Roving Journalist
JF Roving Journalist
- Apr 18, 2017
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OPEN LETTER
TUNDU LISSU’S RETURN TO TANZANIA:
GOVERNMENT CONDUCT TO BE CLOSELY MONITORED AND
DOCUMENTED; POTENTIAL ACTS OF HARASSMENT,
INTERFERENCE, OR VIOLENCE WILL RESULT IN CONSEQUENCES
ADDRESSED TO:
Simon Sirro, Inspector General of Police; Diwani Athumani Msuya, Director General of the Tanzania
Intelligence and Security Service; Lazaro Mambosasa, Dar es Salaam Special Zone Regional Police
Commander; Biswalo Mganga, Director of Public Prosecutions; Robert Boaz, Director of Criminal
Investigations, Tanzania Police Force; Liberatus Sabas, Director of Operations, Tanzania Police Force;
Brigadier General John Mbungo, Director General of Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau; General Venance Mabeyo, Chief of Tanzania Defence Forces; Aboubakar Kunenge, Dar Es Salaam Regional Commissioner
CC:
António Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations; Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; David Kaye, UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression; The Rt Hon Patricia
Scotland QC, Commonwealth Secretary-General; Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa and
2020 head of the African Union; Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union
Commission; Josep Borrell, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy; Dominic Raab, Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom; Steven T. Mnuchin, United States Secretary of Treasury
23 July 2020
Honourable Officials,
Amsterdam & Partners LLP is profoundly and urgently concerned for the safety and security of our client and opposition leader, Mr. Tundu Lissu upon his planned return to the country scheduled for the 27th of July 2020. Mr. Lissu narrowly survived an assassination attempt in 2017 in which he was shot 16 times following public criticism of the government. He was subsequently denied of his statutory medical benefits and was eventually stripped of his parliamentary seat while still undergoing medical treatment and therapeutic care.
Mr. Lissu has now declared his intention to return to Tanzania and to campaign for the presidency of the United Republic of Tanzania in the forthcoming general elections. We demand that Mr. Lissu’s constitutional rights to freedom of expression, assembly and movement are respected and not infringed nor interfered upon by the Government of Tanzania or its security agencies. We expect that the Government of Tanzania and its security agencies will afford Mr. Lissu with the necessary personal protection, especially given the fact that he has already been a victim of a failed but unresolved assassination attempt.
With this letter, we notify you of our intention to hold accountable all public servants in the current administration of the Government of Tanzania with regard to the human rights, civil rights, and physical safety of the opposition leader and MP Mr. Tundu Lissu upon his planned return to the country scheduled for the 27th of July 2020.
Unfortunately, the current leadership has acted with brazen impunity with regard to human rights, and especially with regard to its treatment of the legitimate democratic opposition. Leaders, members and activists of the democratic opposition have been murdered, abducted and forcibly disappeared, tortured or persecuted through the use of trumped up and politically-motivated criminal charges and falsely imprisoned. Amnesty International has described these attacks and arrests as “a calculated move to harass and intimidate the opposition and critics ahead of elections, restrict their human rights and limit their campaigning.”1
According to the 2020 Human Rights Watch country report on Tanzania, Magufuli’s government has abused its powers under the Registrar of Political Parties to “demand information from political parties, to suspend individual members of political parties, and required institutions or individuals to get approval from the Registrar to conduct civic education, or face criminal sanctions including imprisonment or fines.”2 Soon after this report was released, at least nine prominent opposition party members were heavily fined on dubious charges for sedition, incitement to violence, and holding an unsanctioned rally.
Meanwhile, the Magufuli and the Chama Cha Mapinduzi administration has shown no tolerance for criticism of their abuses and no willingness to uphold transparency. In 2018, the European Union was forced to recall its ambassador to Tanzania, citing “the deterioration of the human rights and rule of law situation.”
As the international legal team acting on behalf of Mr. Lissu, we notify the potential human rights abusers within the government that their actions will have permanent consequences. Should Mr. Lissu’s rights be violated upon his return, it is our intention to file immediately for measures in response before all relevant local, regional, and multilateral bodies. This would include but not be limited to mechanisms for ensuring the respect by Tanzania of its domestic and international obligations to protect human rights.
