Lusaka — The Zambia government's human rights record has been described as poor, with marked serious abuses in several areas, a latest report by the United States Department of State for the year 2000 has stated.

The report on Zambia, which was among that of other countries on the state of human rights around the world, was officially released in Washington DC on February 26.

According to the report, the Zambian government had despite taking some steps to address some human rights problems, committed serious abuses especially in the last four years which also included extra judicial killings at the hands of the police service while the media was also not spared. "Police committed an extrajudicial killing.

Police officers routinely beat and otherwise abused criminal suspects and detainees," the report reads in part. "The lack of professionalism, investigatory skill, and discipline in the police force remain serious problems, and officers who commit such abuses do so with impunity." The report stated that despite the government commission of inquiry, established in 1998 to investigate the alleged torture during detention of suspects in a 1997 failed coup attempt having completed its work in June and submitted its report to President Frederick Chiluba, the results of the investigation were still not released to the public by the close of last year.

The State Department also identified arbitrary arrests, prolonged detention, and long delays in trials as being among the problematic areas in the dispensation of justice, while the police had also infringed on citizens' privacy rights.

Among the cases cited as evidence of continued police brutality was the sentencing by the High Court of a Mazabuka police officer to three years in prison with hard labour and fined two other officers for the 1999 death of Bernard Chinkuli in police custody. In March 1999, one Khondwani Musukwa died in police custody, apparently as a result of torture although no action was taken against the officers responsible for his death by year end in 2000. In July 1999, Sailas Mabvuto Lungu was reportedly beaten to death by a police constable who suspected him of driving a stolen vehicle.

"The officer was in detention and awaiting trial at year's end while in August 1999, a pregnant woman died in police custody, reportedly as a result of police abuse and no action had been taken against the officers responsible for her death by the year's end," the report further reads.

The State Department also observed that while the Zambian Constitution prohibits torture including any form of inhuman, or degrading treatment police regularly used excessive force when apprehending, interrogating, and detaining criminal suspects or illegal immigrants. "In most instances, detaining officers beat suspects and generally were not disciplined or arrested for such acts," the report stated.

Apart from other confirmed cases of police abuse, the raid by heavily armed paramilitary on the University of Zambia last August during a students' demonstrations also saw a lot of casualties loss of private property. "Police severely beat a number of students and forced them to roll in mud and sewer water and to jump around.

At least 13 students were injured, 11 required medical treatment for their injuries," the report stated, adding no action had been taken against any of the officers responsible.