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Tanzania: Human Rights Restrictions Mounting
AfricaFocus Bulletin
November 11, 2019 (2019-11-11)
(Reposted from sources cited below)
Editor's Note
In a joint press release in late October, Amnesty
International and Human Rights Watch announced two separately
researched reports concluding that “Tanzania’s repression of the
media, human rights defenders, and opposition parties has
intensified since 2015. … Both reports found that President John
Magufuli’s government has adopted or enforced a raft of repressive
laws that stifle independent journalism and severely restrict the
activities of nongovernmental organizations and the political
opposition.”
With a record of decades of political stability, Tanzania appears less
frequently in international news reports than many other African
countries despite its population of 58 million people matching South Africa for 5th
place among the most populous African countries (behind
Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, and the Democratic Republic of the
Congo). The World Bank
reports that the country has sustained relatively high economic
growth over the last decade, averaging 6–7% a year. For the first
four decades after independence it was the key center of African
continental support for the liberation of Southern Africa from
white minority rule. But in the 21st century, lacking a
major conflict or humanitarian crisis, it is likely better known
for its tourism industry, its large consumer market, and its $1.5
billion of exports of gold, as well as other opportunities for
large investors.
Tanzania´s capital city Dar es Salaam in 1961
and in 2019.
Nevertheless, new doubts are appearing among international
financial institutions and foreign investors as well, based on the
recent trends towards more authoritarian controls, including
denying access to independent statistical information on the
economy. In addition to reports from human rights organizations,
public opinion polls also show a weakening of support for the
ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (Party of the Revolution) and President
Magufuli. Critics are not yet in the majority, with many
Tanzanians still providing at least passive support for the
government, including the crackdown on the media. (For example, in
2017 AfroBarometer found that 56% agreed that “the government
should have the right to prevent the media from publishing things
that it considers harmful to society.”) But if economic
disappointment continues to grow along with more human rights
restrictions, so could disillusionment.
This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains the joint AI/HRW press release,
links to their full reports, and brief excerpts from separate
polls by AfroBarometer and by Sauti ya Wananachi (Voice of the
Citizens).
Immediately below, in this editor´s note, see additional links on
human rights issues. A section with links to recent sources on the
economy follows at the end of the bulletin.
On media rights in particular, both the Committee to Protect
Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters without Borders (RSF) track press
freedom worldwide, with extensive national-level coverage. Their
reports on Tanzania are available at
https://cpj.org/africa/tanzania/ and https://rsf.org/en/tanzania.
Other recent articles on Tanzania highlight crackdowns both on
media and on civil society and opposition critics of the
government:
“Tanzania: Open letter to States for
joint action to address crackdown on civic space and prevent a
further deterioration of the situation,” Letter from African
and global human rights organizations, August 16, 2018
“Five
things Tanzania's President 'Bulldozer' Magufuli has banned,”
BBC, March 5, 2019
“Tanzania’s
democratic decline raises international concern,” The Citizen
(South Africa), May 24, 2019
“Tanzania president Magufuli condemned for
authoritarian regime,” Guardian, October 29, 2019
Articles by imprisoned Tanzanian journalist Erick Kabendera, who was imprisoned at the end of July
and is still
in prison despite declining health, can be found at the
following websites:
https://africanarguments.org/author/erick-kabendera/
https://www.theguardian.com/profile/erick-kabendera
Kabendera´s last article published before his arrest appeared in
the East African (Nairobi), and focused on dissenters within Tanzania´s ruling party.
++++++++++++++++++++++end editor's note+++++++++++++++++
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Tanzania: Climate of Fear, Censorship as Repression Mounts
Repeal Repressive Laws; Investigate Abuses of Activists,
Critics, Opponents
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch
October 28, 2019
https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/africa/tanzania/
https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/AFR5603012019ENGLISH.pdf
https://www.hrw.org/africa/tanzania-and-zanzibar
https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/10/28/long-i-am-quiet-i-am-
safe/threats-independent-media-and-civil-society-tanzania
(Nairobi) – Tanzania’s repression of the media, human rights
defenders, and opposition parties has intensified since 2015,
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said in two separate
reports today.
Both reports found that President John Magufuli’s government has
adopted or enforced a raft of repressive laws that stifle
independent journalism and severely restrict the activities of
nongovernmental organizations and the political opposition.
