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Tanzania: Zanzibar Political Repression
Tanzania: Zanzibar Political Repression
Date distributed (ymd): 010208
Document reposted by APIC
+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
Region: Southern Africa / East Africa
Issue Areas: +political/rights+ +security/peace+
Summary Contents:
This posting contains several recent documents on the recent
political repression in Zanzibar: (1) a statement from the
Zanzibar Legal Services Centre, (2) a letter to Tanzanian President
Mkapa from the Association of Concerned Africa Scholars (ACAS), (3)
a statement from Human Rights Watch, and (4) excerpts from a
background report on Religion in Zanzibar from Nathalie Arnold, of
Friends of Pemba.
Additional on-line sources include:
Article 19, Zanzibar: Democracy on Shaky Foundations (April 2000)
http://www.article19.org/docimages/454.htm
Zanzibar News
http://home.globalfrontiers.com/zanzibar/zanzibar_news.htm
Zanzinet
http://www.zanzinet.org
IPP Media
http://www.ippmedia.com
[latest news includes report of peaceful rally by opposition
parties in Dar es Salaam on Feb. 7]
Tanzanian Embassy in Washington
http://www.tanzaniaembassy-us.org/news.html
Civic United Front
http://www.cuftz.org
+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Professor Haroub Othman
Zanzibar Legal Services Centre
P.O. Box 3360
Zanzibar, Tanzania
tel & fax +255 54 33-784
e-mail: zlsc@zanlink.com, cri@udsm.ac.tz
Statement on the Killings by the Police in Zanzibar
January 29, 2001
In the course of the last week, the world witnessed massive
killings, torture, harassment and other types of brutalities
against innocent Tanzanians by the members of the Police Force in
Dar es Salaam and on the islands of Unguja and Pemba. This scale
and magnitude of killings has never been witnessed in this country
since the Union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar in 1964 which gave
birth to the United Republic of Tanzania. We in the Zanzibar Legal
Services Centre (ZLSC) have been highly shocked by these killings
and other atrocities by the members of the Police Force. In our
view, had commonsense and wisdom prevailed all these would not have
taken place. The actions by the Police have tarnished our good name
and our pride of being an island of peace no longer holds.
The right to peaceful assembly and to hold processions, just like
the right to join political parties and other voluntary
organizations is recognized and guaranteed in the Constitution of
the United Republic of Tanzania of 1977 as well as the Constitution
of Zanzibar of 1984. There is no law in the United Republic which
requires the citizen to seek and obtain police permit before
holding processions. This legal position was underlined by the
Chief Justice of the United Republic of Tanzania Hon. Mr. Justice
Barnabas Samatta while addressing the Seminar of the new members of
the Parliament in Dodoma in November last year. The Chief Justice
was in fact reiterating a position adopted by Lugakingira, J. (as
he then was) in the case of Rev. Christopher Mtikila v.
Attorney-General of 1993.
What we have witnessed and which is unusual, is the fact that even
before CUF could give notice of their procession to the police,
which is what the law requires, various national leaders including
senior police officers had already given strong statements against
the intended procession and in fact prohibiting it. The issue of
security including the guarantee that the procession will be
peaceful is something that could have been discussed and agreed
upon between the Police and the CUF leadership. Instead of engaging
in such a dialogue, the two sides began accusations and
counter-accusations and thus leading to anger, emotions and a
highly charged atmosphere.
Zanzibar Legal Services Centre is particularly disappointed by
these actions of the members of the Police Force which are against
both the Constitution and the law. The Centre, in collaboration
with the Legal Aid Committee of the University of Dar es Salaam,
has been involved in long and serious training of the police of all
ranks on the law and human rights in particular. It had been
expected that the knowledge gained in these training programmes
would be used in the course of dealing with citizens and their
social problems.
It should be remembered that there is a problem in Zanzibar. It
will be self-deceit to close our eyes on the problem or to believe
that force can be a solution to the problem. All the efforts by the
Commonwealth to resolve this problem did not bear fruits as there
was no political will to deal squarely with it. We urge the leaders
of CCM, CUF and the two governments - that of the United Republic
and that of Zanzibar to sit together as patriots and without
setting any conditions and sort out this problem once and for all.
