2010 Human Rights Report: Tanzania Page 1 of 30 Home » Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs » Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor » Releases » Human Rights Reports » 2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices » Africa » Tanzania 2010 Human Rights Report: Tanzania BUREAU OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND LABOR 2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices April 8, 2011 The United Republic of Tanzania, with a population of 41 million, is a multiparty republic consisting of the mainland and the semiautonomous Zanzibar archipelago, whose main islands are Unguja and Pemba. The union is headed by a president who is also the head of government; its unicameral legislative body is the National Assembly (parliament). Zanzibar, although part of the union government, has its own president, court system, and legislature, and exercises considerable autonomy. Tanzania held its fourth multiparty general elections on October 31, in which voters on both Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar elected a union president and their respective representatives in the union legislature. President Kikwete, the incumbent Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) candidate, was reelected union president with 61.7 percent of the vote. The national elections were generally peaceful, but there were several protests in urban areas associated with the slow pace of reporting election results. In Zanzibar the October elections proceeded peacefully after a power-sharing agreement was reached between the ruling CCM party and the opposition Civic United Front (CUF). In a July 31 referendum, Zanzibaris voted to amend the constitution to allow for a unity government. In October the Zanzibar electorate elected Ali Mohamed Shein, the immediate past union vice president, as president of Zanzibar with 50.1 percent of the vote and also elected members of its House of Representatives. Union security forces reported to civilian authorities, but there were instances in which elements of the security forces acted independently of civilian control. In Zanzibar, however, authorities maintain "special units" that operated independently from union security forces and have been used for political coercion. Command and control of these units are opaque but influenced by the ruling party in Zanzibar. Since the October 31 elections that produced a government of national unity, the government of Zanzibar was reviewing the role of these "special units." Principal human rights problems in both Tanzania and Zanzibar included the following: use of excessive force by military personnel, police, and prison guards, as well as societal violence, which resulted in deaths and injuries; abuses by Sungusungo traditional citizens' anticrime units; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; lengthy pretrial detention; judicial corruption and inefficiency, particularly in the lower courts; restrictions on freedoms of press and assembly; http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/af/154373.htm 4/11/2011 2010 Human Rights Report: Tanzania Page 2 of 30 restrictions on the movement of refugees; official corruption and impunity; societal violence against women and persons with albinism; child abuse, including female genital mutilation (FGM); and discrimination based on sexual orientation. Trafficking in persons and child labor remained problems. RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom From: a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life Neither the government nor its agents committed any politically motivated killings; however, on occasion security forces killed civilians during the year. In late January regional police arrested several policemen and civilians for taking part in an armed robbery on Izinga Island in Ukerewe District, Mwanza Region, which resulted in 14 deaths and serious injuries to 17 others. No further information was available at year's end. On January 27, two Tanzania People's Defense Forces (TPDF) soldiers, Corporal Ally Ngumbe and Sergeant Roda Robert, were arraigned in a Dar es Salaam court for killing Swetu Fundikira after an argument involving a defective vehicle. No further information was available at year's end. In March Musa Juma died in police custody. Relatives of the deceased said the body had bullet-like wounds on the lower legs and lacerations on the genitals and back. The special zone commander said the police would conduct an investigation. No further information was available at year's end. In April the Legal and Human Rights Center (LHRC) reported that Arusha police questioned three police officers and employees of the Tanzania National Parks Authority for killing Ndekirwa Palangyo and injuring two others, whom they suspected of poaching in the Mkwasenga village of King'ori, Arusha Region. No further information was available at year's end. In June the Shinyanga regional police detained Corporal Gidman Kanyinuzi of the Negezi police post in Kishapu District for killing a man he mistook for an armed robber. No further information was available at year's end. In