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TANZANIA PRESENTS REPORT ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS TO HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE
24 July 1998
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MORNING
HR/CT/98/21
24 July 1998
The Committee on Human Rights this morning started its consideration of a report presented by the Government of Tanzania on the implementation of the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in that country.
Francis Malambugi, Minister-Counselor and Chargé d'Affaires at the Permanent Mission of Tanzania in Geneva, said that prison conditions had deteriorated because of economic problems and there was serious overcrowding in almost all prisons in the country.
Mr. Malambugi led Tanzania's delegation which also included Christopher Kalanje, First Secretary at the Permanent Mission of Tanzania.
As one of the 140 States parties to the Covenant, Tanzania must offer periodic reports to the Committee on how it implements the treaty.
The Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. to conclude its consideration of the report of Tanzania.
Report of Tanzania
The third periodic report of Tanzania (document CCPR/C/83/Add.2) lists the measures undertaken by the Government to put into effect the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The report says that since the second report, there have been major political changes in the country which in turn have led to some amendments in the Constitution of the country. The major political changes started with the reintroduction of the multi-party system in 1992 and culminated with the holding of multi-party elections in October 1995.
According to the report, the Constitution of Tanzania incorporates all rights provided for in the Covenant. It also provides for equality of all persons before the law regardless of race, colour, sex, language, tribe, political or other opinion or other status.
The report states that despite the establishment of employment promotion centres, it has not yet been able to guarantee every person an opportunity to work. The problem has been compounded by the difficult economic conditions facing the country and the economic restructuring which has made the job market smaller.
Furthermore, the report says that any persons whose rights and freedoms as recognized in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution are violated shall have effective remedy by petitioning the High Court of Tanzania. However, the report notes that promotion of awareness of peoples’ rights and freedoms specified in the Covenant, including training of public authorities or dissemination of information on the Covenant, is difficult for the Government to undertake due to the difficult financial situation.
Presentation of Report
FRANCIS MALAMBUGI, Minister Counselor and Chargé d'Affaires of the Permanent Mission of Tanzania in Geneva, introduced his country's third periodic report and said Tanzania had taken the first tentative steps towards the introduction of multi-party politics after more than two decades of single party rule. In 1993, the Government had organized elections for local government councils on the basis of multi-party policies.
Likewise, the general elections for the president and members of parliament, held in October 1995, were also contested on the basis of multi-party politics, Mr. Malambugi went on to state. Unfortunately, economic difficulties had prevented the holding of elections for local government councils, which were due to have been held this year. The Government had been forced to postpone them to the year 2000.
On the positive side, Mr. Malambugi said the entry of other actors in the political arena had expanded democracy by widening the choice of both party programmes and candidates for the electorate. It had also been accompanied by greater liberalism, on the part of the Government, in allowing the operation of vibrant and largely privately owned newspapers and radio and television stations which had literally mushroomed overnight, he added.
Mr. Malambugi said the introduction of multi-party politics in the country had not been without teething problems. There had been a number of problems which were by and large the result of the lack of the culture or ethics of multi-party politics. One major problem was that losers on both sides of the spectrum did not readily accept the reality that in any election there were winners and losers as well.
Discussion of Report
In response to written questions prepared by the members of the Committee in advance, Mr. Malambugi said that as a “common law” country, Tanzania did not automatically apply international conventions without incorporating them into domestic legislation. Those provisions of the Covenant which were not included in the Bill of Rights could not operate as a direct source of individual rights in Tanzania and could not be invoked in courts.
Mr. Malambugi said that female genital mutilation had been made a criminal offence under the penal code. One of the problems of dealing with sexual offenses was that those cases were heard in open courts. Many victims did not come out and denounce such offenses due to negative publicity and the stigma which was attached to the victim. It was hoped that the promulgation of the Sexual Offenses Act, which would allow hearings of such cases in privacy, would encourage victims to denounce those crimes.
With regards to equality of women, Mr. Malambugi affirmed that there were no legal restrictions to women's equal access to employment. However, the situation on the ground was different owing to the legacy of the lack of education. In general, women did not stand as good a chance of getting employed as men. In addition, more often, women drop out of school and there were fewer schools for girls than for boys. Nevertheless, the Government was trying to increase the number of girls schools so as to increase the intake of female students. It had also taken affirmative action to lower the pass mark for female students so as to enable more females to enter secondary schools.
The delegate said that the death penalty existed in Tanzania and that the Government did not release figures of people executed. The country's President had no power under any circumstances to derogate from the right to life. Though the death penalty existed on the statute book in Zanzibar, which was part of the federation, it had not been carried out since 1964. While the Tanzanian Government understood the sentiments of the abolitionists, nonetheless, it still required the death sentence on its statutes as a deterrent.