This set of potential responses to any harassment or interference with Mr. Lissu’s rights will also entail applications against Tanzanian law enforcement officials for sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act
1
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/06/tanzania-opposition-politicians-arrested-ascrackdown/
2 World Report 2020: Rights Trends in Tanzania
3
against state officials facilitating human rights abuses or corruption.4 The potential ramifications of these sanctions are designed as a powerful deterrent against individuals who are deemed responsible for abuses of the law. Such individuals in Tanzania could face the freezing of bank accounts, seizures of assets held internationally, and revocations of travel visas for them and their families. Many Tanzanian officials and their proxies choose to do their banking internationally, hold assets abroad, and send their children to study in the United Kingdom, the EU, and the USA. If sanctions are applied against such Tanzanian officials, they would not be able to travel to Europe or the United States and would be barred from accessing the international financial system in countries which enforce such sanctions laws.
We are thus counting upon the authorities in Tanzania to respect Mr. Lissu’s rights from the moment of his return and not to impede him, directly or indirectly, from exercising his rights in seeking election to the presidency.
Sincerely,
Robert R. Amsterdam
Founding Partner, Amsterdam & Partners LLP
4
Global Magnitsky Act - United States Department of State
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BARUA YA WAZI
TUNDU LISSU KURUDI TANZANIA:
Barua hii imeelekezwa kwa watu wafuatao
Simon Sirro, Inspekta Mkuu wa Polisi; Diwani Athumani Msuya, Mkurugenzi Mkuu wa Ushauri na Usalama wa Tanzania; Lazaro Mambosasa, Kamanda wa Polisi Kanda Maalum ya Dar es Salaam; Biswalo Mganga, Mkurugenzi wa Mashtaka ya Umma; Robert Boaz, Mkurugenzi wa Upelelezi wa Makosa ya Jinai, Jeshi la Polisi Tanzania; Liberatus Sabas, Mkurugenzi wa Operesheni, Jeshi la Polisi Tanzania; Brigadier General John Mbungo, Mkurugenzi Mkuu wa Kuzuia na Kupambana na Rushwa; Jenerali Venance Mabeyo, Mkuu wa Majeshi ya Ulinzi ya Tanzania; Aboubakar Kunenge, Mkuu wa Mkoa wa Dar Es Salaam
Lakini vile vile watu wafuatao wamekuwa copied ili wawe na taarifa ya barua hii
António Guterres, Katibu Mkuu wa Umoja wa Mataifa; Michelle Bachelet, Kamishna Mkuu wa Haki za Binadamu wa UN; David Kaye, mwandishi wa habari maalum wa UN juu ya uhuru wa kujieleza; Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC, Katibu Mkuu wa Jumuiya ya Madola; Cyril Ramaphosa, Rais wa Afrika Kusini na mkuu wa Jumuiya ya Afrika; Moussa Faki Mahamat, Mwenyekiti wa Tume ya Umoja wa Afrika; Josep Borrell, Mwakilishi wa juu wa Muungano wa Mambo ya nje na sera ya Usalama; Dominic Raab, Katibu wa Mambo ya nje wa Uingereza; Steven T. Mnuchin, Katibu wa Hazina wa Merika
23 Julai 2020
Waheshimiwa viongozi,
Amsterdam & Partner LLP inajali sana na kwa haraka sana usalama na usalama wa mteja wetu na kiongozi wa upinzaji, Bwana Tundu Lissu juu ya kurudi kwake nchini iliyopangwa kufanyika tarehe 27 Julai 2020. Bwana Lissu alinusurika sana na jaribio la mauaji mnamo 2017 ambapo alipigwa risasi mara 16 kufuatia kukosoa serikali kwa umma. Baadaye alinyimwa gharama za matibabu zilizopo kisheria na mwishowe alinyang'anywa kiti chake cha ubunge wakati bado alikuwa akipatiwa matibabu.
Bwana Lissu sasa ametangaza nia yake ya kurudi Tanzania na kufanya kampeni ya urais wa Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania katika uchaguzi mkuu ujao. Tunataka kwamba haki ya kikatiba ya Mheshimiwa Lissu ya uhuru wa kujieleza, kusanyiko na harakati zinaheshimiwa na hazivunjiwi wala kuingiliwa na Serikali ya Tanzania au vyombo vyake vya usalama. Tunatarajia kwamba Serikali ya Tanzania na vyombo vyake vya usalama vitampa mheshimiwa Lissu usalama wake kibinafsi unaofaa, haswa ikizingatiwa ukweli kwamba tayari alikuwa mwathirika wa jaribio la mauaji lililoshindwa lakini Halijachukuliwa hatua yoyote
Kwa barua hii, tunakuarifu kuhusu nia yetu ya kuwajibika kwa wafanyakazi wote wa umma katika usimamizi wa sasa wa Serikali ya Tanzania kuhusu haki za binadamu, haki za raia, na usalama wa mwili wa kiongozi wa upinzaji na mbunge Mheshimiwa Tundu Lissu juu ya mpango wake wa kurudi nchini uliopangwa kufanyika tarehe 27 Julai 2020.