August the Tanga resident magistrate charged two TPDF soldiers, Sergeant Masanja Matale and Corporal Yahya Omari, with the assault and murder of Hilal Ali and Mzonge Abdallah, who were suspected of fishing illegally with dynamite. An investigation continued at year's end. There were no further developments in the 2009 death of Rashidi Tuga, allegedly tortured and killed by the police. Despite efforts by the government and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to reduce mob violence through educational outreach and community policing, a number of deaths resulted from mobs stoning, beating, hacking with machetes, and burning suspected criminals. On July 15, according to Lindi Regional Police Commander Sifuel Shirima, residents of Ntene, Lindi Region, killed Siajabu Pius Bernard for stealing maize from a neighbor. No further information was available at year's end. On August 24, a mob killed Kastoli Mkamula, a youth, because they suspected he broke into a house at Lipangalala village in Morogoro Region. No further information was available at year's end. There were no further developments in the following 2009 mob killings: the January death of Musa Juma in Arusha Region, and the April beating death of Robhi Getaraswa in Tarime. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/af/154373.htm 4/11/2011 2010 Human Rights Report: Tanzania Page 3 of 30 Alleged witches were killed by persons claiming to be victims of witchcraft, relatives of victims, or mobs. Prosecutions were often impeded by the reluctance of witnesses to testify. The O Affair Alipipi Makatole, a local government councilor in Buriaga ward, Tukuyu District, estimated that between January and April, the U unidentified persons killed six children due to a belief that raping and killing children under age five would bring wealth to Exter the perpetrators. Local authorities and religious leaders held a meeting with residents to condemn the killings and educate const polici the public about witchcraft. On April 18, residents of Mafulala village, Rukwa Region, burned and killed Maria Jorah Salamba for allegedly using witchcraft to kill several children in the village. There were no further developments in the following 2009 killings of persons allegedly using witchcraft: the March killings of a 70-year-old man and the beating of nine others in Sumbawanga District and the killing of 60 elderly individuals in Mwanza for suspected witchcraft. Violence continued against persons with albinism in the belief that their body parts could create power and wealth. Frequently the victims were children, whose bodies were found with limbs severed (see section 6, Children). During the year this practice spread from the Lake Zone, where the attacks were concentrated, to other regions, although police efforts resulted in fewer such attacks than in previous years. Two children with albinism were killed and four injured during the year. There have been approximately 57 killings of persons with albinism since 2007. By year's end the courts had sentenced a total of 10 persons to death for the killings of persons with albinism. b. Disappearance There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances. c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment The constitution and law prohibit such practices. Soldiers, police officers, and prison guards abused, threatened, and otherwise mistreated civilians, suspected criminals, and prisoners on several occasions during the year. The abuse most commonly involved beatings. Local government officials and courts occasionally used caning as a punishment for both juvenile and adult offenders. Caning was also used in schools to punish students. On March 30, the Kisutu Magistrate's Court in Dar es Salaam sentenced Justin Kasusura to 30 years in prison and 12 strokes of the cane for armed robbery and theft. On April 10, two men attacked Said Abdallah and severed his left arm in Merela village, Morogoro Region. Police arrested four persons in connection with the incident and placed them in remand prison. At year's end a police investigation continued. On July 9, a magistrate at the Ilala District Court sentenced a 17-year-old boy to six strokes of the cane for sodomizing a 15-year-old boy. On August 18, a magistrate in Mwanza sentenced a Kenyan man, Nathan Mutei, to 17 years in prison for trafficking Robinson Mkwama, a Kenyan man with albinism, into Tanzania with the intention of selling him. In February 2009 a district commissioner in Bukoba ordered police to cane 19 school teachers for tardiness and the poor performance of the students on the national exams. Seven female and 12 male teachers were caned in front of a group of http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/af/154373.htm 4/11/2011 2010 Human Rights Report: Tanzania Page 4 of 30 students. On February 14, President Kikwete dismissed the district commissioner. The teachers filed a civil suit against the district commissioner for 300 million Tanzanian shillings (TZS) ($203,000). The case continued at year's end. During the year mobs turned on police, whom they accused of failing to administer justice effectively.