Opposition activists freed in Zanzibar

After spending three years in jail without trial on treason charges, 18 activists of Zanzibar's opposition Civic United Front (CUF) party have been set free on the orders of the islands' new president, Amani Karume. The order to release them came on Thursday, a day after Karume of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party was sworn in following controversial and violent elections in Zanzibar. In his inaugural address, he had pleaded for unity and reconciliation, and vowed to resolve the case of the 18 detainees "soon". The state then declared it "had no more interest in the case". The case was highlighted by the London-based human rights organisation, Amnesty International, which described the 18 as "political prisoners" who had been detained for "their non-violent opinions and political activities". At the time, Amnesty expressed doubt that they would ever receive a fair trial in the Zanzibar judicial system and warned that they were being ill-treated in prison. One freed activist, interviewed by the BBC on Friday, said it was unlikely the move would change anything politically in the semi-autonomous islands. He believed they had been released because the new president had come under international pressure following last month's chaotic elections, and he vowed to continue his political activities. Regional analysts told IRIN the case of the 18 detained activists was an issue between the outgoing Zanzibari president, Salmin Amour, and the CUF. With Amour unable to run for a third term as president, the new leader had no interest in keeping them in jail. The CUF has refused to recognise the outcome of the Zanzibar poll which it claims was rigged in favour of the CCM and is demanding fresh elections. In a statement, Commonwealth election observers expressed "sadness and deep disappointment at the way in which so many voters were treated by the Zanzibar Electoral Commission on voting day". The poll was a "shambles" caused by "either massive incompetence or a deliberate attempt to wreck at least part of this election". Meanwhile, the Union (Zanzibar and mainland Tanzania) president, Benjamin Mkapa, who was sworn in for a second term on Thursday, pledged to cooperate with opposition parties during his forthcoming five-year tenure. He said the huge number of votes for the ruling CCM would not turn the country back into a one-party state. "Advice based on strength of argument will be received with open arms, but pressure based on argument of force and violence will be rejected," he stated during his inaugural address in Dar es Salaam. Tanzanian opposition leaders from the CUF, the United Democratic Party and the Tanzania Labour Party, have rejected Mkapa's presidency, claiming he was not elected by Zanzibaris. "Only Tanzania mainlanders voted for him," they said in a statement. Tanzania was undergoing a "political crisis" as a result of the "pressurised re-run" of votes in only 16 of Zanzibar's constituencies where irregularities had been reported, rather than in all 50, the statement added.