“As President Magufuli marks four years in office next month, he
must carefully reflect on his government’s record of ruthlessly
disemboweling the country’s human rights framework,” said Roland
Ebole, Amnesty International’s Tanzania researcher. “His government
must repeal all oppressive laws being used to clamp down on
dissent, and urgently end human rights violations and abuses.”
“Tanzania should show true commitment to protecting and fulfilling
the rights to freedom of expression and association,” said Oryem
Nyeko, Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities
need to put a stop to harassment, intimidation, and arbitrary
arrests of activists, journalists, and opposition members.”
The report by Amnesty International, “The price of dissent:
targeted by the State,” and the one by Human Rights Watch, “As
Long as I am Quiet, I am Safe: Threats to Independent Media and
Civil Society in Tanzania,” were researched and documented
separately but their findings were similar. Both organizations
carried out research in Tanzania over 2018.
Human Rights Watch interviewed 80 journalists, bloggers, lawyers,
representatives of nongovernmental organizations, and members of
political parties. Amnesty International interviewed 68 government
officials, representatives of nongovernmental and intergovernmental
groups, lawyers, academics, religious leaders, and diplomats, and
reviewed court decisions, national laws, government notices, and
orders.
The president and senior government officials frequently made anti-
human rights statements, at times followed by cracking down on
individuals and organizations. The dangerous rhetoric, coupled with
arbitrary arrests and threats to deregister nongovernmental groups,
has stifled independent reporting by journalists and public
discussion on human rights violations and abuses including in the
context of the upcoming elections.
Both organizations found that Tanzanian authorities undermined the
rights to freedom of expression and association and media freedom
by enforcing new and existing repressive laws and regulations
governing media, nongovernmental organizations, and political
parties.
Since 2015, the government has stepped up censorship by banning or
suspending at least five newspapers for content deemed critical.
These include Tanzania’s major English language daily newspaper,
The Citizen, in 2019, and four others in 2017. The Zanzibar
Broadcasting Commission shut down a radio station, Swahiba FM, in
October 2015 because it reported on the annulment and subsequent
rerun of the 2015 elections.
The authorities used the 2015 Cybercrimes Act to prosecute
journalists and activists for social media posts. In November 2017,
a court in the capital Dar es Salaam convicted Bob Chacha Wangwe, a
human rights activist, for “publication of false information” under
this law because he termed Zanzibar a colony of mainland Tanzania
in a Facebook post. His conviction was overturned by the High Court
on the grounds that the court had not properly determined elements
of the offense.
The Electronic and Postal Communications (Online Content)
Regulations, adopted in 2018, require anyone with a blog or a
website to pay hefty license fees of up to 2.1 million Tanzania
Shillings (more than USD900). This law also broadly restricts
online content and permits surveillance of cybercafés without
judicial oversight.
Tanzania’s government also controls independent research and public
access to independent statistical information using the 2015
Statistics Act, denying citizens alternative sources of
independently verified information. While amendments to this law
introduced in 2019 removed criminal liability for publishing non-official statistics, the authorities still maintain control on who
can gather and disseminate statistical information and determine
what is factual or false.
“We see a dangerous repressive trend escalating in Tanzania,”
Roland Ebole said. “The authorities are denying citizens their
right to information by administering only those “truths”
sanctioned by the state.”
In 2018, the Commission on Science and Technology (COSTECH) told
Twaweza, a Tanzania-based organization, that it was not permitted
to publish its Sauti za Wananchi (or “Voices of Citizens”) survey.
The survey had indicated that Magufuli’s public approval rating had
dropped significantly in 2018. In 2017, COSTECH and the Home
Affairs Ministry prevented Human Rights Watch from holding a news
conference on its report detailing abuses of Tanzanian migrant
domestic workers in Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
In January 2019, parliament amended the Political Parties Act
ushering in yet more wide-ranging restrictions on the rights to
freedom of association and peaceful assembly. The amendments gave
the Registrar of Political Parties the powers to deregister
parties, demand information from political parties, and suspend
party members. It also introduced a requirement for organizations
and individuals to get approval before conducting civic education,
inhibiting citizens’ rights to access information.
Magufuli, in July 2016, announced a blanket ban on political
activities until 2020 in contravention of the country’s laws. The
ban has been selectively applied against the opposition. Several
opposition politicians have since been arrested and prosecuted on
trumped-up charges.
In 2017, unidentified assailants shot an opposition member of
parliament, Tundu Lissu, and in 2018, unidentified assailants
killed two officials, Daniel John and Godfrey Luena, of the main
opposition party, Chadema. Although police said they are
investigating these killings, no arrests have been made yet.