Concerning the killing of a Civic United Front member in Pemba in 1993, allegedly by police, Mr. Malambugi said the policeman who fired the lethal bullet was arrested and charged with murder. However, the court found that it was an unintentional act and the accused was discharged. Nonetheless, administrative steps were taken to dismiss the concerned policeman from the police force.
Corporal punishment was imposed by the courts under the Corporal Punishment Ordinance, Mr. Malambugi said. It was also administered in schools for serious breach of school discipline. The strokes should not exceed 6 and they were administered by striking the pupil's hand or his normally clothed buttock using a flexible stick. Female pupils receive punishment from female teachers; and where there was no female teacher, written authorization from the head of the school was required. However, the statute providing for corporal punishment was among the 40 oppressive statutes recommended for review or repeal.
As regards to the situation of refugees, the Tanzanian delegate said that according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, there were currently 267,000 refugees from Burundi, 47,000 from Democratic Republic of Congo, 5,500 from Rwanda and about 4,000 refugees from Somalia. Last year, the Government had estimated that there were another half a million or more refugees who had spontaneously settled in Tanzania, and who were not recognized as refugees by the High Commissioner owing to the fact that they were self sufficient.
Due to the economic problems, facing Tanzania, prison conditions had deteriorated, Mr. Malambugi said, adding that since independence, the Government had not build enough new prisons to match the increase of the population. Consequently there was serious overcrowding in almost all prisons. There was no prison inspectorate in Tanzania, however inspections were supposed to be carried out on a monthly basis by visiting magistrates and judges recommending remedial measures to the prison authorities.
The delegate said that there had been deaths in Tanzanian prisons. Those deaths were of natural cause; where there were grounds for suspecting foul play, an inquest was held to establish the cause of death and take legal action if any was called for.
Committee experts put numerous oral questions relating to such issues as the function of the constitutional court; the ongoing legislative review; problems of backlogged court cases; qualities of judges; political parties based on tribalism or specific regions; incommunicado detention; the reinstatement of corporal punishment; the handing by Tanzanian authorities of a group of Burundian refugees who were later executed by Burundi authorities; land ownership by women; maternal death and abortion; and the use of rubber bullets to disperse riots, among other things.
Responding to some of the questions by the panel's experts, the delegation said that the reinstatement of corporal punishment was strongly believed in by the administrators of justice. As to the review of the legislation, the delegate said that the Government was endeavouring to review most of the existing legislation to reflect the evolution of the Tanzanian situation. In addition, the delegation said that persons detained should be presented before a judge in 24 hours.
HR/CT/98/21
24 July 1998
The Committee on Human Rights this morning started its consideration of a report presented by the Government of Tanzania on the implementation of the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in that country.
Francis Malambugi, Minister-Counselor and Chargé d'Affaires at the Permanent Mission of Tanzania in Geneva, said that prison conditions had deteriorated because of economic problems and there was serious overcrowding in almost all prisons in the country.
Mr. Malambugi led Tanzania's delegation which also included Christopher Kalanje, First Secretary at the Permanent Mission of Tanzania.
As one of the 140 States parties to the Covenant, Tanzania must offer periodic reports to the Committee on how it implements the treaty.
The Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. to conclude its consideration of the report of Tanzania.
Report of Tanzania
The third periodic report of Tanzania (document CCPR/C/83/Add.2) lists the measures undertaken by the Government to put into effect the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The report says that since the second report, there have been major political changes in the country which in turn have led to some amendments in the Constitution of the country. The major political changes started with the reintroduction of the multi-party system in 1992 and culminated with the holding of multi-party elections in October 1995.
According to the report, the Constitution of Tanzania incorporates all rights provided for in the Covenant. It also provides for equality of all persons before the law regardless of race, colour, sex, language, tribe, political or other opinion or other status.
The report states that despite the establishment of employment promotion centres, it has not yet been able to guarantee every person an opportunity to work. The problem has been compounded by the difficult economic conditions facing the country and the economic restructuring which has made the job market smaller.
Furthermore, the report says that any persons whose rights and freedoms as recognized in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution are violated shall have effective remedy by petitioning the High Court of Tanzania. However, the report notes that promotion of awareness of peoples’ rights and freedoms specified in the Covenant, including training of public authorities or dissemination of information on the Covenant, is difficult for the Government to undertake due to the difficult financial situation.
Presentation of Report
FRANCIS MALAMBUGI, Minister Counselor and Chargé d'Affaires of the Permanent Mission of Tanzania in Geneva, introduced his country's third periodic report and said Tanzania had taken the first tentative steps towards the introduction of multi-party politics after more than two decades of single party rule. In 1993, the Government had organized elections for local government councils on the basis of multi-party policies.
Likewise, the general elections for the president and members of parliament, held in October 1995, were also contested on the basis of multi-party politics, Mr. Malambugi went on to state. Unfortunately, economic difficulties had prevented the holding of elections for local government councils, which were due to have been held this year. The Government had been forced to postpone them to the year 2000.
