubemba – completely misdirecting yourself on issues you are supposedly to be well informed, given your blog domicile.
The world is complex in nature and ever changing as you rightly state that Zambians voted for change. Change does not imply status quo of things. Once change has taken place, it needs to be managed. With new (novel) elements manifesting in the changed environment be it political, economical or socially the responsibility is to manage it for the better. The new Dawn government is managing the new (mess) its found. Lawlessness, injustices, frauds, incompetence, institutional dysfunctional, corruption and so on. Human Rights Commission – HRC and Amnesty International – AI do not have the mandate where victims of those they defend are not equally given attention by…
them. The nation judicial system through investigative wings has the responsibility to met justice to its citizenry. Many murder cases by the previous regime are pending, HRC and AI can only watch at this stage.
Torture is not allowed no matter who the accused is. But there needs to be an independent body which should also include qualified medical personnel to verify whether indeed the suspect was tortured or not. As it stands the suspect will always claim to have been tortured even if he wasn’t as he wants the courts and public sympathy and police will always deny torture as they don’t want to be caught on the wrong side of the law.
Many suspected criminal have been gunned down.. beaten or tortured.. What is special about that barber??? Too long overdue. After all he has been living normal life since the shooting took place as if he was not the killer.