Rights group concern at Bulyanhulu-related charges

The international Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders has said it is "very worried" by charges of sedition against two officials of the Lawyers' Environmental Action Team (LEAT) and a leader of the opposition Tanzania Labour Party, in relation to their campaign against the alleged killing of artisanal gold miners in Bulyanhulu in August 1996. Nshala Rugemeleza, President of LEAT, and another lawyer, Tundu Lissu, faced sedition charges in court on Friday, along with Labour Party leader Augustine Mrema. The three face up to two years imprisonment if found guilty, according to the observatory, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture and the International Federation for Human Rights, known by their french acronyms OMCT and FIDH. [see www.omct.org/] The charges are linked with statements in favour of an independent investigation into Bulyanhulu, Tanzania's biggest gold mine, when some 50 miners were allegedly buried alive during the eviction by force of small scale miners and the mine's preparation for the development of large-scale production after it was taken over by foreign investors in 1996. The Tanzanian government and Barrick Gold, the Canadian company that owns the mine, have repeatedly denied the claims. The Observatory said it was "very worried by the sedition charges, which it considered arbitrary, since they only aimed at sanctioning their activities of denunciation of alleged human rights abuses against small-scale miners in Bulyanhulu, and at sanctioning LEAT's legal activities to defend victims' rights." The charges seemed to show the obstacles the authorities in Tanzania were putting in the way of an independent investigation, it added in a statement. The Observatory also deplored the alleged harassment and intimidation of LEAT members by police, and alleged pressure by the owners of the Bulyanhulu mine (Barrick Gold Corporation, based in Canada) on other organisations to stop funding support to LEAT. The Tanzania Labour Party and LEAT have been conducting independent inquiries into the Bulyanhulu allegations, and claim to have proof that artisanal miners were buried alive in 1996. Vince Borg, head of Corporate Communications at Barrick Gold, told IRIN in March that those who claimed to have evidence supporting the allegations of killings at Bulyanhulu should present it to the proper authorities. One of Tanzania’s most respected legal figures, Judge Mark Bomani, called in the same month for an independent commission into the alleged killings in 1996. Bomani, a former attorney-general, said that only an independent commission could impartially establish the truth over claims that have sporadically emerged in the press over the last five years. It called on the Tanzanian judiciary to ensure a fair and impartial trial for the accused, and on the government to guarantee respect for fundamental rights and freedoms, in accordance with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and other international norms.