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Tanzania’s Public Order Institutions Accused Of Violating Human Rights

Telesphor R. Magobe - 9/19/2005

There was a time when Tanzania had a repute of protecting and promoting human rights and thus being an example of human rights advocacy. The repute made the country known and respected internationally as one of the most peaceful nations in the world. Unfortunately, this eminence is waning due to increasing incidents of human rights violations in the country.

Respect for the rule of law, protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms are the primary function of a democratic government like ours. This is because human rights are inalienable and inviolable entitlements.

They are for establishing and guaranteeing conditions necessary for the development and well-being of people.1 Fundamentally, they are meant to protect civilians against abuse, exploitation, oppression or any discrimination by the state.

Human rights violations occur when state agents such as the police, the field force unit, members of the armed forces and anyone acting with the state authority, behave arbitrarily towards civilians.2 This is what happens to ordinary people, yet the country has been often praised by donors as one of the human rights advocates and an example of good governance. One wonders whether such reports reflect the actual life of the people.

The official introduction of multi-party politics in Tanzania in 1992 and the first democratic elections in 1995 aimed at applying the rule of law, democratic principles and respect for human rights. This was a result of a long-term reflection on local needs and contemporary global developments that were no longer fit in the framework of monolithic politics and milieu. As a result, this situation paved the way for a new political consciousness of the people.

The Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania advocates the Bill of Human Rights and devotes the whole of Part III of Chapter One for this. It clearly
stipulates that all persons are equal before the law and are entitled, without discrimination, to protection and equality before the law [Article 13 (1)], every person is entitled to recognition and respect for his dignity [Article 12 (2)].

No person shall be discriminated against by any person or any authority acting under any law or in the discharge of the functions or business of any state
office [Article 13 (4)] and no person shall be subjected to torture or inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment [Article 13 (6) (e)]. These articles show the primacy of human dignity which is inherent in the person and concomitant of one’s ascribed status.3

So, political pluralism was accepted as a new paradigm shift that was believed to allow and respect freedom of thought, belief, expression, association, movement and information.4 With regard to freedom of information the Constitution states that “every person has the right…to seek, receive and impart or disseminate information and ideas through any media regardless of national frontiers, and also has the right of freedom from interference with his communications…Every citizen has the right to be informed at all times of various events in the country and in the world at large which are of importance to the lives and activities of the people and also of issues of importance to society.”5 These rights and freedoms are enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international instruments which Tanzania has freely codified.

However, for a long time now, ordinary Tanzanians have been complaining about the brutal treatment they experience when they happen to be in the hands of the police, the field force unit, prison warders or members of the armed forces. One example of this was when eyewitnesses allegedly saw dwelling houses of 135 families being set ablaze in Serengeti, Mara region, by the order of government officials as a way of evicting the so-called “illegal immigrants”.

Human rights activists looked at the whole forced eviction exercise as a breach of law and human rights violations and indeed it was. The Human Rights and Good Governance team chaired by Judge Robert H Kisanga that probed into the issue complained against the Serengeti District Commissioner, Mr Thomas Loy Ole Sabaya, and the Senior District Police Officer, Mr Alexander Pantaleo Lyimo, for wreaking havoc to civilians through forced eviction, which deprived of the victims their houses and destroyed their properties. The government, however, defended the brutal operation by challenging the probe team’s findings and recommendations to allow the evictees the right to resettle and compensate them for damages.6

On other occasions civilians were beaten and their property destroyed by members of the armed forces when an argument arose between them in Dar es Salaam. The media have, time and again, been reporting such incidents to make those responsible aware of the violations and call for immediate action to redress the situation but in vain.

Obstinately, the government has often justified its use of arbitrary power, excessive force and violence against civilians under the pretext that such force is applied simply because the civilians have trespassed the law and so they deserved such humiliation and cruel treatment. The civilians on their part are unhappy about the ill-treatment as this is not the way to protect them and their property.

Members of the police force behave also in a similar manner. In police custodies the situation is appalling. Suspects are allegedly tortured simply because they are suspects or as a way of getting confessions from them. Those passing nearby police stations allege that sometimes they hear suspects held in custody crying in desperation as a result of heavy beatings.

Obviously, confessions that are a result of inhuman treatment cannot be the best way of telling who is a criminal and who is not. The ill-treatment only shows how cruel the public order officers are. After all, no one is to be subjected to torture or humiliation, as this would be against the domestic law and human rights to which the government has ratified to protect. Likewise in prisons, inmates suffer grievously as a result of heavy beatings or other acts of barbarism from prison warders.7

It is alleged that sometimes the police falsely accuse civilians of what they are not responsible for. Seemingly, corruption, revenge or simply lack of professionalism and morale in the police force and prisons department, are the main cause of injustice to innocent civilians who are wrongly implicated in criminal charges.8

Members of the defence forces are another example of human rights violations. In July this year, an army officer was alleged to have beaten up a taxi driver because the latter had allegedly insulted the officer’s wife. And when some photojournalists tried to cover the incident with their cameras near the Maelezo auditorium in Dar es Salaam, the army man set on them. Later on, the police intervened, whisking away the army man to the police station.

Complaints reached the Minister for Defence and National Service, Prof. Philemon Sarungi. Everyone was keen to hear an apology from Prof. Sarungi and a legal action to be taken against the alleged culprit, as no one is allowed to take the law into one’s own hands. Instead, facts were allegedly changed and turned against one journalist who was beaten and his camera broken.

