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Tanzania

Tanzania is one of the countries in the sub-region with the most positive human rights record. However a sense amongst key actors including many HRDs indicating that the human rights situation in the country is good undermines the prevailing human rights situation and HRDs security consciousness.

Female Genital Mutilation continues to be practiced by certain groups in the population notably by the Maasai. Those carrying out these practices are rarely held accountable. The legislative environment in Tanzania is generally favourable to the rights of women yet contains gaps, notably the existence of a discriminatory Law of Marriage Act, which restricts women’s right to own land and property; furthermore the implementation of laws guaranteeing women’s rights often poor. 1

Violations to the right to life take several forms in Tanzania. The death penalty continues to be retained in the Penal Code and used in Tanzania for treason and murder although no executions have been carried out since 1994.2 The Human Rights Committee of the UN recommended in its concluding comments to Tanzania in August to abolish the death penalty and called on it to become party to the Second Optional Protocol to the Internal Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. A group of Tanzanian human rights organisations had submitted a petition calling for the abolishing of the death penalty to the High Court last year which is expected to be considered shortly.3 Mob violence is an issue of concern as well. According to reports, there has been an increase in mob violence which is usually as a result of lack of trust and confidence in the police forces, distance of the police stations lack of knowledge on the legal proceedings on how to handle a criminal and a tendency of the criminals getting away unpunished. The media has on most occasions reported such incidents.4 The violations of the right to life of albinos still persists in Tanzania however, according to a report released by Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) the killing of albinos has reduced compared to the previous years from 2007. The killings are believed to be carried out by witchdoctors who believe that organs of albinos have supernatural powers. The media continues to report incidents of albino killings

Formation of trade unions is guaranteed by section 45 and 46 of the Employment and Labour Relations Act 2004 however, the law is restrictive as it requires at least 20 employees before registering a trade union and yet some organizations have less than 20 employees.5

The diverse and out spoken media in Tanzania is facing a range of chanllenges both from the government but also as a result of the increasing usage of the media for political aims of key actors  . On 10th January, the Minister of Information, Sports and Culture Captain George Mkuchika announced the de-registration of the Leo Tena newspaper which was accused of ponographic material and suspension of the publication of the Kulikoni newspaper for 90 days accused of violating national security laws by covering a story on the army.6 According to reports, the decision was politicized because of upcoming election nominations especially given that the Kulikoni paper is critical of the government and frequently investigates corruption issues.

Although attacks on human rights activists are rare on the leading human rights organisations, the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) reports that some of their paralegals and collaborators have been victimized by the Tanzanian authorities for their human rights work. The cases brought against these activists are generally never carried through and are clearly aimed at merely intimidating and harassing the defenders. Furthermore, according to reports from partners on the ground, on the 6th May 2010, a group of 10 HIV/AIDS activists were arrested in Dar es Salaam during protests at the World Economic Forum for Africa; the group had previously seen their permission to carry out a demonstration revoked by the Tanzanian authorities. Subsequently, they were released and deported back to their countries.