The Tanzanian government must immediately and unconditionally drop
all charges against journalists and politicians simply for
exercising their rights to free expression and association, said
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
"The regressive policies and actions have stifled the media, sown
fear among civil society, and restricted the playing field for
political parties in the lead-up to elections,” Nyeko said. “With
only a year to go, this government needs to reverse these patterns
of abuse and demonstrate a genuine commitment to the rights to
freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly as
protected in the constitution and under human rights treaties to
which Tanzania is a state party."
********************************************************
Tanzanians see country on right track despite persistent poverty
Afrobarometer Dispatch No. 193
Diapatch No. 193 | 14 March 2018
Stephen Mwombela, Lulu Olan’g, and Thadeus Mboghoina
[Excerpts: Full report at
https://afrobarometer.org/press/tanzanians-optimistic-governments-
economic-management-despite-persistent-poverty
Additional reports from Afrobarometer on Tanzania are available at
https://afrobarometer.org/results?field_country_tid=335
This includes tables summarizing answers
to all questions in round 7 (May 2017).]
Summary
Over the past two decades, Africa has recorded high levels of
economic growth. Tanzania has enjoyed Africa’s second-fastest-
growing economy, behind Côte d'Ivoire, including average annual
growth of almost 7% between 2012 and 2016 (International Monetary
Fund, 2016). In line with the well-documented link between
sustained economic growth and poverty reduction (Dollar,
Kleineberg, & Kraay, 2013), estimates of basic-needs and extreme
poverty declined, and the 2012 Household Budget Survey reported
that the poverty headcount had dropped from 38.6% in 1991 to 28.4%
(National Bureau of Statistics, 2014; World Bank, 2015). In
addition to the creation of more and better jobs, Tanzania has
recorded an increase in gross national income per capita from $320
in 2003 to $900 in 2016 (Kinyondo & Pelizzo, 2018).
But are these promising macroeconomic trends improving the lives of
everyday citizens? Results of the most recent Afrobarometer survey
show that Tanzanians think their country is on the right track and
are increasingly satisfied with their government’s economic
management. But majorities still describe the economy and their own
living conditions as bad, and the experience of lived poverty may
be on the rise.
Afrobarometer survey
Afrobarometer is a pan-African, non-partisan research network that
conducts public attitude surveys on democracy, governance, economic
conditions, and related issues in African countries. Six rounds of
surveys were conducted in up to 37 countries between 1999 and 2016,
and Round 7 surveys are being conducted in 2016/2018. Afrobarometer
conducts face-to-face interviews in the language of the
respondent’s choice with nationally representative samples.
The Afrobarometer team in Tanzania, led by REPOA, interviewed 2,400
adult Tanzanians in May 2017. A sample of this size yields country-
level results with a margin of error of +/-2 at a 95% confidence
level. Previous surveys were conducted in Tanzania in 2001, 2003,
2005, 2008, 2012, and 2014.
Key findings
* Six in 10 Tanzanians believe the country is going in the right
direction (62%) and the government is handling the economy “fairly
well” or “very well” (59%) – both striking improvements from 2014.
* But despite slight gains, about six in 10 respondents still
describe the country’s economic situation (62%) and their personal
living conditions (58%) as fairly/very bad.
* A majority (57%) of Tanzanians say the country’s economic
situation is “worse” or “much worse” than a year ago. But the
proportion of respondents who are optimistic that things will
improve in a year’s time has almost doubled since 2014, to 38%.
* Popular assessments of the government’s performance have improved
on a range of issues, including management of the economy. But only
one-quarter (23%) of Tanzanians say the government is doing well on
food security, down from 43% in 2014.
* Growing numbers of Tanzanians report going without basic
necessities, including four in 10 who went without enough clean
water (42%) and without medical care (40%) at least “several times”
during the previous year. Three-fourths (76%) say they went without
a cash income at least “several times.”
*******************************************************************
Speaking truth to power? Citizens’ views on politics in Tanzania
Sauti za Wananchi
Brief No. 48 , July, 2018
[Excerpts: for full text, including graphs, visit
https://www.twaweza.org/uploads/files/SzW-Politics-EN-FINAL-
print.pdf]
1. Introduction
Tanzania’s fifth phase administration, under President Magufuli,
started with a bang. Immediately after the new President had been
inaugurated in November 2015, a series of high profile actions to
tackle corruption and wasteful public expenditure attracted popular
support and widespread praise both within
and outside the country. A Sauti za Wananchi survey round in 2016
found a very high level of approval (96%) for the President’s
performance.
