H.E. Rupiah B. Banda
President
Office of the President
State House
P.O. Box 30208
Lusaka
Republic of Zambia
Fax: (011.260.1) 22.19.39
Your Excellency:
The Overseas Press Club of America urges you to immediately dismiss the case against journalist, Chansa Kabwela, who was arrested by your government on July 15 on trumped-up charges of circulating obscene photos. (The OPC received a reply from the Zambian government dated September 12, 2009.)
According to reports, Kabwela, the news editor for The Post, circulated photos of a woman giving birth on the street outside of Zambia’s University Teaching Hospital to call attention to the harm being caused by a health workers’ strike at the hospital. The photos were not published by the newspaper. Instead, they went with a note to members of your cabinet, the archbishop of Lusaka, and two civil society groups, urging that the strike be settled. Soon after the photo was taken, the infant died, according to reports.
In our view, editors of The Post acted in a manner consistent with the highest journalistic principles. After the photos were given to the newspaper by the husband of the mother, The Post decided they were too graphic for publication. Kabwela’s effort to circulate the photos privately was a responsible way to demonstrate the harm done by the strike.
We are aware of the fact that Zambia’s ruling party has had conflicts with The Post over past coverage dealing with corruption, and that the government has harassed the paper’s vendors and editors. To arrest editor Kabwela over a humanitarian issue certainly does not add to your case against the paper; it simply shows further effort to intimidate. You can change that impression and demonstrate your tolerance for free speech by dismissing charges before Kabwela’s August 5 court date.
Respectfully yours,
Robert J. Dowling
Larry Martz
Freedom of the Press Committee
cc:
H.E. Inogne Mbikusta-Lewanike
Ambassador of Zambia to the U.S.A.
Embassy of the Republic of Zambia
2419 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20003
Fax: (202) 332.0826
Ambassador Lazarous Kapambwe
Permanent Representative
Permanent Mission of the Republic of Zambiato the United Nations
237 East 52nd Street
New York, NY 10022
Fax: (212) 888.5213
H.E. Donald E. Booth
U.S. Ambassador to Zambia
Embassy of the United States of America
P.O. Box 31617
Lusaka
Zambia
Fax: (011.260.1) 25225