OMCT - World Organisation Against Torture

04/30/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/30/2026 13:20

Net Rights Coalition, 132 other Digital Rights Stakeholders endorse statement condemning the Government of Zambia's Abrupt Disruption of RightsCon

Thursday, April 30, 2026: We, the Net Rights Coalition (NRC), a network of digital rights actors, and all other signatories listed below, are appalled by the Government of Zambia's unilateral announcement of the postponement of RightsCon on 29 April 2026, a move that has resulted in the cancellation of the global event with over 5000 participants that was going to be hosted in Sub-Saharan Africa for the first time. Access Now, partners, and thousands of stakeholders have incurred huge financial and logistical losses as plans were underway for the event to start in 3 days. Zambia will also record significant economic losses that would have come from thousands of visitors to a nation that prides itself as a tourist destination, anchored on the popular Zambia KuChalo (Zambia to the World) slogan. This will have a huge impact on Zambian small businesses that were engaged to provide services that will now be cancelled.

The need for international consensus-building remains critical, and the government of Zambia missed an opportunity to demonstrate a strong commitment to preserving the multistakeholder model, a key feature of global digital governance, across its country's digital rights engagements. Rather, the government cited the need for comprehensive disclosures to align with "national values, policy priorities, and broader public-interest considerations", but did not disclose them to the public to ease understanding of such a drastic action.

The position comes after the Ministry of Technology and Science, on 3 March 2026, officially announced that they were the primary Government partner for RightsCon 2026, with the event meant to be held in Lusaka, Zambia and online from 5 to 8 May 2026. This government statement assured the global community that the event would proceed with the host government's appropriate support. The backtracking, at the last minute, on this commitment raises questions about trust and commitment to civil society engagement and international agreements, to which Zambia has in the past demonstrated a strong pledge. This action, when travel itineraries are set, accommodation is booked, and venue costs are incurred, constitutes a setback to global human and digital rights processes and derails the participation of diverse stakeholders, including civil society, government, investors, and the private sector engaged in these conversations.

The suspended event agenda presents areas of discourse on key digital economy topics, promotes digital rights and embeds multistakeholderism, as outlined in the Global Digital Compact (GDC), adopted in 2024, to which Zambia contributed as Co-Chair, having been appointed on 10 October 2023 by the President of the General Assembly, together with Sweden, to lead the intergovernmental process on the Global Digital Compact.

RightsCon in Lusaka would have been an incredible opportunity for local and global exchange, and to create new initiatives to realise human rights in the digital age. A clear channel of resolving any outstanding issues with the event convenor to save the multistakeholder approach would have been a fair course of action, aligned with international human rights standards to which Zambia subscribes as a State party, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.

We condemn the government's actions that led to the cancellation of RightsCon in Zambia. This raises concerns about closing civic space and fostering a culture of self-censorship ahead of the August 2026 elections, and is a major setback for Zambia's digital rights trajectory regionally and globally, signalling a departure from the gains it has secured in leading global processes.

Signed:

