THE Human Rights Commission (HRC) says it is concerned about the rise in inflammatory language being used online, stating that this contributes to an unhealthy electoral environment.

Meanwhile, the Commission has expressed concern over the rise in misinformation on social media platforms, saying it has been difficult for it to track accurate information.

Speaking when she featured on the Red Hot Breakfast Show, Monday, HRC Chairperson Dr Pamela Sambo said there was a lot of intolerance to divergent views, which she said infringed on people’s rights.

“So we, as a commission, are also exercising a lot of patience, a lot of due diligence before we act on some of the things that we see posted on social media. We have also seen a rise in inflammatory language and most of this is being used online because we seem to have this misconception that when I’m behind the keyboard, nobody will reach me. And most of this inflammatory language is targeted also at women and other political actors, which makes the whole political environment and electoral season very unhealthy. There’s a lot of intolerance to divergent views and this is being shown online as well and it is really an affront to the exercise of freedom of speech,” she said.

“We have aspects of hate speech. We have a lot of misinformation and disinformation going on and it is really disheartening. And just on misinformation and disinformation, the commission has also been having a challenge monitoring some of the social media platforms because sometimes we also get misled by misinformation and disinformation. Intimidation is also something that is really worrying the commission in terms of threats being issued left, right and centre to political participants, political actors and all this is culminating in an atmosphere that is not favourable for human rights. We continue to appeal to all stakeholders to promote tolerance and ensure that there are peaceful political activities and participation and respect for human rights of each and every person”.

She said the laws of the country do not stop operating just because it is an electoral season.

Further, Dr Sambo noted that violence is a barrier to citizens freely choosing their leaders.

“The laws do not stop operating in the country just because it is an electoral season. Human rights do not cease during an electoral cycle. So we’re just calling upon each and every person to be tolerant and mindful of what they do as we are looking forward to a peaceful election. If we look at violence in itself, especially in relation to the election season, it is a barrier to participation. And during elections, members of the public and all eligible voters and participants in the electoral process are prevented from exercising their civic rights. It is important that violence is prevented because it really distorts the rights of each and every person to freely choose leaders of their choice. Human Rights Commission’s job is to monitor and observe that the law is being followed. You find that suspects are being detained beyond the legally prescribed period of time. That becomes illegal,” she said.

She said the Commission monitors cases of violence to ensure that the exercise of the right to vote is not hampered.

“The Human Rights Commission has continued to monitor these incidents of violence. So for the Human Rights Commission, our interest when we look at cases of violence is to ensure that the exercise of the right to vote is not hampered because violence has a tendency to cause intimidation, people stay away from the poll, and depending on where the violence is coming from, these can be targeted at just ensuring that people do not exercise their universal suffrage, which is the right to choose freely their leaders and to participate in public affairs. We need to ensure that there is due process. All the provisions of the law must be adhered to. And where we have noted that this is not being done, we are liaising with the Zambia Police Service,” said Dr Sambo.