Procedure 15. Communication is dated 6th March 1998 and was sent by mail. 16. On 18th March 1998, a letter was sent to the Complainant acknowledging receipt. 17. At its 23rd Ordinary Session held in Banjul, The Gambia, the Commission decided to be seized of this matter and declared the communication admissible. The Commission also requested that provisional measures be adopted by the Government of Zambia, namely to allow the burial of Mr John L. Chinula, in Zambia and the return of Mr William S. Banda to his family in Zambia pending the finalisation of the matter by the Commission. 18. On 10th July 1998, the Secretariat of the Commission wrote to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zambia, informing them of the decision of the 23rd Ordinary Session, drawing attention to the Rule 111 request for provisional measures to be taken by the government of Zambia. 19. A copy of the Note was also sent to the Embassy of Zambia in Addis Ababa. When there was no reply, the Secretariat sent a reminder on 17th September 1998. The Embassy replied on 21st September that the Note Verbale was received but did not enclose the communication referred to. 20. The representative of the Government of Zambia appeared before the Commission on 26th and 27th of October 1998 at the 24th Ordinary Session. He presented a statement in response to the communication. 21. At the 24th Ordinary Session, the Commission postponed consideration of this for a decision on the merits to the next session. 22. On 26th November 1998, the Secretariat conveyed the decision of the Commission to the parties concerned. 23. In preparation for a hearing on this matter, the Rapporteur for this communication requested the parties to address only some of the critical matters he had identified. Mr Ahmed Motala represented Amnesty International. Mr Clifford Msika of the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation, Lilongwe, Malawi, assisted him. Mr William Steven Banda was also present. The Zambian Government was represented by Mr Palan Mulonda, Senior State Advocate in the Ministry of Legal Affairs accompanied by Mr K.K. Nsemukila, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Home Affairs Department and Ms Lucy M. Mungoma of Foreign Affairs Department with responsibility for Africa and OAU relations. The Commission also heard testimony from Mr William Steven Banda. Argument 24. Mr Motala argued that Zambia was bound by the African Charter which it ratified in 1984. It, therefore, was obliged to extend the rights in the Charter to "every individual" except where political rights are specifically indicated as in Article 13 for example. He argued that Zambia was in violation of Article 12 especially sub-article 2 which provides that "every individual" has a right to leave one's country and to return. It also says that a "non-national legally admitted in a territory of a State Party may only be expelled from it by virtue of a decision taken in accordance with the law...". He alleged discrimination on the basis of ethnic group and social origin (Article 2) and on the basis of political opinion. The treatment the Complainants received violated the victims' rights to human dignity and freedom of movement. In the case of Chinula, he was deprived of the right to have his cause heard (Article 7). He insisted that the actions against Complainants were politically motivated. They have been left in a strange country destitute. 25. Mr Mulonda, for the government, stated that the government did not act with political malice. It acted within the law. The investigations against Banda began in 1976 and against Chinula in 1974 long before the present regime came into power. He denied that the deportees were drugged and dumped across the border. He stated that the Malawi authorities received them. The government of Zambia was acting within its sovereign rights in ordering its internal affairs, regulating immigration and was within the provision or limitation of the right stipulated in Article 12: "This right may only be subject to restriction as provided for by law for the protection of nation security, law and order, public health and morality". 2