Opposition party rejects report on Pemba killings

The opposition Civic Untied Front (CUF) has rejected as a "whitewash" the presidential commission of inquiry report into the police killings of opposition supporters two years ago. In his first official reaction to the commission's findings, CUF Chairman Ibrahim Lipumba told those commemorating the second anniversary of the killings that the report was "shocking" and had been used "not to investigate, but justify" the killings. "It is really a whitewash between the government and the people who were responsible for the killings," he told IRIN after the demonstration on Monday. "We do not accept the report, because it did not hold the people who carried out the killings responsible. No one is being taken to court, nor does it seem as though there is going to be a judicial inquiry into the killings." "In fact, they blame the CUF leadership for not accepting the government order not to hold the demo, even though the political parties law states that political parties just have to inform the police, rather than request permission for a demonstration." On 26 and 27 January 2001, police shot at demonstrators on Pemba, killing 22 CUF supporters who were protesting against the results of the 2000 elections, which were marred by allegation of vote rigging and intimidation. Lipumba said the report was also riddled with inaccuracies, especially with regard to the theft and destruction of property by the police, and he claimed that it covered the history of distant conflicts while it did not deal properly with the events of two years ago. As a result, he said, on 11 February, the CUF would issue its account of the events. "The issue is not closed," he said. "The president ignored our suggestions for people that had human rights experience, that were of high calibre and were independent of any political party, but we would still like to get an independent inquiry." When the report was originally issued in November, both the International Federation of Human Rights and the Dar es Salaam-based Legal and Human Rights Centre complained that the victims had not been offered compensation - as had been agreed in the Muafaka, the agreement signed between CUF and the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi - and that "the commission does not address accountability of those responsible for human rights violations". However, observers said the commission was never given the mandate to identify those responsible and deal with them accordingly, as this was considered a necessary part of the compromise for the accord to take place. Nonetheless, Lipumba said utmost efforts had to be made in order to continue the implementation of the Muafaka and ensure free and fair by-elections in May. "That we have not accepted the report does not mean that Zanzibar shouldn't have free and fair elections," he said. "This should be a test of whether we really want democratic change. The ball is on the government's side - it is they that have been delaying the implementation of what we agreed on."