Statement by the Honourable Wilson Masilingi, Minister of State, Office of the President (Good Governance) of the United Republic of Tanzania

Commission on Human Rights
59th session
19.03.2003



Madam Chairperson,
Mr. High Commissioner for Human Rights,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
Representatives of Civil Society,
Ladies and Gentlemen.


I bring to you the warm greetings from His Excellency Benjamin William Mkapa, President of the United Republic of Tanzania.

It is a special honour and privilege for me to present a Statement on behalf of the democratically elected government of the United Republic of Tanzania. Let me first of all on behalf of my delegation and myself congratulate you Ambassador Najat El-Hajjaji on your election to chair the United Nations Human Rights Commission. I wish you and the other members of the Expanded Bureau every success in the challenging task ahead of you and commit my delegation support and cooperation.

Let me also thank the outgoing Chairman Ambassador Jakubowski of Poland and his Bureau for having ably steered the work of this Commission in the past year.

I would also like to express my profound congratulations and appreciation to Mr. Sergio Vieira De Mello, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for valuable services to the human rights cause during the short period of his stay in office. Tanzania supports him fully and firmly believes that he will continue to be a reliable soldier in promotion and protection of human rights throughout the world.



Madam Chairperson,

The Human Rights Commission has over the years played a very crucial role in the promotion of human freedoms, human dignity and international peace all of which serve as essential elements of what are generally known as human rights. This Commission, however, needs to be strengthened by providing it with adequate financial resources and assisting developing countries that observe good governance to ensure a better promotion and protection of human rights. The international community must work together to address new uncertainties and challenges facing our world today with a view to promoting peace, security and development.

One special challenge facing the international community in this regard is to help developing countries to build their economies and strengthen the fight against poverty and disease, particularly malaria and HIV/AIDS, as well as to augment their capacities for the delivery of justice and defence of human rights. In the spirit of partnership, therefore, our development partners in the developed world need to increase their support for reforms and modernization of departments such as the judiciary, police and prisons which, if they perform below expectations due to budgetary constraints, can appear to be contravening basic human rights. The developed world also needs to be more forthcoming in addressing the inequities in the global or multilateral trading system, which have made the fight against poverty in the developing countries much more difficult. The continued erosion of their purchasing power through market access impediments and unfavourable terms of trade not only denies poor people access to basic necessities of life but also disempowers their governments to deliver on their basic human rights responsibilities. For lack of time, I will not go into examples of how developing countries are loosing out in international trade, but I think this is common knowledge.


Madam Chairperson,

The conflict in the Middle East also continues to undermine human rights and the humanitarian situation in the region. Continued gruesome violence has resulted into many victims, many among them innocent civilians. The numbers of the dead and wounded are horrendously growing day after day. This terrible sequence has to be broken through offering the Israeli and the Palestinian people a real perspective of a political solution that will bring lasting peace and security. The world community should not give up efforts to prevent war in the Middle East, which certainly will have disastrous human and economic consequences to the whole world.

Terrorism has also become an acute threat to international peace, justice and security. Governments must act together in fighting terrorism as they are all duty bound to provide security to their citizens. Tanzania fully supports the ongoing international efforts in fighting terrorism. Late last year we enacted The Prevention of Terrorism Act, No. 21 of 2002, which declares terrorist associated act(s) criminal offences punishable under that peace of legislation.

The heightened levels of poverty continue to undermine human rights, particularly in the African Continent and Tanzania in particular. It deprives the human being of their ability to develop their skills towards development and also hinders full enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights. International concerted efforts are indeed vital through substantial investment in poverty reduction strategies to foster democracy, human rights and development.

We agree, globalization is unstoppable. But globalization that does not respect justice and promote human rights is unacceptable. Our President His Excellency Benjamin William Mkapa and the Finnish President Her Excellency Tarja Kaarina Halonen are Co-chairing the World Commission on the social dimension of globalization. They are working very hard and the outcome of their work is expected to propose improvements on the justice and human rights dimension of globalization.

Madam Chairperson,

Let me present some of the efforts made by Tanzania in the promotion and protection of human rights.

For Tanzania, the promotion and protection on human rights for all has been given a prominent place and has remained our firm commitment. As such, over the past 41 years of her independence, Tanzania has under responsible governments and support from the United Nations, been able within its meager resources to build up a comprehensive framework of human rights protection, embracing civil, political, economic and cultural rights.

