Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1991
TANZANIA
The United Republic of Tanzania is a one-party state.
Political direction for the party, the Charaa Cha Mapinduzi
(CCM), and the Government is provided by a party-chosen elite
headed by Ali Hassan Mwinyi , who became President in 1985 and
party chairman in August 1990 following the retirement of
former party chairman and president Julius K. Nyerere. The
CCM, under Mwinyi, who was reelected to a second 5-year term as
President of the Republic in October 1990, lays down
fundamental political and economic policies and monitors their
implementation. The party attempts to control activity at all
levels of society through its system of lO-family cells. The
islands of Zanzibar and Pemba are integrated into the Union's
governmental and party structure, but the Zanzibar Government
exercises a considerable degree of autonomy.
The police have primary responsibility for maintaining internal
security. They are supported by the Tanzanian People's Defense
Force (TDPF), with some 30,000 personnel, and by paramilitary
forces and a large citizens' militia. The Government has
granted quasi-legal status to citizens' patrols to counter
lawlessness, especially crime in the urban areas and cattle
rustling in the rural areas. While the armed forces
traditionally have not been a source of human rights abuses,
evidence indicates that police routinely beat suspects during
interrogations.
One of the world's poorest countries, Tanzania also has one of
the highest rates of population growth. Its overwhelmingly
agricultural economy has suffered from inefficient economic
policies and unfavorable trends in international trade.
Reforms undertaken since 1986 included higher prices paid to
farmers for their products, rescheduled foreign debt payments,
and sharp devaluations of the currency. These stimulated
growth rates, which remained at an estimated 4 to 5 percent in
1991. Zanzibar's high rate of unemployment has been a factor
in its growing separatist sentiment.
Human rights in Tanzania remain severely restricted, despite
the incorporation of a bill of rights in the Constitution in
the mid-1980 's providing, inter alia, for freedom of movement,
speech, religion, and association. Of particular concern were
reports of torture, extrajudicial killings, and corruption of
the legal system. In addition, political activity outside the
single party was tightly circumscribed. Nevertheless, 1991 saw
a markedly increased level of political criticism and debate
following President Mwinyi ' s appointment of a commission to
review Tanzania's political system and Constitution. The
Government permitted open criticism in independent newspapers
and public meetings on official corruption and political
mismanagement. In Zanzibar and Pemba, opposition campaigns
continued throughout the year against union with the mainland.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
Reports of such killings continued in 1991. Musa Membar, a
Tanzanian dissident who hijacked an Air Tanzania airliner 9
years ago and forced it to fly to London, died in Muhimbili
Hospital in Dar es Salaam on May 25. Membar, leader of the
exiled Tanzania Youth Democratic Movement, had served an 8-year
prison sentence in the United Kingdom for the highjacking. In
attempting to return to Tanzania in September 1990, he was
arrested at the border and detained without charge under the
Preventive Detention Act. According to government officials,
Membar fell seriously ill while in detention and was admitted
to Muhimbili Hospital around May 18. Officials claim that
Membar died of complications from AIDS; however, Membar '
s
brother, Yassin, and other dissidents maintain that his death
was the result either of torture or of an intentional injection
of the AIDS virus. According to British doctors, Membar tested
HIV negative prior to his release from prison in 1990. As
Membar was buried without public notice and without an autopsy
having been performed, no conclusive evidence concerning the
cause of his death is available.
The Government's possible complicity in the death in custody of
a prominent Burundi exile political dissident, Remy Gahutu,
also remained unresolved at the end of 1991. Clinical
information released after an autopsy indicated the presence of
insecticide in Gahutu 's body; government officials attributed
this to Gahutu 's years as a farmer, although traces of the
poison in stomach washings indicated recent ingestion. Prior
to his death, Gahutu had been in official custody for 17 months.
