{"id":44495,"date":"2026-09-03T09:08:48","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T07:08:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=44495"},"modified":"2026-09-03T09:09:40","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T07:09:40","slug":"un-warns-of-deteriorating-human-rights-in-zambia","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/un-warns-of-deteriorating-human-rights-in-zambia\/","title":{"rendered":"UN warns of deteriorating human rights in Zambia \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur Gina Romero has expressed grave concern over what she described as a rapidly deteriorating democratic and human rights environment in Zambia, urging government authorities to immediately halt the criminalisation of political dissent.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In a official statement addressing the post-election climate, Romero highlighted systemic rights violations and electoral irregularities. Romero cited widespread intimidation, abductions, and the unlawful detention of opposition supporters without formal charges beyond statutory limits.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Crucially, Romero warned that fabricated treason charges levied against senior opposition leaders set a dangerous precedent for civic space in the country. Romero called for urgent international scrutiny following an escalation in political violence, which has resulted in the deaths of a former cabinet minister and a polling agent.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Reporting on the statement, Correspondent Thamo Kapisa detailed the growing pressure from international rights bodies as calls intensify for the Zambian government to safeguard constitutional freedoms and restore democratic integrity.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":42985,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-44495","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"UN Rapporteur calls for end to opposition intimidation in Zambia","published_date":"2026-09-03 09:07:48","news_description":"UN Rapporteur calls for end to opposition intimidation in Zambia","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/44495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/44495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44496,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/44495\/revisions\/44496"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=44495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}