As early as January 2016, however, alarm was already being raised
by the government’s decision to stop live TV and radio broadcasts
of parliamentary sessions 2 . Since then, though praise and support
for the President’s actions from a wide range of actors has
continued, it has been accompanied by a regular chorus of critics,
largely focussed on two main areas of concern.
First, critics have pointed to a decline in respect for democratic
rights and freedoms. New restrictions have been introduced both in
law and in practice on the political freedoms of opposition
parties, the media, civil society and even citizens. These include
bans on political rallies and meetings, the arrest of several
opposition politicians for sedition and other offences, bans and
suspensions of several independent newspapers, and perceived heavy-
handed policing of political matters including freedom of
expression.
Second, some have noted signs that the national economy may be
suffering. Concerns about food security in late 2016 and early 2017
have eased, but worries about the wider economy have grown to take
their place. In part, this has been fed by declines in imports and
exports and a tightening of credit to the private sector. It is
also grounded in anecdotal evidence of difficult operating
conditions both for business and for individual households and
citizens’ own views: the proportion mentioning poverty or economic
issues as a major challenge for the country rose from 34% in 2015
to 72% in 2018.
At the halfway mark for the first term of this administration, this
brief presents data on citizens’ views on political matters in
Tanzania. What do citizens understand by key terms such as
democracy, constitution and sedition? Do they perceive any change
in freedom of assembly and freedom ofexpression in the last few
years? What do citizens see as the role of opposition parties, and
to what extent do they support controls on Presidential power?
Which political parties to citizens feel closest to? And how do
they rate the performance of elected representatives, including the
President?
Data for the brief come from Twaweza’s flagship Sauti za Wananchi
survey. Sauti za Wananchi is a nationally-representative, high-
frequency mobile phone panel survey. It is representative for
Mainland Tanzania (not including Zanzibar). Information on the
overall methodology is available at www.twaweza.org/sauti. For this
brief, data were collected from 1,241 respondents from the 27th
round of the second Sauti za Wananchi panel, conducted between 15
and 24 April, 2018. …
Fact 2: Citizens say they have less freedom than they did three
years ago
Across a range of different freedoms, citizens consistently say
their freedom has declined in the past three years. The decline is
most marked in the case of independent institutions: six out of ten
citizens say the freedom of opposition parties (64%), the media
(62%) and civil society (58%) has declined. Citizens also say their
individual freedoms have declined, including freedom to say what
they think about political matters (54%), to form groups or
organisations (47%) and to join political organisations (37%).
…
Fact 3: Support for opposition party rights has increased since
2016
Four out of ten citizens (37%) say opposition parties should
criticise and monitor the government between elections in order to
hold it to account, up from two out of ten (20%) who felt this way
in 2016. A majority still prefer the statement that opposition
parties should accept defeat and support government efforts to
develop the country in-between elections.
Similarly, support for the right of opposition parties to hold
meetings and rallies has increased, from five out of ten (51%) in
2016, to six out of ten citizens (64%) in 2018. The alternative
view – that opposition party rallies outside election campaign
periods are a distraction – has declined in popularity over the
same period.
Public support for multiparty democracy remains strong, largely
unchanged since 2016. Five out of six citizens (84%) prefer the
statement that many political parties are needed, leaving one out
of six (16%) who prefer the alternative, that parties create
division and confusion.
…
Fact 9: Just over half the population approve of the performance of
President Magufuli
A little over half the population (55%) approve of the performance
of President Magufuli since he came to office in 2015. This is down
from 71% a year ago, and 96% in 2016. The drop is such that in a
period of two years the Presidential approval rating has gone from
the highest rating on record for a Tanzanian President to the
lowest.
******************************************************************
Recent updates on Tanzania economy
"World Bank
contradicts Tanzania's growth estimates,” Reuters, July 18,
2019
Overview from World Bank, last updated Sept. 30, 2019
“
Barrick Gold reaches deal with Tanzania over Acacia Mining,”
Reuters, Oct. 20, 2019
“Barrick Gold and Tanzania reach $300m deal on Acacia
Mining,” Mining Technology, Oct. 21, 2019
“Why
Tanzania deserves a bigger share in Barrick Gold deal,” The
Citizen (Dar es Salaam), Oct. 26, 2019 – civil society critique of
the terms of the deal.
“Political
crackdown harms Tanzania's infrastructure ambitions,”
Euromoney, Nov. 4, 2019
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