On the positive side, Mr. Malambugi said the entry of other actors in the political arena had expanded democracy by widening the choice of both party programmes and candidates for the electorate. It had also been accompanied by greater liberalism, on the part of the Government, in allowing the operation of vibrant and largely privately owned newspapers and radio and television stations which had literally mushroomed overnight, he added.
Mr. Malambugi said the introduction of multi-party politics in the country had not been without teething problems. There had been a number of problems which were by and large the result of the lack of the culture or ethics of multi-party politics. One major problem was that losers on both sides of the spectrum did not readily accept the reality that in any election there were winners and losers as well.
Discussion of Report
In response to written questions prepared by the members of the Committee in advance, Mr. Malambugi said that as a “common law” country, Tanzania did not automatically apply international conventions without incorporating them into domestic legislation. Those provisions of the Covenant which were not included in the Bill of Rights could not operate as a direct source of individual rights in Tanzania and could not be invoked in courts.
Mr. Malambugi said that female genital mutilation had been made a criminal offence under the penal code. One of the problems of dealing with sexual offenses was that those cases were heard in open courts. Many victims did not come out and denounce such offenses due to negative publicity and the stigma which was attached to the victim. It was hoped that the promulgation of the Sexual Offenses Act, which would allow hearings of such cases in privacy, would encourage victims to denounce those crimes.
With regards to equality of women, Mr. Malambugi affirmed that there were no legal restrictions to women's equal access to employment. However, the situation on the ground was different owing to the legacy of the lack of education. In general, women did not stand as good a chance of getting employed as men. In addition, more often, women drop out of school and there were fewer schools for girls than for boys. Nevertheless, the Government was trying to increase the number of girls schools so as to increase the intake of female students. It had also taken affirmative action to lower the pass mark for female students so as to enable more females to enter secondary schools.
The delegate said that the death penalty existed in Tanzania and that the Government did not release figures of people executed. The country's President had no power under any circumstances to derogate from the right to life. Though the death penalty existed on the statute book in Zanzibar, which was part of the federation, it had not been carried out since 1964. While the Tanzanian Government understood the sentiments of the abolitionists, nonetheless, it still required the death sentence on its statutes as a deterrent.
Concerning the killing of a Civic United Front member in Pemba in 1993, allegedly by police, Mr. Malambugi said the policeman who fired the lethal bullet was arrested and charged with murder. However, the court found that it was an unintentional act and the accused was discharged. Nonetheless, administrative steps were taken to dismiss the concerned policeman from the police force.
Corporal punishment was imposed by the courts under the Corporal Punishment Ordinance, Mr. Malambugi said. It was also administered in schools for serious breach of school discipline. The strokes should not exceed 6 and they were administered by striking the pupil's hand or his normally clothed buttock using a flexible stick. Female pupils receive punishment from female teachers; and where there was no female teacher, written authorization from the head of the school was required. However, the statute providing for corporal punishment was among the 40 oppressive statutes recommended for review or repeal.
As regards to the situation of refugees, the Tanzanian delegate said that according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, there were currently 267,000 refugees from Burundi, 47,000 from Democratic Republic of Congo, 5,500 from Rwanda and about 4,000 refugees from Somalia. Last year, the Government had estimated that there were another half a million or more refugees who had spontaneously settled in Tanzania, and who were not recognized as refugees by the High Commissioner owing to the fact that they were self sufficient.
Due to the economic problems, facing Tanzania, prison conditions had deteriorated, Mr. Malambugi said, adding that since independence, the Government had not build enough new prisons to match the increase of the population. Consequently there was serious overcrowding in almost all prisons. There was no prison inspectorate in Tanzania, however inspections were supposed to be carried out on a monthly basis by visiting magistrates and judges recommending remedial measures to the prison authorities.
The delegate said that there had been deaths in Tanzanian prisons. Those deaths were of natural cause; where there were grounds for suspecting foul play, an inquest was held to establish the cause of death and take legal action if any was called for.
Committee experts put numerous oral questions relating to such issues as the function of the constitutional court; the ongoing legislative review; problems of backlogged court cases; qualities of judges; political parties based on tribalism or specific regions; incommunicado detention; the reinstatement of corporal punishment; the handing by Tanzanian authorities of a group of Burundian refugees who were later executed by Burundi authorities; land ownership by women; maternal death and abortion; and the use of rubber bullets to disperse riots, among other things.
Responding to some of the questions by the panel's experts, the delegation said that the reinstatement of corporal punishment was strongly believed in by the administrators of justice. As to the review of the legislation, the delegate said that the Government was endeavouring to review most of the existing legislation to reflect the evolution of the Tanzanian situation. In addition, the delegation said that persons detained should be presented before a judge in 24 hours.