Nonpolitical extrajudicial killings occur in the form of mob
justice and vigilantism, in both urban and rural areas. In the
cities, mobs on occasion chase down a suspected thief in
response to a victim's call for help and beat the suspect to
death. Beginning in late 1990, the Minister for Home Affairs,
Augustine Mrema, established compulsory service of urban men in
traditional defense groups known as Sungusungu and Wasalama;
previously, these groups operated only in rural areas as
associations of local villagers formed to combat cattle
rustlers and other criminals. The people's militia laws, as
amended by Parliament in 1989, bestow quasi-legal status,
including powers of arrest, on the traditional Sungusungu and
Wasalama groups. However, the press in 1991 reported numerous
cases of beatings and theft by Sungusungu patrols. Prosecution
of such cases is rare and is contemplated only if beatings
cause death. In September a theft suspect was hacked to death
by the victim's neighbors in Dar es Salaam; no one was arrested
or prosecuted for the death.
b. Disappearance
There were no reported cases of disappearance.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
The Constitution prohibits the use of torture and inhuman or
degrading treatment, and government officials condemn these
practices whenever cases are made public. Police, however,
routinely threaten and beat suspected criminals just after
their apprehension in order to obtain quick confessions.
Further beatings and torture continue if the suspect does not
break down. Officials are seldom if ever tried and punished
for such abuses. Tanzanian prisons are overcrowded and
unsanitary. Local observers report that conditions are
substantially worse than Tanzania's depressed economic
conditions warrant, with prisoners forced to do hard labor with
little food and no medical care.
Numerous, credible reports of torture and mistreatment by
African National Congress (ANC) security personnel of
ANC-defector detainees and alleged South African government
spies at ANC refugee camps in Tanzania continued in 1991, even
after the ANC's announcement in May that all detainees had been
released. Since national liberation movements in Tanzania
enjoy a kind of extraterritorial status, Tanzanian officials
refuse to intervene when cases are brought to their attention.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
The Criminal Procedure Code, amended in 1985, requires that a
person arrested for a crime, other than a national security
charge under the Preventive Detention Act, be charged before a
magistrate within 24 hours and be permitted the right to
defense counsel (see Section I.e.). These amendments, however,
also restrict the right to bail, reduce the number of bailable
offenses, limit judges' discretion in granting bail, and impose
strict conditions on freedom of movement and association when
bail is granted. In a landmark case in 1991, the Court of
Appeal ruled that Section 148(5)(e) of the Act—which could be
used to deny bail to persons not considered dangerous to
society—was unconstitutional.
Under the Preventive Detention Act, the President of Tanzania,
upon written order, may order the arrest and indefinite
detention without bail of any person considered dangerous to
the public order or national security. The Act was amended in
1985 to require the Government to release detainees within 15
days of detention or inform them of the reason for their
detention. The detainee was also allowed to challenge the
grounds for detention at 90-day intervals.
Former Zanzibar Chief Minister Seif Sharif Hamad, who fell from
grace in 1988 for criticizing the party chairman and CCM
policies, was detained in May 1989 for unlawful assembly.
Following a search of his residence, he was officially charged
with illegal possession of secret government documents. The
Government of Zanzibar released Hamad on bail on November 20,
1991.
On September 5, supporters of civil rights activist James
Kapalala demonstrated against the Government's refusal to
register his civil and legal rights movement. Twenty-seven
persons were arrested, detained, and initially denied bail.
They were granted bail on September 18. On November 22,
Mapalala and two of his supporters, along with opposition
leader Chief Abdullah Fundikira and several of his supporters,
were arrested and charged with forming political parties
contrary to the Societies Ordinance. All were released later
the same day on their own recognizance.
There were no publicized or known cases of political detainees
or prisoners held at year's end. However, according to
numerous reports, police officials in the countryside
frequently lock up persons who have had disagreements with
local government or party officials. The individuals are not
charged and are usually released within a few days.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
Justice in Tanzania is widely criticized as both corrupt and
inefficient, thus bringing into question the defendant's
ability to receive a fair public trial. The legal system is
based on the British model, with modifications to accommodate
customary and Islamic law in civil cases. Criminal trials are
open to the public and the press; courts must give reasons on
the record for holding secret proceedings. Criminal defendants
have the right of appeal. Military courts do not try
civilians, and there are no security courts. Defendants in
civil and military courts may appeal decisions to the High
Court and the Court of Appeal. While the judiciary is
constitutionally mandated to operate independently from the
executive branch, the Government exerts influence in many
cases. In addition, judges who render decisions unpopular with
senior police or government officials may find themselves
subject to pressure or may be transferred and reassigned.
