Zambia human rights body rues slow process of judgments delivery

LUSAKA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Zambia on Wednesday joined the rest of the African continent in commemorating the Africa Pre-trial Detention Day with the country's human rights body expressing concern over the slow process in delivering judgments by the judiciary, a move that was a gross violation of human rights.

Mudford Mwandenga, Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission, said delayed delivery of justice amounts to extra-judicial punishment through prolonged detention without trial and undermines respect for the rule of law, human rights and constitutionalism.

"There is need therefore to scale up efforts towards significant reduction of pre-trial detainees and enhanced efficiency and effectiveness in the criminal justice system," he said.

According to him, investigations conducted by the human rights body last year revealed gross violations of human rights in places of detentions related to access to justice, with most cases involving unlawful detentions, delayed trials, delayed committal orders and delayed delivery of judgments.

The human rights official, however, expressed gratitude over government's commitment to reform the criminal justice system in order to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.

The Africa Pre-trial Detention Day was declared by the Network of African National Rights Institutions on April 25, 2015 through a declaration made in Cameroon.

The Declaration was a collective reaffirmation that acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, in all their forms or manifestation, were absolutely prohibited in international and regional human rights and humanitarian law.

The objective of the Day is to raise awareness of the human rights violations of thousands of individuals held in detention facilities across Africa for prolonged periods without trial, in violation of their rights and freedoms.

The Day was deliberated declared on the day when the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, under the auspices of the Africa Union (AU), adopted the Luanda Guidelines in Angola in 2014.

The Luanda Guidelines are aimed at guiding African states on conditions of arrest, police custody and pre-trial detention. Enditem