Otherwise, this will be the beginning of the movement towards
disorder, killings, torture and civil war. This is a route taken by
many of our neighbours and other African countries. Angola,
Burundi, Democratic Republic the Congo, Liberia, Rwanda, Somalia,
etc. will no longer be examples for us to cite as we shall be in
the same group!
As the Police Force, which is responsible to the atrocities which
have taken place are under the Union government, we urge that
government to institute an independent inquiry on what has happened
so that those responsible are dealt with and in order to
re-establish the confidence of the people on the government.
Professor Haroub Othman CHAIRMAN
Association of Concerned Africa Scholars (ACAS)
http://acas.prairienet.org
For an additional background commentary distributed by ACAS, see
Karim F. Hirj, Tanzania: The Travails of a Donor Democracy
(
http://acas.prairienet.org/hirjitanzania.htm).
February 5, 2001
President Benjamin William Mkapa,
United Republic of Tanzania
The State House
PO Box 9120
Dar Es Salaam
Tanzania
FAX 22-211-3425
Dear President Mkapa,
The Association of Concerned Africa Scholars writes today to
condemn the killings of activists on the islands of Zanzibar and
Pemba in late January and the ongoing suppression of peaceful
citizens exercising their democratic rights. We support the call of
our colleagues in the Legal Aid Committee of the Faculty of Law of
the University of Dar Es Salaam (28 January 2001) for an end to
police violence and repression.
As a national association of scholars in the United States, many of
whom have had a long association with and respect for the United
Republic of Tanzania, we are deeply concerned by these violations
of fundamental human rights and the killings on the islands of
Zanzibar and Pemba on Saturday 27 January 2001. We were equally
appalled by the reports of arrests, harassment, torture, injury and
incarceration of the leaders of political organizations exercising
their rights to peaceful assembly on these islands and in Dar Es
Salaam. We condemn these actions unequivocally and call for your
government to immediately put a stop to such measures and to
investigate the abuses of the police and other security forces.
We note that the Legal Aid Committee, which has been providing
human rights training for members of the police force since 1997,
expresses particular concern at the behavior of the police force
and we call on the government to ensure that the commanders of this
force are held accountable for the actions of their subordinates.
Mr. President, we look forward to hearing from you the actions that
your government is taking to put a stop to these violations of
human rights and we will be following these events closely in
this country and working to make others aware of the reports from
your country.
Sincerely,
William Martin
Co-Chair, Association of Concerned Africa Scholars
Fernand Braudel Center, Binghamton University
PO Box 6000, Binghamton, NY 13902-6000
wgmartin@prairienet.org
http://acas.prairienet.org
cc.
Ambassador Charles R. Stith
United States Embassy
P.O. Box 9123
Dar es Salaam
Tel [255] (22) 2666010/1/2/3/4/5; Fax 2666701
Email: usembassy-dar2@cats-net.com
His Excellency Mustafa Salim Nyang'anyi
Embassy of the United Republic of Tanzania
2139 R St. NW, Washington, DC 20008, USA.
Tel: (202) 884-1080 & (202) 939-6125
Fax: (202) 797-7408
e-mail: balozi@tanzaniaembassy-us.org
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell
U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC, 20520
Fax: 202-261-8577
e-mail: secretary@state.gov
Human Rights Watch
http://www.hrw.org
Zanzibar: Violence Condemned, Tanzanian Security on the Rampage
(http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/01/zanzibar0131.htm)
(New York, January 31, 2001) The Tanzanian police and army are
using unrestrained force to shoot, injure, and kill people on
Pemba and Zanzibar islands, Human Rights Watch charged today.
Hundreds have reportedly been killed or injured.
Over the weekend of January 27-28, 2001, supporters of the
opposition party the Civic United Front (CUF) planned a peaceful
demonstration to protest last year's flawed elections. The CUF
enjoys widespread support on the semi-autonomous islands of
Zanzibar and Pemba. Before the rallies could get underway, the
government reportedly responded by shooting indiscriminately into
crowds and using clubs to beat demonstrators on Zanzibar and
Pemba islands.
"The Tanzanian government is seeking to silence the political
opposition through terror and violence," said Peter Takirambudde,
executive director of the Africa division of Human Rights Watch.
"The security forces must be held accountable for their brutality
against unarmed people."