Kwa bahati mbaya, uongozi wa sasa umekuwa na matendo ambayo hayajari haki za binadamu, na haswa kuhusu suala la uhalali wa demokrasia . Viongozi, wanachama na wanaharakati wa upinzani wameuawa, kutekwa nyara na kupotezwa, kuteswa au kuteswa kupitia utumizi wa mashtaka ya jinai yanayosababishwa na kisiasa na kufungwa jela kwa uwongo. Amnesty International imeelezea mashambulio haya na kukamatwa ni hatua iliyohesabiwa ya kuwanyanyasa na kuwatisha wapinzani na wakosoaji kabla ya uchaguzi, ina nia ya kuzuia haki zao za kibinadamu na kupunguza kasi ya wao kufanya kampeni.
Kulingana na ripoti ya nchi ya Haki ya Binadamu ya 2020 kuhusu Tanzania, serikali ya Magufuli imetumia nguvu zake chini ya Msajili wa Vyama vya Siasa kudai habari kutoka vyama vya siasa, kusimamisha wanachama wa vyama vya siasa, na ikazitaka taasisi au watu binafsi kupata idhini kutoka kwa Msajili haki ya kutoa elimu kwa raia, usipofanya ivo itakuwa ni kosa la jinai ikiwa ni pamoja na kufungwa au kulipa faini. ”Mara tu baada ya sheria hii kutolewa, wanachama tisa wa vyama vya upinzaji walitakiwa kulipa faini kubwa kwa tuhuma mbaya za uchochezi, uchochezi wa vurugu, na kufanya mkutano usio na ukweli.
Wakati huo huo, Magufuli na utawala wa chama cha mapinduzi umeonyesha kutokuvumilia kukosolewa na hakuna nia ya kudumisha uwazi. Mnamo mwaka wa 2018, Jumuiya ya Ulaya ililazimika kumkumbuka balozi wake nchini Tanzania, ikitoa mfano wa "kuzorota kwa haki za binadamu na utawala wa kisheria."
Kama timu ya kimataifa ya kisheria inayohusika kwa niaba ya mheshimiwa Lissu, tunawajulisha wanyanyasaji wa haki za binadamu ndani ya serikali kwamba hatua zao zitakuwa ni za muendelezo Iwapo haki za Mheshimiwa Lissu zitavunjwa wakati wa kurudi kwake, ni kusudi letu kuwasilisha malalamiko mara moja kwa hatua zaidi mbele ya vyombo vyote vya kitaifa, kikanda na vya kimataifa. Hii itajumuisha lakini isiwe na mipaka ya mifumo ya kuhakikisha heshima ya Tanzania kwa majukumu yake ya ndani na ya kimataifa kulinda haki za binadamu.
Mjumlisho huu tutakao uwasilisha utatoa majibu kwa unyanyasaji wowote au kuingiliwa kwa haki za Mr lissu kama kizuizi chenye nguvu dhidi ya watu wanaodhaniwa kuwajibika kwa ukiukwaji wa sheria. Watu kama hao nchini Tanzania wanaweza kukabiliana na kufungia kwa akaunti za benki, kunyakua mali zao zilizowekwa nje ya nchi, na kufungiwa kwa visa vya kusafiri kwao na kwa familia zao. tunajua Maafisa wengi wa Kitanzania na washirika wana benki nje ya nchi, wanamiliki mali nje ya nchi, na wanapeleka watoto wao kusoma huko Uingereza, EU, na USA. Ikiwa vikwazo vitatolewa dhidi ya maafisa hawa wa Tanzania wanavunja haki za binadam hawataweza kusafiri kwenda Ulaya au Amerika na watazuiliwa kuingia kwenye mfumo wa kifedha wa kimataifa katika nchi zinazotekelezea sheria za vikwazo.
Kwa hivyo tunawataka viongozi wa Tanzania kuheshimu haki za Mheshimiwa Lissu tangu wakati wa kurudi kwake na sio kumzuia kwa njia ya moja kwa moja au njia isiyo ya moja kwa moja wamuache apate haki yake katika kufanya uchaguzi wa urais.
Kwa dhati,
Robert R. Amsterdam
Founding Partner, Amsterdam & Partners LLP
Imetafasiliwa na
Frank Joshua
Katibu mwenezi (w) kahama
K/katibu Bavicha mkoa Shinyanga