Commenting on the incident, Prof. Sarungi cautioned the public to be careful with members of the armed forces and gave a blind eye to such untoward behaviour, saying, "civilians should not tamper with the soldiers’ wives, lest you will be beaten. This is how they (soldiers) were trained. Let them boast in their uniform and you should never trouble them; they are more disciplined than those from other countries, who can viciously enter any place and start beating civilians." Saying this, Prof. Sarungi seemingly avoided the real issue and instead he blessed what the soldier did.

Last Saturday, another incident occurred when two journalists, the Citizen Chief Photographer, Mr Mpoki Bukuku, and the Legal and Human Rights Centre, Information Officer, Mr Christopher Kidanka, were brutally beaten up by prison warders. The two sustained serious injuries in their heads.

The incident took place in Upanga area, Dar es Salaam, when the prison warders and inmates forcefully evicted ten families from the houses they were letting because the prisons department had bought the premises.

It was alleged that the victims were on their daily duty to cover the forced eviction as it was of public interest. Apparently, the alleged ten families of the Air Tanzania Corporation Limited (ATCL) staff through their advocate had filed the case in a court of law and they were still waiting for the court’s ruling and that is why they were still occupying the houses. The prison warders, however, were aware of the legal proceeding but decided to take the law into their own hands.

Since last Saturday to date, human rights organisations, media institutions and associations, opposition parties and the public have expressed their considered opinions on the issue saying, the forceful eviction of the ATCL staff and brutal beatings of journalists on duty were against the law and were manifestly human rights violations. As a counter measure, they, therefore, called for the immediate resignations or sacking of the Minister for Home Affairs, Mr Omari Ramadhani Mapuri, and the Prisons Department Commissioner, Mr Nicas Banzi.

Quite strangely, Mr Mapuri has defended the violent operation saying, the prison warders and inmates were right to do what they did, for the premises belonged to the Prisons Department and the journalists were not supposed to cover the operation because they were not invited by the Prisons Department to do so. He also cautioned the public saying that when the public order officers are on duty, civilians should stay out of their way to avoid untoward consequences.

As regards to his response to the resignation, he said, he could not resign for such trifling and simple issue, for it has been just blown out of proportion by the media. But on Friday, Mr Mapuri called members of the press and pretended to apologise saying, he was sorry for what happened to journalists and the ATCL staff. He said he was misinformed about the issue but critics say this was just a way of shifting the public’s attention. He also said that he was misunderstood and he, therefore, apologises for this.

Obviously, this was just a way of cooling down a growing criticism that was now questioning his ability to manage a difficult situation without inciting conflict. Critics see that as one of senior government officials and especially his being Minister of Home Affairs he is expected to be a person of good judgement and this seems to be lacking in him and he can cause more tension in the country than peace and harmony. Therefore, his pseudo-apology has been rejected by human rights activists, media owners association and journalists’ clubs. They unanimously say that he should resign, for until now he has not explicitly condemned the forced eviction of ATCL staff and beating of journalists.

Last Wednesday, another incident occurred at the Mafiga Ward in Morogoro region, where prison warders beat up civilians and injured 11 of them. So, there are many examples of human rights violations in the country.

While the issues raised above are rampant in Tanzania, those in power pretend to ignore them. Though the public order officers often trespass the law, no corrective action is taken against them. This has elevated them above the law and they can easily abuse it without being held responsible. It is this impunity that encourages them to act arbitrarily towards civilians, for they know nothing will be taken against them. Though no one is supposed to be above the law, this does not apply to them and rarely are they challenged to correct such callous behaviour.

Obviously, the relationship between the public order institutions and civilians is not all that smooth. In principle, disciplined public order officers, as we hear their bosses say, cannot be at the same time human rights violators. These two cannot go together. The law of Tanzania presumes innocence on the part of the accused until it is proved not to be the case in a court of law. The liability, trial or punishment of a person is reserved to the courts of law. This is to prevent or discourage the abuse of law or take the law into one’s own hands. When it happens, it is as bad as mob justice is.

Beating up civilians by the police, field force unit, members of the armed forces and prison warders cannot be justified simply because they belong to the public order institutions. When such arbitrary power is condoned it eventually leads to lawlessness and anarchy. It is now phenomenal that whenever there is a conflict of rights between the public order officers and civilians the latter normally are beaten up mercilessly even in circumstances where things could be settled differently. This violent behaviour may be a manifestation of a “collapsing system”.

As we are trying to build a democratic nation, it is necessary that human rights be respected and protected. The public order institutions are supposed to be in the frontline in this. If they have power to act arbitrarily and can get away easily without being held responsible then they cannot protect civilians and their property.

Every citizen would like to see that the rule of law is maintained and applied to all equally. Those who breach the law should be held responsible and not protected simply because they belong to the system.

The peace we have in the country ought to be emulated by every Tanzanian and we need equitable social arrangements to maintain it. Incidents of violence and brutality are not congruent with human rights, democracy and good governance principles we are trying to build. Let each one of us see to it that justice is done at all levels so as to maintain peace, order and unity, for without justice and equality before the law there will be no true democracy and peace. Therefore, in countries where there is respect for the rule of law and human rights, people have legal protection against unfair and ruthless public order officers. This is urgently needed in Tanzania.