HRW demands Zambia end crackdown after Hichilema's disputed win

Human Rights Watch wants Zambia to stop what it calls a vicious post-election crackdown. In a report released Sunday, the rights group accused President Hakainde Hichilema's government of silencing critics after August's disputed vote, saying opposition figures, journalists and lawyers have been arrested and some have vanished.

The group described a climate of intimidation, harassment and repression that it says has chilled civic and political organizing, especially dissenting voices. It said Zambian police and military forcibly disappeared, arbitrarily detained, beat and threatened opposition members and supporters, along with lawyers, journalists and government critics, in the days surrounding the August elections.

HRW's deputy Africa director, Ashwanee Budoo-Scholtz, called on the government to break the dangerous cycle of repression. The group wants authorities to halt the crackdown immediately, grant detainees access to lawyers and medical care, free everyone held arbitrarily, and hold security forces accountable for abuses.

Hichilema was sworn in for a second term after his August victory, which critics insist was tainted by vote rigging. His main rival, Brian Mundubile, was behind bars during the inauguration at Lusaka's National Heroes Stadium, facing treason charges after claiming the opposition had won. Police raided his home the day after the August 13 elections, and former cabinet member Mutotwe Kafwaya was shot and killed during that operation. HRW is pressing for an independent, impartial and thorough investigation into the killing.

Roughly a dozen other opposition figures who questioned the results have been arrested. Two weeks after the election, authorities abruptly shut the country's courts, a move police called an intelligence-led and preventive measure without offering details. HRW warned that the closure blocks the opposition from filing legal challenges against the vote.