Zambia’s de facto cancelation of RightsCon an attack on rights and freedoms: Special Rapporteur
04 May 2026
GENEVA – The Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Assembly and Association* issued the following statement on the postponement of RightsCon in Zambia:
“The Zambian government’s decision to “postpone” RightsCon at the eleventh hour constitutes a de facto cancellation. Given the participation of over 5,000 attendees and the logistical complexity of a summit featuring over 500 sessions, a last-minute postponement is a deliberate obstruction of one of the most vital assemblies for the global digital rights community, that was critical to advancing Human Rights in the digital age.
Any restriction on peaceful assembly must meet the criteria of legality, necessity, and proportionality. The government’s decision fails on all counts. By demanding “comprehensive disclosure of critical information” to ensure alignment with “national values and policy priorities,” the Zambian authorities have committed a clear violation of the rights to freedom of assembly, association, and expression. This grants the state overbroad discretion to stifle dissent and creates a pervasive chilling effect, signalling that collective action is a conditional privilege rather than an inherent right.
Although more than two months ago the Ministry of Science and Technology publicly announced the support of the event, acknowledging the summit’s scale and focus, indicating less than a week before the inauguration of the event that they needed to ensure that its organisation aligns “with national procedures, diplomatic protocols, and the broader objective of fostering a balanced and consensus-driven platform for dialogue” appears to be a pretext for disruption rather than a legitimate concern.
Such actions deeply wound the connective tissue of the digital rights movement. While the right to assembly protects the moment of a gathering, the right to association protects the continuum: the long-term bonds and institutional networks that allow civil society to function. By blocking this convening, the state disrupts the formation of global networks and silences the collective voice of thousands of human rights defenders, academics, and civil society organisations who rely on these spaces to organise.
Amidst a global funding crisis, this abrupt cancellation imposes a severe burden on hundreds of actors that invested scarce resources to seek creative ways to foster movement sustainability.
All these decisions are especially harmful as it precedes Zambian general elections next August. For an electoral process to be free and fair, the legal and political environment must be protected in all the electoral cycle. When elections occur in a climate where civic space is suppressed and public freedoms are curtailed, the right of the people to participate and choose freely is gravely undermined. As established in A/HRC/59/44, without respect for the freedoms of assembly and association, elections cannot be considered free or fair, particularly in contexts with an accumulation of human rights concerns (ZMB 1/2024, ZMB 1/2025).”
This decision sets a deeply worrisome precedent for the hosting of international assemblies worldwide. The Zambian action signals to the international community that the right to peaceful assembly and of association is now subject to political vetting and administrative whims. International community must resist this erosion; the protection of international assemblies is not a matter of diplomatic protocol, but a non-negotiable requirement for a free global society. https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2026/05/zambias-de-facto-cancelation-rightscon-attack-rights-and-freedoms
#zambianwhistleblower #ZWB