Since the election of President John Magufuli in December 2015 the human rights situation in Tanzania has continued to deteriorate. It is time for the international community to mobilise and speak out before things continue to get worse in the country.
Any bloggers, politicians, journalists, business people, artists or musicians that have been critical of President Magufuli have been rounded up on bogus charges. Other have been abducted and tortured whilst others have had money extorted from them.
The Daily Maverick reports that in early May 2019, Mdude Nyagali, a prominent opposition activist and popular blogger, was snatched from his office in Vwawa, a small town in the south-western Tanzanian region of Songwe.
According to his own account, he was abducted in broad daylight by armed assailants in two SUVs who fired into the air to disperse a crowd of people who rushed to his rescue.
He was bundled into one of the waiting cars which were then driven off at high speed. For the next four days, Nyagali was horribly tortured in secret locations before being dumped unconscious in the bushes in the neighbouring region of Mbeya, more than 100km away.
His release followed a national uproar over his abduction. Even though the Songwe regional police authorities denied any involvement in his abduction, strangely, they refused to open an investigation file.
This has also come with the implementation of repressive laws. For example, the 2015 Cybercrimes Act continues to impede free expression and privacy rights. In March, student activist, Abdul Nondo was charged with publishing false information after sending a WhatsApp message alerting friends and family that he had been abducted.
Nondo said he was accused by his abductors of being used by opposition parliamentarians and activists to organize student protests. Nondo had previously been critical of police conduct during a rally in February in which a student was killed.
Police dispute that he was abducted. On November 5, Nondo was acquitted.
Women and girls, particularly young mothers seeking to study, continue to face discriminatory policies.
Girls in Tanzania continue to face discrimination in education following Magufuli’s 2017 ban on pregnant girls and young mothers in schools. Many secondary school officials routinely subject girls to forced pregnancy testing as a disciplinary measure to expel pregnant students from schools.
Tanzanian schools still face a serious problem of Corporal punishment. In August, a 13-year-old schoolboy died after being beaten severely by his teacher
The government announced that it was suspending United States Agency for International Development-supported birth control-related messaging. Magufuli has argued women should give up contraception, that family planning information is unnecessary and that people should work harder to provide for their families.
Thirty-eight human and civil-rights organisations across the globe want the Tanzanian government to address the deteriorating human rights situation in the country.
In an open letter written this week to the Permanent Representatives of Member and Observer States of the United Nations Human Rights Council, the organisations are asking for action against Tanzania at the Human Rights Council’s 41st session scheduled for June 21 to July 12.