Consistent with our commitment to human rights, Tanzania has ratified almost all major human rights instruments in addition to enacting domestic legislation that provides for several mechanisms to protect fundamental rights and democratic freedom. We have also incorporated basic human rights provided in these instruments in our Constitution. We are committed to the implementation of obligations under the instruments, though to a greater extent this commitment is being hindered by limited resources.

The Government is currently in the process of ratifying the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT). Nonetheless, all acts of torture constitute offences under the Penal Code, Chapter 16 of the Laws of Tanzania. This means perpetrators of these offences including police are subject to prosecution according to the law. The governing policy for these kinds of offences has been zero tolerance.


Madam Chairperson,

The establishment of an independent Human Rights and Good Governance Commission in March 2002 is clear evidence of constitutional commitment to human rights. The Commission has various responsibilities including promotion of human rights, receiving complaints on human rights violations, investigating conduct of officials and institutions, advising the Government on human rights and good governance matters as well as taking requisite measures to promote mediation among officials or institutions. The Commission started its work by going around the country to hear various complaints from the members of the public. It intends in the near future to visit all prisons countrywide to ensure observance of prisoners' rights and recommend measures to ensure that these rights are being promoted and observed. It also plans to pursue human rights education to magistrates and law enforcers as well as educate the public about their basic human rights.

Madam Chairperson,

The Government is cognizant of the need to respond to violations of human rights both nationally and internationally. However, this must be done within the duly constituted investigative and prosecution mechanisms that are required to respect rule of law and justice.


Madam Chairperson,

The people of Tanzania in all parts of the country enjoy an atmosphere of peace and tranquility which has existed since independence. This has made Tanzania a safe haven for many refugees from neighbouring countries for almost three decades now. Tanzania realizes the right to life as a basic human right and this has led the Government to open its doors to those in genuine danger despite its very meager resources.

The atmosphere of peace was however once endangered by political turmoil in the Zanzibar Island two years ago, which resulted into loss of property, injuries and even deaths. The unprecedented tragic events of January 2001 have been overcome through the home grown Peace Accord signed between the Ruling Party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and the Opposition Party Civic United Front (CUF). The political situation in Zanzibar has now improved tremendously, increasing tolerance and cooperation amongst the people. Peaceful campaigns have started for the by-election in Pemba Island, Zanzibar scheduled for May this year.


Madam Chairperson,

The Government is also fully conscious that for democracy to prosper and people to enjoy fundamental freedoms among other measures, it is essential to ensure freedom of expression. To achieve this and with a view to fostering a culture of transparency and accountability in public bodies and elsewhere, the Government has made a major step towards enhancing freedom of media. There are quite a number of registered newspapers including tabloids, several private radio and television stations in the country. The NGOs are recognized and facilitated as important partners in development.

Tanzania believes that the fulfillment of the right to education is the key to enjoyment of many other human rights. As such, the Government declared primary school education as compulsory and free for every child in Tanzania. This obviously goes together with general observance of other basic rights of the child namely the right to good care and to be loved.

Tanzania has taken steps to legally promote gender mainstreaming, women's participation in politics is constantly increasing. I am personally pleased to say the Government has a good number of women appointed in senior posts including ministerial, judges and other higher administrative ranks. This aims at mainstreaming women concerns in various national processes including decision making. Both children and women's rights are fully promoted and respected under the guidance of the fully-fledged Ministry namely the Ministry of Community development, Gender and Children Affairs, which is led by a Minister who is a woman.


Madam Chairperson,

We do not pretend to have solved all problems related to promotion and protection of human rights because no country can claim to be perfect in this area. As an open democratic society, we are fully conscious that we still have a long way to go and therefore take the fight for fundamental human rights as a continuous process. That is why fighting poverty and enhancing democracy in our country is priority number one.

In conclusion, I wish to reiterate my Government's firm commitment to promote and uphold human rights in order to enable all people in the country without exception to determine their own political future and social and economic cultural development, while safeguarding our territorial integrity and sovereignty of our country. Limited financial resources has remained the only major obstacle to the promotion and protection of human rights. Nonetheless, we will never give up this noble responsibility.

I thank you for your attention.