Human Rights Commission fighting UPND battles, should be disbanded —Opposition parties

Some opposition parties have branded the current Human Rights Commission (HRC) political, saying it is allegedly siding with the ruling party.

They were reacting to the statement by HRC that it refrained from commenting on the recent allegations of torture by some individuals in order to avoid jeopardizing investigations by an institution to which such allegations have officially been made.

Economic Freedom Fighter (EFF) president, Kasonde Mweenda, said on Friday at a media briefing that the HRC was being mischievous and hypocritical by their statement.

Mweenda said HRC was very vocal to condemn any form of human rights violation regardless of how powerful the perpetrator was.

He said they were shocked that the same commission was refusing to say anything about the brutal conduct of the police because their action was politically influenced.

“The HRC must be disbanded because they have failed to carry out their mandate because most people that were appointed to the commission were known UPND sympathisers.

“We can not continue like this. There is serious violation of Human rights under the UPND, I was trapped up, thrown in prison and people are being beaten up every day in the full view of everyone and we wonder what HRC is saying from the investigations when the evidence is there for everyone to see,” he said.

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Patriots for Economic Progress president, Sean Tembo, said the action by HRC was disappointing but expected because the people who were appointed to the commission used to support UPND when the party was in opposition.

Tembo said it was difficult for politically inclined people to be objective because they do things to satisfy their party.

“The commissioners were well known praise signers for the UPND so the commission is compromised because of the caliber of the people that were appointed,” he said.

Meanwhile National Democratic Congress president, Saboi Imboela, said it was very sad the HRC was turning out to be taking sides under the UPND.

Imboela said HRC was an institution that was considered to be working objectively in the past but now that they have buried their heads in the sand regarding the violation of human rights under the UPND was disheartening.

She said at the moment it would not be wrong to assume that HRC was fighting a UPND battle because of the way they have been silent on issues that involve the party in power.

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