Government officials also routinely ignore judicial rulings.
Members of the legal community, including judicial officers,
have complained that the legal system is corrupted through
bribery. In 1991 Supreme Court Justice Moses Mwakibete became
the first Tanzanian judge ever to be tried for corruption, the
maximum penalty for which is removal from office. No decision
about the case had been rendered by the end of 1991. Police
and lower court officials are often bribed to delay the process
of investigation and trials. There are reports of prisoners
waiting 10 years because they could not bribe their way through
the system. Although the 1985 amendments to the Criminal
Procedure Code were supposed to lessen court congestion, an
average case still takes 2 to 3 years to come to trial. Cases
may be delayed even longer, during which time the defendant
often remains incarcerated under abysmal conditions.
A Ugandan citizen, Moses Oguti, claimed that he had been
imprisoned without charge for over 1 year and that his
detention had been ordered by his former employer, a charitable
nongovernmental organization known as the Mission to the Needy,
because of his threats to publicize financial mismanagement and
theft of donations. In October Minister of Home Affairs
Augustine Mrema ordered Oguti 's release and an immediate
investigation of his claims against the organization.
In 1991 the most celebrated case remained that of former
Zanzibar Chief Minister Self Sharif Hamad. After numerous
postponements and rescheduling, and repeated harassment of
Hamad's Kenyan lawyers by security officials, his trial began
in September. After 2 months of legal maneuvering, the
Government of Zanzibar released Hamad on bail on November 20,
1991. Court proceedings on the charges against him continue,
and he has been forbidden to hold or attend meetings or to
leave Zanzibar without permission. He is able, however, to
receive visitors and give interviews.
Zanzibar's court system generally parallels the mainland's
legal system, but retains Islamic courts to handle Muslim
family cases such as divorce, child custody, and inheritance.
Cases concerning Zanzibar constitutional issues are heard only
in Zanzibar's courts. All other cases may be appealed to the
Court of Appeal of the United Republic of Tanzania.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence
Although party membership is voluntary (an estimated 2.1
million Tanzanians are CCM members), the party structure
permeates the private lives of all citizens. The CCM has party
cadres at all levels of society. Individual cells vary in size
from single-family homes to large apartment buildings, and may
contain from 10 to 200 persons. Unpaid "10-cell" leaders are
the party officials responsible for resolving problems at the
grassroots level and reporting to authorities any suspicious
behavior, event, or noncompliance with compulsory night patrol
service within their neighborhoods.
The Criminal Procedure Act of 1985 authorizes police officials
(including members of the people's militia) to issue search
warrants; however, the Act also authorizes searches of persons
and premises without a warrant if necessary to prevent the loss
or destruction of evidence connected with an offense or if
circumstances are serious and urgent. In practice, warrants
are rarely requested, and police and other security services
search private homes and business establishments at will.
Tanzanian security services monitor the telephones of many
Tanzanian citizens, such as journalists and academics, and
scrutinize correspondence. The security services also closely
monitor the activities of foreign residents.
Various ordinances allow the removal of "undesirable" or
destitute persons from one area to their prior place of
residence or origin if no work is found for them (see Sections
2 . d . and 6 . c . ).
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
Freedom of speech and press is provided for under the
Constitution. However, these rights have been restricted in
practice, although somewhat less so in 1991, and the Government
and the party maintain powerful levers to control the press.
There is substantial government and party ownership and control
of the media.
Former party chairman Nyerere initiated a wide-ranging public
debate over the merits of Tanzania's one-party political system
in February 1990, which continued throughout 1991. Much of
this debate was covered in the government-owned media but was
discussed more extensively in the several privately owned
newspapers. These newspapers contained political articles
severely critical of the Government and party and provided
coverage of statements by Tanzania's few outspoken dissidents.
Government and party newspapers also printed critical articles
and letters, and reported critics' press conferences and
statements.
