By Victor Bwire:
Tanzania’s human rights records come up for review by the United
Nations Human Rights Council under the 12th session of the newly
established mechanism called the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on
3rd October, 2011 in Geneva.
Through the UPR mechanism, a country’s holistic achievement or
violation of human rights is addressed and Government’s asked to give
commitments on how to level any imbalances noted in totality, without
any thematic limitations. In other words, Tanzania’s respect for human
rights and compliance with international obligations will be laid bare
to the whole word in a three hour session that will seek the
Government delegation answer questions relating to its human rights
atrocities and remedial action it intends to take to reverse the
trend.
Tanzania already prepared its national report that was compiled
through nationwide data collection and validation process, in which it
lays out the framework for protection of human rights in the country
and explains processes that have been pursued in the protection and
promotion of human rights in the country.
The priorities identified by the government include finalizing a draft
of the National Human Rights Plan of Action for the promotion and
protection of Human Rights, tabling of a Bill in Parliament proposing
for the establishment of a Constitutional Review Commission, reducing
overcrowding and congestion in prisons, increasing the number of
students in higher learning institutions, the number of teachers for
primary, secondary and advanced level of schools, constructing more
laboratories for schools to enhance the teaching of science subjects.
Others include enhancing teaching of human rights as a subject in
schools, colleges and higher learning institutions. Others include
ongoing legal reforms in the entire Legal Sector through the Legal
Sector Reform Program, enactment of the Prevention of Terrorism Act
and the Anti Money Laundering Act.
However, UN Human Rights members and stakeholders are likely to raise
some serious questions that relate to the violation of fundamental
human rights in the country that the report is silent on or makes very
light comments. The killing of persons with albinism and elderly women
that reached peak since 2007 until January 2011 is a key issue that
the Government needs to prepare for. Nearly 54 killings of persons
with Albinism have been reported in Tanzania, which the Government
reacted by forming an Albino Task Force and the suspension of all
licenses of traditional healers in 2008, which was again lifted during
the 2010 presidential elections. What was the report of the task force
and what the Government has done to outlaw some cultural practices
that promote such behaviours?
While the Government reports about enacting the Children Act and
increasing its health budget as way of cushioning children against
human rights violations, little progress in the area of maternal and
child mortality. The child mortality rates are too high and something
more concrete needs to be done. Similarly, the number of street
children is a growing prevalence in Tanzania due to poverty, deficient
education, insecurity and lack of basic needs, psychological and
parental care while no efforts have be done to cushion children in
conflict with the law against human rights violations. Children in
prisons still share same rooms with adults. Tanzania has one Juvenile
Court situated in Dar es Salaam and 5 Remand Homes.
While the Government reports high enrolment rates in schools, many
public education institutions are experiencing overcrowding in
classrooms, inadequate facilities, insufficient number of skilled
teachers in both Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar and school dropouts in
the early years continue to add to the already existing problem of
illiteracy.
One area that has always attracted the biggest concern for Human
Rights Member states and stakeholders is the issue of freedom of
expression, access to information and press freedom which the report
is very silent and at most vague. The Government report only mentions
Article 18 of the Constitution that guarantees freedom of expression
and the Broadcasting Act as the best the Government has done to safe
guard these fundamental rights. Stakeholders have on several
occasions raised the issue that although the Tanzanian Constitution
guaranteed the right to freedom of expression, it does not explicitly
provide for freedom of the press. The Government will come on spot to
shed some light on the existing restrictive laws that limit freedom of
expression and the ability of the media to function effectively,
including the 1976 Newspaper Act (notably as it related to the
registration of newspapers), the 1970 National Security Act (as it
gave the Government absolute scope to define what should be disclosed
to or withheld from the public) and the 1945 Tanganyika Penal Code.
In its submission to the UN, ARTICLE 19 had recommended that Tanzania
immediately abolish these laws, in particular the 1976 Newspaper Act
and the 1970 National Security Act, and replace them with legislations
in line with international human rights standards; and repeal other
restrictive media regulations. Stakeholders had reported that there
were no constitutional or legal provisions for the protection of
journalists’ sources at either the Union level or in Zanzibar. Article
19 recommended that Tanzania adopt comprehensive legislation that
would grant media the right to protection of sources. Article 19 also
reported that freedom of media in Zanzibar was of a particular
concern. Although the residents could receive private broadcasts from
the mainland, the Government published the only daily paper and
controlled the Television Zanzibar and the radio station Sauti ya
Tanzania-Zanzibar.
On interest will be how the Government will respond to questions
relating to the number of cases, in which journalists and media
workers were attacked, including by policemen, for conducting their
journalistic activities and the measures that Government had taken to
thoroughly, promptly and effectively investigate all unresolved cases
of violence against journalists and bring those responsible to
justice.
After the review, the working group will then prepare a report
detailing which recommendations Tanzania will have accepted and thus
willing to implement and grounds of refusing some recommendations.
The Tanzania delegation needs to be alive to the fact that the UPR is
a process that brings objectivity and transparency in the analysis of
human rights situations globally and as such any recommendations given
to it objective and meant for the good of the country. Any refusal of
recommendations must be backed up with solid facts and those
recommendations accepted are not merely for the sake of it but a
genuine statement of intent to implement it.
Since no State likes to be blamed by the world community for failure
to heed generally international standards, the UPR becomes an
important tool of a world policy for the protection of human rights.
Through this process, citizens are able to monitor their government’s
performance in human rights. Countries that are eager to have a
positive balance sheet in the field of human rights will carefully
evaluate any recommendations which have been addressed to them at the
review, seeking to remedy any deficiencies to the greatest extent
possible. Commitments that Tanzania makes this October will form the
basis of its human rights agenda for the next four years, when it will
be time for another review in the world stage.
*The Writer works with ARTICLE 19 Eastern Africa