A/HRC/8/43 Page 4 2008. She also stated that Zambia was in the process of preparing legislation against gender-based violence. 6. On concerns raised by Denmark on the high number of cases involving violence and in some cases torture by the police, it was stated that the Constitution of Zambia prohibits torture and other form of cruel and degrading treatment against any person. The Prisons Act Cap. 97 also make it an offence for any member of the Service to commit any act of violence against a prisoner. The Human Rights Commission also has unlimited access to prisons and it has investigated cases of violence against prisoners reported to it. She also reported that the police have started training officers in investigations and purchased investigations tools, for instance, forensic equipment like cameras and computers. Pursuant to an Amendment to the Zambia Police Act the Government set up the Police Public Complaints Authority (PPCA) as part of the remedial measures to mitigate, among others, acts of torture at the hands of the police. By August 2006 the PPCA had received and investigated 1,273 complaints of torture and abuse of authority leading to 14 officers being dismissed and disciplined. 7. In response to Ireland’s question on women human rights defenders being subjected to stigmatization, discrimination and intimidation, Zambia stated that like all persons within the territory of the Republic, they enjoy the rights contained in part III (the Bill of Rights) of the Constitution, including the right to life, freedom from torture, freedom of assembly and association, freedom from discrimination, and liberty and security of persons. Article 28 of the Constitution further provides for remedies for individuals whose rights under the Bill of Rights are alleged to have been violated. On a question raised by Ireland in relation to libel and security laws, it was indicated that the country does not have nor does it intend to have laws targeted at intimidating journalists. It is the Government’s desire to create a free and conducive environment for the media to operate in and also to ensure that individuals, including journalists, enjoy their constitutional freedom of expression. There have been a few instances where the Government had taken journalists to court or brought criminal charges of defamation against them, and individual Government officials have also used defamation laws to seek civil redress. Libel laws are necessary to ensure that the media enjoys their freedoms with responsibility, balance and fairness. As the Supreme Court ably put it in the case of Sata v. Post Newspaper, freedom of speech and press cannot be synonymous with the freedom to defame. However, she indicated that Zambia has noted that there are some laws that may need reform. 8. Defamation of the President is a criminal offence under Zambia’s domestic laws and that this does not only apply to journalists and no deliberate steps have been taken hitherto to reform the Criminal Code with regard to the issue of defaming the President and publishing false news. In response to Ireland’s question on measures aimed at improving overcrowding and the living conditions in prisons, Zambia is currently transferring prisoners from the most congested prisons to prisons with higher holding capacity and a prisons conditions’ working group has just recently been established under the Access to Justice Programme. In response to Latvia’s question on whether Zambia would consider extending a standing invitation to all special procedures of the Human Rights Council in the future, she indicated that Zambia, as a member of the Human Rights Council, will issue an open/standing invitation. On the question put by the United Kingdom on the role of civil society in the preparation of the national report, the national report was prepared through the Ministry of Justice which had appointed an inter-ministerial committee on human rights comprising relevant ministries and departments, the judiciary, and the Human Rights Commission to coordinate the preparation of the report. In response to the question by the United Kingdom on the steps Zambia is taking to incorporate the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and