Political parties often are denied permits to hold rallies. Last month, the opposition UPDN party won a parliamentary by-election in a rural constituency without addressing a campaign rally. Police for lack of permit dispersed their first scheduled rally, while the second was aborted after MMD supporters claimed the grounds for a meeting addressed by President Chiluba. Human rights groups have also complained that the government also uses the contentious Public Order Act to harass opponents. Under the Act, police can detain anyone seen as a danger to public safety.
Lawyers say that a majority of people arrested under the law is opposition activists.
In updating their database on leadership in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the French have begun to revise their forecasts to some degree. You can get this headline news ticker on your site. Get it Here . Netscape 4.5 or Explorer 4.5 or later needed to view the headlines. Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Rep.