EU parliament issues unanimous resolution against Tanzania over human rights issues

Dar es Salaam. The European Union (EU) Parliament on Thursday, December 13, 2018 issued a unanimous resolution on Tanzania giving impressions that the diplomatic tiff between the two was far from being over.

The rift that started with the recalling of the EU ambassador to Tanzania, Mr Roeland van de Geer, in November, saw the 28-member bloc saying that its member states had decided to conduct a comprehensive review of its policies towards Tanzania.

The EU has been citing the deterioration of human rights and the shrinking of civic space in the country, claims that the government has always been refuting arguing that no human right has been violated and no restrictions imposed on anyone conducting their affairs while complying with the country’s laws.

But in its resolution, first of its kind to be issued against Tanzania since its establishment in 1993, the EU Parliament expressed its concern over the same thing saying that political situation in Tanzania has been deteriorating, characterised by a shrinking of the public space through the tightening of restrictions on the activities of civil society organisations, human rights defenders, the media and opposition political parties.

On that basis, the EU has reminded the Tanzanian government of its obligation, including commitments to protect the rights, dignity and physical integrity of all its citizens in all circumstances.

Following the reports on cases of attacks and assaults on journalists, gay people, human rights defenders and opposition party members, the EU has called for independent investigations to be conducted with a view to bringing suspected perpetrators to justice.

The EU has also urged the Tanzanian authorities to amend all restrictive provisions available in the country’s laws and regulations, like the Cybercrimes Act and the Electronic and Postal Communications (Online Content) Regulations, replacing them with provisions that will guarantee freedom of expression and the media in line with international human rights standards.

The Citizen’s efforts to get a comment from the government proved futile after both the minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr Augustine Mahiga, and the chief spokesman of the government, Dr Hassan Abbasi, were not reachable on the phone nor did they respond to questions sent to them via text messages.