Citizen are now disappearing in silence – Rev Nsama

…discloses that he has received threats from unknown people and fears that he may one day disappear like many other citizens, demands transparency over alleged post-election disappearances and detentions

By NATION REPORTER

NO ZAMBIAN should disappear in silence and Government account for people who have allegedly been abducted  and are missing or detained for expressing dissenting views, Reverend Peter Nsama has said.

Rev Nsama said he is gravely concerned about the growing fear surrounding threats, alleged disappearances and politically motivated detentions under the Hakainde Hichilema regime.

“I do not speak as a victim. I speak as a Shepherd. I have not been abducted. But I have seen public threats written against me,” Rev Nsama said.

He disclosed that he had been receiving threats but would not identify the people allegedly threatened him, but warned that normalising threats and abductions could create an environment in which abductions and disappearances become a way of life.

“When threatening a pastor becomes normal, disappearing a citizen becomes possible. When a threat can be posted in the daylight, an abduction can happen in the darkness,” the clergyman said.

Rev Nsama said he was speaking for families who had allegedly been left without information about the whereabouts of their relatives.

“They have kept these disappearances very secret from the public. There is no list. There is no announcement. There is no funeral. There is only a phone that is off. Only a station that says, come tomorrow. Only a tomorrow that becomes next week. Only a next week that becomes silence,” he said.

Rev Nsama cited a recent Human Rights Watch report which raised concerns over post-election arrests, alleged enforced disappearances, politically motivated detentions and other abuses in Zambia.

He said the report cited 14 cases of apparent enforced disappearances, 61 cases of abuse and 71 arrests described as potentially politically motivated.

“I am not a judge, and I will not pronounce anyone guilty or innocent. But I am a pastor and a citizen, and I cannot remain silent when fundamental human rights are at stake,” the clergyman said.

Rev Nsama called on authorities to ensure that anyone suspected of committing an offence was formally charged, given access to legal representation and brought before an independent court.

“If there is no lawful basis for detention, release them. Do not govern a nation of disappeared people. Do not govern a nation of waiting mothers. If he is guilty, let the law speak. If he is innocent, let mercy speak,” he said.

Rev Nsama warned that fear could deepen divisions in the country and urged authorities to govern through the Constitution rather than intimidation.

Rev Nsama appealed to families of detained or missing people not to lose hope, saying their loved ones had not been forgotten.

“We do not seek revenge. We seek justice. We do not seek confrontation. We seek constitutional order. We do not seek to destabilise our country. We seek to protect its soul,” he said.

ENDS