India, Nov. 2 -- Zambia's Government carried out a violent crackdown on opposition parties after August's election, in which President Hakainde Hichilema won a second term, according to a Human Rights Watch report published Monday.

Police and military personnel forcibly disappeared, arbitrarily detained, beat and threatened opposition members, lawyers, journalists and government critics, the report said. It described a post-election climate of intimidation, harassment and repression that "had a chilling effect on civic and political organisations, particularly on dissenting voices."

Observers said the election was marred by irregularities. The report documented 14 cases of apparent enforced disappearance involving opposition members and...