The president of Zanzibar, Amani Abeid Karume spoke on television
on January 28, congratulating the police for their efforts and
warning those involved in the demonstration that the government
will punish all those who took part. He did not call on the
police to end their rampage, nor did he state that security
forces who have used unrestrained force would be held responsible
for their actions. "The crackdown on Pemba and Zanzibar and the
statement made by President Karume are unacceptable," said Peter
Takirambudde.
Human Rights Watch also has received reports indicating that a
police helicopter attacked several boats that were attempting to
transport injured people to Mombasa, Kenya, to obtain medical
care. At least one boat was sunk and an unknown number of people
died.
According to credible information from local organizations, the
government deployed hundreds of police. In addition to shooting
unarmed civilians and beating people, security forces are
reported to have blocked access to a hospital, denying the
wounded medical care. Police are allegedly dragging people from
their houses at night and from the hospital wards, and beating or
jailing them in overcrowded police cells where conditions are now
dismal. The security forces have forced people into their homes
and harassed people found in the streets.
On January 26, 2001, the CUF chairman, Ibrahim Lipumba, was
charged in capital city Dar-es-Salaam, with unlawful assembly and
disturbing the peace along with fifteen other CUF members.
Human Rights Watch called on the president to punish the security
force members who have attacked unarmed people. The government
should permit the wounded to seek medical care, and should also
give international humanitarian groups access to the wounded,
especially those in jails.
Religion in Zanzibar
Nathalie Arnold (naphtaleen@yahoo.com)
Friends of Pemba*
[Excerpts only: full text, as well as other reports and updates,
available from the author. For a Feb. 3 report, see by Nathalie
Arnold and Bruce McKim, see:
http://www.mediamonitors.net/zanzibar1.html]
* The objectives of Friends of Pemba include 'make available
reliable and responsibly collected information about Pemba in a
timely manner to all concerned and interested people and
institutions. Membership is open to Pembans, Zanzibaris, members
of the Zanzibari diaspora, scholars, professionals, and private
individuals. Co-founders Bruce McKim and Nathalie Arnold have
conducted long-term anthropological fieldwork in Pemba.
For further information contact:
Nathalie Arnold, Indiana University, (812) 332-9758
e-mail: naphtaleen@yahoo.com
Bruce Mckim, Yale University, (718) 933-5699
e-mail:bruce_mckim@hotmail.com
Approximately 97% of Zanzibar's population practices some form of
Islam. Within the Muslim population is a majority of Sunnis, a
smaller population of Ibadhis and a minority of Ismailis and
Itthnasheriis. There are also small populations of Christians
(mostly Goan Catholic Zanzibaris and immigrants from the mainland,
both Catholic and Protestant), and Hindus. This presents on the one
hand a certain homogeneity, in that the vast majority are Muslims,
but it also suggests quite some diversity, even among Muslims, and
within the non-Muslim minority. ... Zanzibar has been remarkable
for its climate of religious tolerance. Religious minorities
freely celebrate holidays specific to their denominations, and
there have been no incidents of conflict or violence in which
religion has played a role. The Muslim population, despite
differences in observance and religious practice, has also
maintained a markedly united, tolerant stance, which emphasizes
similarity rather than difference between sects.
In view of recent suggestions that religion, particularly
Islam, has been a radicalized political factor in Zanzibar, I
think it important in this report to devote some consideration to
this issue The ruling party of Zanzibar (CCM) has frequently
suggested that opposition to it is framed in religious terms, and
that the CUF is a 'Muslim' party with radical elements, funded by
Islamic fundamentalists. ...
Islam in Zanzibar:
Zanzibari Islam, compared to that of some Islamic countries (some
member-states of the Organization of Islamic Countries), and
compared to conservative Christianity in some European countries
(Spain and Ireland, for example), is markedly moderate. It takes
the form of a general social orientation, rather than a
specifically mandated, or regulated religious practice as such. It
is not, as it is in some other countries, opposed in any way to
'Westernization,' technology, or to public, secular education.
Most importantly in this context, Islam in Zanzibar is fully
supportive of the generalized Western discourse of 'human rights'
and 'democracy.'