The mainland Government owns the only English-language daily
newspaper, the national press agency (Shihata), and the
mainland radio facility. The Zanzibar Government operates a
radio station and a television station. The Swahil i-language
newspaper Uhuru, which has a daily circulation of 100,000, is
owned by the party. The Newspaper Act allows government
seizure without a warrant of any publication and withdrawal of
the license to publish at any time. Despite these
restrictions, a privately owned weekly business newspaper and
three tabloid-format newspapers that cover political topics are
now being published.
The official media, representating the CCMs ideological
stance, publicize and defend the party's and the Government's
programs based upon extensive guidance from the Ministry of
Information. Editorials are often written by senior government
officials. There is no formal censorship, but journalists,
even in the new, more liberal atmosphere, still exercise
considerable self-censorship in criticizing government policies
or officials. In August the Government announced plans to form
a press council, ostensibly to handle complaints against the
press and to uphold standards of professionalism in
journalism. However, many journalists expressed concern that
the council will institutionalize the Government's latent
censorship.
Visiting foreign journalists must register with, and obtain a
permit from, -the Government which can be a time-consuming
process, sometimes requiring intervention from a high-level
official. The importation of foreign publications is permitted.
Academic freedom is officially assured, but restricted in
practice. Most academics are employed in government-run
institutions and have hesitated to broach sensitive subjects in
their classrooms and publications. On May 12, 1990, the
University of Dar Es Salaam was closed by the Government
following student boycotts over questions of corruption, poor
facilities, and representation. After the expulsion of 13
student leaders, the university reopened in January 1991. In
April the popular Vice Chancellor of the University of Dar es
Salaam was removed over the protests of faculty and students
and given an alternate assignment by President Mwinyi , who also
serves as Chancellor of the University. In July three
outspoken professors at the University were transferred to
positions at other institutions; after another public outcry,
one transfer was rescinded and a second changed to an
attractive diplomatic assignment. Students, formerly forced to
join party-controlled organizations, began to form their own
associations in 1990-1991.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
Although Tanzanians enjoyed an unprecedented opportunity in
1991 to freely discuss political alternatives, the Government
continued to restrict freedom of assembly and association.
Under the Societies Ordinance, any new association must be
approved by the Ministry of Home Affairs. In the countryside,
peasant farmers are required to join agricultural cooperative
societies controlled by the ruling party, which have forced
farmers to sell their crops at below-market prices, to buy
products from government monopolies, and to accept lengthy
delays—up to 2 years—in payments. No competing organizations
have been approved.
Permits must be obtained from the Government for any public
meeting, political or otherwise, and are normally granted if
the meeting is for a nonpolitical purpose. However, requests
from multiparty advocates to hold seminars in several regions
of the country were rejected in late 1991. Multiparty
advocates called off a planned mid-November demonstration in
support of President Chiluba's election in Zambia after senior
government officials announced the police would forcibly
prevent the assembly. In March, the Administrator General of
Trustees revoked the registration of the Tanzania Legal
Education Trust (Tanlet) after multiparty advocates proposed to
hold a seminar under its sponsorship. Tanlet filed suit in the
High Court to block the deregistration; at the end of 1991, the
case was still pending.
After repeated unsuccessful attempts to register his civil and
legal rights organization, a leading dissident, James Mapalala,
called for a public demonstration to protest the Ministry of
Home Affairs' refusals; 27 of the demonstrators were arrested
(see Section l.d.). Mapalala officially declared the
establishment of a new political party, called the Civic
Movement, on November 6; on November 22, he and two of his
supporters were arrested and charged with forming a political
party contrary to the Societies Ordinance. Another opposition
figure. Chief Abdullah Fundikira, and several of his supporters
were arrested the same day. Fundikira had previously announced
his intention to form a political party in early 1992. All six
were released on their own recognizance the same day. In late
December, the Minister of Home Affairs formally rejected
Fundikira 's application to register the UMD as a legal
association and threatened further legal action against UMD
organizers.
