Activists bemoan restriction of rights

Dar es Salaam. Human rights activists have condemned the government over its suppression of opposition parties and media role in championing press freedom and freedom of expression, urging vigilance in this matter.

Tanzania Editors Forum Chairman Theophil Makunga said yesterday at the launch of a one-year joint campaign of freedoms of expression and assembly, which seek to safeguard the freedoms of assembly and expression.

Through its Uhakiki project in collaboration with eight partners the campaign stresses that without freedom of expression and freedom of assembly there can be no development.

According to Mr Makunga, the government has recently been suppressing opposition parties’ freedom of expression though it is the government itself that accepted the transition of multiparty system.

“If the government accepted the establishment of multiparty system, then it should ensure that it does not suppress opposition parties’ freedom of expression and assembly,” he said. He said that currently politicians and other citizens were failing to express themselves because they are afraid thereby making it difficult for the media to access information and publish it.

He added that if the people who are expected to speak on something refrain from opening their mouths, it becomes difficult for the media to perform its role of desseminating information.

“We want the nation that talks so that we can get information and make it known to the public,” he said.

Media Council of Tanzania’s Paul Malimbo said that freedom goes together media freedom and the right to seek and receive information. “Without freedom of expression there is no democracy,” he said.

According to him, freedom of expression is protected by international standards such as article 19 of both UNDHR and the ICCPR, guarantees the freedom of expression to everyone and at the same time protects individuals’ privacy.

Other freedoms of expression include declarations of principles on freedom of expression in Africa and freedom of expression is also guaranteed under Article 18 of the Tanzania Constitution.

He noted that since 2015, a number of laws have been passed such as Statistics Act, Media Services Act and Cybercrime Act which restrict freedom of expression across Tanzania.

The Director of Advocacy and Reforms, Legal Human Rights Center, Ms Anna Henga, said that though freedom is a pillar of democracy, a number of human rights reports including the LHRC’s perception index 2016, show that the freedom of assembly is under a two pronged attack from both political statements and the police. “As partners we have decided to organise this campaign to address various challenges including arbitrary limitation to assembly,” she said.

while each individual has the freedom to assemble, have power to use their discretion to limit this freedom leading to the suspicions around the motivations for such denials,” she said.

Ms. Henga explained that to address such challenges the government must protect freedom of assembly as constitutional rights by strengthening the security afforded to people when they assemble for civil, political and economic activities.

In this campaign, we call the government to realize the importance of people to assemble in promoting development.

She noted that that freedom of assembly under article 20(1) found in both Tanzania constitution and the constitution of Zanzibar says that every person has freedom to freely and peacefully assemble, associate and cooperate with other person.