Opposition political party members and government critics were arrested, and their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly severely restricted. While more children benefited from free education, overcrowded classrooms compromised educational standards. Drought heightened food insecurity and the president declared a national emergency. A national human rights body expressed concerns about reports of torture and other ill-treatment by the police. LGBTI people’s rights were increasingly under threat. Persons with albinism had limited access to necessary sunscreen aids for the prevention of skin cancer. Food shortages and financial difficulties were believed to have led to an increase in child abuse and gender-based violence.

Freedom of expression, association and assembly

Opposition members and government critics were arrested for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

On 25 May, independent MP Emmanuel Banda was abducted in the capital, Lusaka, by unidentified men. He was found the next day on a farm approximately 43km from Lusaka and hospitalized because of alleged torture during his abduction. Five people, including two opposition MPs, who alleged on social media that the government was involved in the abduction were arrested and charged with “espionage” and “spreading hate speech”.

In July, O’Brien Kaaba, a lecturer and former commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), was sued for defamation by the Solicitor-General and another former ACC director over a newspaper article he wrote alleging corruption within the ACC.

On 8 August, Fred M’membe, president of the opposition Socialist Party, was arrested and charged with “seditious practices” in relation to an article on his Facebook page exposing allegations of corruption in government. He was released on bail on 12 August.

In October, investigative journalist Thomas Zgambo was arrested following the publication of an article he wrote which was perceived as critical of government officials. He was charged with criminal libel five days later.

Police restricted opposition political rallies and dispersed other demonstrations.

In June, heavily armed police stopped a Socialist Party rally in Kitwe, Copperbelt Province, after initially authorizing it.

Also in June, police stood by while cadres belonging to the ruling United Party for National Development wielded weapons and threatened violence against people attending a rally organized by the opposition New Heritage Party. In the same month, President Hakainde Hichilema publicly condemned political violence by those who claim to support him or his party saying that he would not allow any individual to hide behind a political party, church or civil society: “You break the law, the police take you.”

In July, four people were arrested in Lusaka for planning a protest against the Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation’s ongoing schedule of planned electricity blackouts. They were charged with “idle and disorderly conduct”.

Arbitrary arrests and detentions

In May, Raphael Nakacinda, secretary general of the opposition Patriotic Front party, was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment for “defaming the president”, although the law under which he was convicted was repealed in 2021.

Right to education

The government’s programme of free primary and secondary school education, introduced in 2021, led to an increase in new enrolments during the year. However, a lack of infrastructure to support the increase led to overcrowded classrooms and a shortage of teachers, desks and textbooks. In response, the government increased the education budget from 13.9% to 15.4% of the national budget and announced plans to hire a further 5,400 teachers.

Right to food

In February, President Hichilema declared a national emergency because of severe drought caused by El Niño weather conditions, affecting 9.4 million people in 84 of 116 districts. Approximately 1 million hectares of maize were destroyed by drought. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification estimated that 5.8 million people were likely to experience heightened hunger between October 2024 and March 2025. The government increased the budget for social protection to ZMK 73 billion (more than USD 2.6 million) in the 2025 national budget to address urgent needs in drought-affected communities. In March the Food Security Cluster Joint Rapid Assessment Report revealed that female-headed households were more likely to have a poor consumption score compared to male-headed households, meaning their diet was less diverse.

In August, UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, reported that drought had significantly reduced food availability for the most vulnerable populations.

Torture and other ill treatment

The Zambia Human rights Commission (ZHRC) expressed concerns about cases of torture and other ill-treatment by the police. In February a suspected child offender was handcuffed and subjected to kampelwa – being hung upside down from a metal rod – while being interrogated by officers to extract a “confession” and identify or locate others believed to be connected to the alleged offence.

In April the ZHRC called for an investigation into an incident described in a video circulated on social media in which a woman said she suffered a broken spine when she was beaten by police officers in Mpongwe District. She said she was attacked after she complained about the acquittal of a police officer accused of sexual assault against her 14-year-old daughter.

Discrimination

LGBTI people

Increasing intolerance towards LGBTI people by the government and religious groups further threatened their rights. In May the Zambian Civil Liberties Union petitioned the Constitutional Court seeking to have Section 155(a)(c) of the Penal Code, which criminalizes sexual acts against the “order of nature”, declared unconstitutional. In August, religious leaders opposed the petition stating that “homosexuality” had no place in Zambia. President Hichilema also reaffirmed his position on consensual same-sex sexual acts during a speech at a Lusaka church saying, “the country shall remain… Christian”.

Despite calls on the government to release a gay man who was sentenced to 14 years’ hard labour for “sodomy” in 2021, he remained in jail without access to healthcare.

Persons with albinism

Concerns persisted about the limited access for persons with albinism to necessary sunscreen aids to prevent skin cancer, to which they are particularly vulnerable. While there remained no official record in Zambia of the number of persons with albinism living with skin cancer, the NGO Albinism Multipurpose Organisation recorded 16 cases since 2018, 11 of whom had died.

Gender-based violence

In July the Zambia Police Service said it recorded 9,318 cases of gender-based violence nationwide in the second quarter of 2024 (including 36 femicides), in comparison to 9,988 cases recorded in the same period of 2023. In contrast, social workers reported that food shortages and household financial difficulties led to a rise in child abuse and to gender-based violence.