Amnesty criticises police, but says human rights situation "not bad"

International human rights organisation Amnesty International has criticised the Tanzanian police force over cases of abuses of human rights such as the holding of prisoners in poor conditions and for the use of excessive force in breaking up peaceful demonstrations. In its report for 2003, Amnesty also highlighted the lack of prosecutions following an inquiry into the political killings in 2001 on the island of Pemba, and warned that the newly enacted anti-Terrorism Act was open to police abuse. It highlighted several cases during 2002 when the police used live ammunition and tear gas to break up non-violent demonstrations organised by opposition and Muslim groups. Demonstrators were frequently beaten and arrested for the non-violent expression of their opinions, Amnesty said. The chairman of Amnesty’s Tanzanian office, Israel Magesa, said although most demonstrators were later released, the police had to be made accountable for their acts. However, the police said they were "surprised" that Amnesty had brought up "these minor cases" as there had been a "dramatic change" in their dealings with crowds and demonstrations. "Of course we are careful to make sure that peace prevails, but as recent demonstrations have shown, there is a lot of freedom and we always allow people to express their views," Adadi Rajabu, the director of criminal investigations, told IRIN. Magesa said the overall human rights situation across the country "was not bad", but Amnesty was urging the government to ratify the convention on torture "so the police realise that they are bound by the law". A senior law lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam, Dr Palamagamba Kabudi, said that although the country may not have ratified the convention on torture, Tanzanians were bound by their constitution, which prohibits "torture, degrading and inhumane punishment". Magesa also referred to the government’s ongoing sedition case against the leader of the opposition Tanzania Labour Party, Augustine Mrema, and the attorneys for Lawyers Environmental Team, Tundu Lissu and Rugemeleza Nshala, who have alleged that artisanal miners were killed at Bulyanhulu gold mine in 1996. "The government has refused to set up a commission of inquiry," he said. "It is a pity that this government does not want to find out the truth because it makes us think there must be some truth in the allegations." However, government spokesman Peter Kallaghe said the government was confident that it was right in sticking to its position that the removal of small-scale miners, which is alleged to have led to the killings, was done "according to the law". Amnesty said that the government had acknowledged poor conditions of remand prisoners and, following the death of 17 people in an overcrowded police cell, had acted swiftly to prosecute those responsible. However, Magesa said he regretted that a report on the January 2001 killing of at least 31 opposition supporters by the security forces in political violence following elections the previous year made no recommendations for prosecutions of officers responsible for the abuses. Amnesty also raised its concern over Tanzania’s new anti-Terrorism Law, passed in parliament in November 2002, which the organisation believes is open to abuse. "It doesn't give a definition of what an act of terror is," Magesa said. "The police can arrest anyone they suspect of being a terrorist. The law is too wide, so it leaves the police to act as the judge."