  1. @digitallytante
  2. Accountability Lab Nigeria
  3. ActionAid Denmark (AADK)
  4. Afghanistan Democracy and Development Organization (ADDO)
  5. African Internet Rights Alliance
  6. Afrika Youth Movement
  7. Amélie Banzet, Fondation Inria
  8. Amnesty International
  9. Anja Kovacs, Researcher
  10. Arsène Tungali, Digital Rights Activist
  11. Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
  12. Atuhairwe Benardine
  13. Avocats Sans Frontières France ( Lawyers Without Borders France)
  14. Bloggers Association of Kenya (BAKE)
  15. BlueLink Foundation - Bulgaria
  16. Brandi Geurkink, Coalition for Independent Technology Research
  17. Cameroon Open Internet
  18. Camer Today (CT)
  19. CCAOI
  20. Center for Media Research - Nepal (CMR-Nepal)
  21. Centre for Artificial Intelligence Ethics and Governance in Africa (CAIEGA)
  22. Chapter One Foundation - Zambia
  23. Charles Donaldson Ogira -Uganda
  24. Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA)
  25. Community Podium
  26. Conexión Segura y Libre (CSL)
  27. Debarati Das (Coalition for Independent Technology Research)
  28. Defenders Coalition Kenya
  29. Digicivic Initiative
  30. Digihub Africa (South Africa)
  31. Digital Africa Research and Safety Lab (DigiAfricaLab)
  32. Digital Defenders Partnership
  33. Digital Initiative for Innovation and Development ( DIID)
  34. Digital Reflex (Ethiopia)
  35. Digital Rights Kashmir
  36. Digital Rights Nepal (DRN)
  37. Digital Shelter
  38. Digitale Gesellschaft (Germany)
  39. Dr. Eirliani Abdul Rahman (Germany)
  40. Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
  41. Epicenter.works
  42. eQualitie.org
  43. Eurasian Digital Foundation
  44. European Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL)
  45. European Partnership for Democracy
  46. Exile Hub
  47. FORUMVERT
  48. Geochicas
  49. Glenn Sorrentino, Executive Director, Hush Line
  50. Global Digital Inclusion Partnership (GDIP)
  51. Global Focus - Denmark
  52. Guardian Project
  53. Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)
  54. Henri Verdier, Fondation Inria
  55. Het Actiefonds - Netherlands
  56. Human Constanta
  57. Human Rights Journalists Network Nigeria
  58. Human Rights Myanmar
  59. Human Rights Online Philippines (HRonlinePH)
  60. I Freedom Uganda Network
  61. IFEX
  62. Impact Foundation For Youths Development
  63. Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa (ISLA)
  64. Institut pour la Gouvernance et Éducation Electorale
  65. International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
  66. International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
  67. Internet Governance Project, Atlanta Ga USA
  68. Internet Protection Society (ex-Russia)
  69. Internet Sans Frontières (Internet Without Borders)
  70. Jokkolabs Banjul
  71. Jonction
  72. Kandoo
  73. Karamoja Rights Advocates Network
  74. Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet)
  75. Kenyan Section of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ Kenya)
  76. Koneta Hub -South Sudan
  77. LCK Freedom Foundation - Zambia
  78. Legal Aid Center for the Press (Indonesia)
  79. Lim Nguen Foundation- South Sudan
  80. Malka Older, Global Voices
  81. Masaar Foundation (Egypt)
  82. Media Diversity Institute - Armenia (CyberHUB-AM)
  83. Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)
  84. Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)
  85. Media Rights Agenda (MRA)
  86. Meedan
  87. Miaan Group
  88. Mnemonic
  89. MOLI
  90. Morisola Alaba-Akinlabi
  91. Myanmar Internet Project (MIP)
  92. My Data Rights (Africa)
  93. Open Foundation West Africa
  94. Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)
  95. Open Secrets (South Africa)
  96. Open Terms Archive
  97. Paradigm Initiative (PIN)
  98. Point of View
  99. Public Virtue Research Institute (Indonesia)
  100. PurpleCode Collective (Indonesia)
  101. Ranking Digital Rights
  102. Raymond Amumpaire
  103. Relance Kataliko (DYI)
  104. RKS Global
  105. Safe Haven Foundation(SHF)
  106. Sani Suleiman Sani
  107. Shannon Raj Singh
  108. SHARE Foundation
  109. South East Asia Collaborative Policy Network (SEA CPN)
  110. Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet)
  111. Spring Revolution Security (SRS) Myanmar
  112. Stop Online Harm (SOH)
  113. Superbloom Design
  114. Sursiendo
  115. Targeted Rights Initiative
  116. Tech Global Institute
  117. Techsocietal
  118. Tech Workers Coalition
  119. The Red Flag (TRF), Myanmar
  120. The Tor Project
  121. Thraets Foundation
  122. Tifa Foundation (Indonesia)
  123. UNESCO Youth Committee On Media And Information Literacy (MIL Youth)
  124. Validus Circle Mw (VC)
  125. Vita-Activa.org
  126. Webfala Digital Skills for all Initiative
  127. West African Digital Rights Defenders Coalition
  128. Women Beyond Walls
  129. World Association for Christian Communication (WACC)
  130. World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
  131. YODET
  132. Youth and Society (YAS) - Malawi
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