Executive Summary The Government of the Republic of Zambia ratified the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights in 1987. In accordance with the reporting guidelines under the Charter, this is Zambia’s Initial Report to be presented to the Commission. The Report outlines the legislative, judicial, administrative and other measures that the State party has put in place in order to adapt its national laws and policies with the provisions of the Charter. It also illustrates the various challenges that the State party experiences in implementing the Charter. The responsibility of preparing State reports including the report on the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights lies with the Ministry of Justice. In order to facilitate the process of preparing this State report, the Ministry of Justice constituted an Inter-Ministerial Human Rights Reporting Committee, which was tasked with the responsibility of coordinating the collection of data contained in this Report. Government The members of this Committee were drawn from relevant Ministries and Departments, the Judiciary, Human Rights Commission, Police, Prisons, Drug Enforcement Commission, Civil Society and Academia. The process of preparing the State Report on the Charter commenced with an induction workshop which was held in Lusaka, the Capital city, by the Ministry of Justice for Members of the Inter-Ministerial Committee. Local Zambian resource personnel were employed in educating participants on the reporting guidelines of the Charter. Provincial workshops were subsequently held and data collected in line with the reporting guidelines of the Charter. With the data received from all the provinces, a draft Report was prepared. In order to confirm the content of 6