This can be seen most clearly in the realm of gender relations. In
Zanzibar, both boys and girls receive state education, at least to
the primary level. There is a drop-off of girls in the secondary
levels, but this appears to be less due to explicit parental
preference for male education than to the fact that girls, as they
do across Africa (and across the Western world), have
responsibilities in the home which make it less likely for them to
have the time requisite to devote to their education as they get
older. Nonetheless, girls are represented at the secondary level,
and it very common, at least in urban areas, for girls who do not
continue in the higher standards to seek vocational training,
particularly in secretarial, accounting, and computer studies.
Women are not markedly discouraged from seeking employment
outside the home, and, as the economy has become increasingly
service-based, many find it necessary to do so. Women can be seen
in government offices, in schools, as teachers and headmistresses,
and, increasingly, in private enterprise, where they often sell
food, make clothes, or weave baskets and mats to supplement their
income. Women are also represented in elected office. ...
The Civic United Front
During the campaigning in both the 1995 Elections, and these most
recent elections held in October 2000, CCM members claimed that the
CUF is funded by 'Arabs,' and has the aim of returning slavery and
the Sultanate to the Isles. While such claims can be seen simply
as part of heated campaign sloganning, they have influenced both
the internal Tanzanian media, and the Western media, to the extent
that it behooves us here to review the specific history of the CUF
as a political party, and to examine the religious constitution of
its members.
When the Tanzanian Government made moves towards multi-party
democracy in 1992, the CUF was formed on the Tanzanian mainland by
lawyers, activists, and politicians from various communities,
including Zanzibar. It was not based in any religious ideology,
but rather was framed as the coming together of oppositional
elements in Tanzania, with the aim of supporting one another in the
attempt to present the long-term ruling party with a coherent,
broad-based opposition. Its members emphasized the word "Civic" in
the party's name to stress the fact that it was neither regional,
religious, nor even united ideologically in any way other than its
members desire to challenge the state in a concerted manner, to
reform the constitution, and to review the state of the Union
(something that even some CCM members have thought a worthwhile
goal). As other parties formed on the Tanzanian mainland, aimed at
specific community and regional issues, support for the CUF came
primarily from the Tanzanian coast's urban areas, and from
Zanzibar. This is partly the result of geographical proximity and
the relative ease of communication and travel in this area.
While CUF, in the years since 1992, has acquired its strongest
support on Zanzibar, but it is by no means limited to Zanzibar in
its appeal. Campaigning in the year 2000, as well as Election 2000
results show that CUF has acquired substantial support in areas as
far away from the coast as Mwanza and Bukoba, Julius Nyerere's home
area and once a CCM stronghold. Since Zanzibar's population is
overwhelmingly Muslim, ... any party with substantial support in
Zanzibar might well be called a "Party of Muslims." But to
represent the CUF in this manner is to oversimplify the case in a
potentially very misleading way. A look at its leadership is also
instructive. It may be significantly Muslim, but it is not
exclusively so, and at least two members of its Executive Committee
are Christians from mainland Tanzania. CUF leaders consistently
stress that their party seeks support from all Tanzanians for the
benefit of all Tanzanians, and has not made anti-Christian
statements. ...
Video footage of the October 12 CUF meeting in Kilima Hewa also
offers interesting evidence. CUF had filed official notice and
sought permission to hold the meeting at Kibanda-Maiti. When they
arrived at Kibanda-Maiti they were turned away by police, who
denied them permission for the meeting, although the correct
paperwork had been filed. CUF members then decided to hold the
meeting in front of one of their offices. The video footage of the
meeting shows police arriving, and shooting without notice into the
crowd of CUF supporters, who were seated. Police fired at CUF
supporters, shooting six men in the leg. On October 28th, two of
the men were still in the hospital, one of them having received
bullets in each leg. After shooting, police can be seen to run
away. As the shots are being fired, the video footage shows CUF
leaders exhorting their audience to calm and ordering them all to
stay seated, and not to respond with violence. This stands in
striking contrast to claims that CUF is responsible for violence in
Zanzibar, and that the Islam of its members is responsible for
radicalization of the population. In fact it seems instead that it
is the religious faith of most Zanzibaris that has enabled them to
maintain peace in their society, even as it becomes increasingly
policed and militarized. ...
This material is being reposted for wider distribution by the
Africa Policy Information Center (APIC). APIC provides
accessible information and analysis in order to promote U.S.
and international policies toward Africa that advance economic,
political and social justice and the full spectrum of human
rights.
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