A number of professional, business, legal, and medical
associations exist, but have only begun to address political
topics. Candidates for office in major sports clubs and
cooperatives are screened by the appropriate government
ministry, which also supervises their elections.
c. Freedom of Religion
Freedom of religion is provided for in the Constitution and is
respected in practice. Missionaries are allowed to enter the
country freely to proselytize, and Tanzanians are allowed to go
abroad for pilgrimages and other religious purposes. The
Jehovah's Witnesses, who were banned in Tanzania for many
years, have been allowed to return and to register as an
organization and have been permitted to proselytize since 1988.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
Apart from the Zanzibari requirement for documentation for
travel between Zanzibar and the mainland, short-term travel
generally is not restricted within Tanzania, but citizens must
follow national employment directives stipulating the nature of
employment and location of residence. For years city dwellers
unable to show proof of employment during police checks have
been forced to return to rural areas as the Government has
sought to control increasing pressure on urban resources.
Despite official policy (and constitutional guarantees) of
freedom of movement and settlement, in some areas party
officials still force peasants to live and work in collective
(Ujamaa) villages. The Human Resources Deployment Act of 1983
requires local governments to ensure that every resident within
their areas of jurisdiction engages in productive and lawful
employment. Those not so employed are subject to transfer to
another area where employment is available.
Passports for foreign travel can be difficult to obtain. Tax
clearances and approval from the central bank are required in
order to buy airline tickets, and those planning to travel or
emigrate are subject to intense scrutiny by police and tax
authorities. Tanzanians who leave the country without
authorization are subject to prosecution on their return. The
Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act empowers the courts to try
Tanzanians who commit offenses outside the country. Although
it is legally possible for citizenship to be revoked, there
have been no reports that this has been done in recent years.
Parliament passed a bill in 1986 requiring the registration and
identification of everyone over the age of 10 who resides in
Tanzania, apparently in an effort to control foreign
businessmen.
With some exceptions, Tanzania generally has a liberal policy
towards refugees and displaced persons. At the end of 1991,
there were an estimated 265,000 refugees and displaced persons
in Tanzania, with the largest group (200,000) from Burundi. In
1989, 15 Burundian refugees, whose repatriation was requested
by the Burundi Government for allegedly plotting against it,
were jailed by a Tanzanian ministry order. One of the 15, the
leader of the Burundi opposition group Palipehutu, died in
detention in August 1990 (see Section l.a.). In July 1991, the
others were rqleased from jail and sent to a refugee settlement
in southern Tanzania. Since the settlement is otherwise
composed of Mozambican refugees, the transfer was seen as an
attempt to keep the group isolated fom the rest of the Burundi
refugee community which is located in the far western part of
the country. All Somali refugees who had been detained in 1990
awaiting a decision on their status were released from prison
in early 1991 as new waves of refugees from Somalia entered the
country. Kenyans are denied access to asylum procedures in
Tanzania. Toward the end of the year, South African exiles who
have extraterritorial status in Tanzania began to be
repatriated to South Africa.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change Their Government
The Tanzanian people cannot legally remove the party in power
or change the one-party system. However, in 1991 there were
growing pressures, including within the party, for a multiparty
political system. Multiparty advocates were led by the
National Committee for Constitutional Reform (NCCR) . In late
1991, opposition leader James Mapalala announced the formation
of a new political party called the Civic Movement. The former
Chairman of the NCCR, Chief Abdullah Fundikira, also announced
his intention to form a political party in early 1992, to be
called the Union for Multiparty Democracy. Both Mapalala and
Fundikira were arrested on November 22 and charged with
violation of the Societies Ordinance, then released on the same
day (see Section 2.b.) While the Government exercised
restraint in responding to these challenges, official
pronouncements made it clear that one-party rule would continue
to be enforced, at least until the recommendations of the
presidential commission are released in March 1992 (see
below). In this context, on the mainland wide-ranging debate
and discussion have been officially encouraged. In Zanzibar
and Pemba, however, attempts to organize political activity
against union with the mainland continued to be suppressed.
All candidates for Parliament must be party members; any member
of Parliament stripped of party membership loses his or her
seat in Parliament. A 1985 amendment to the Constitution
allows voters to choose between two CCM-selected candidates for
75 percent of the 255 seats in the union Parliament. The
remaining 25 percent are appointed by the Government and
party-related organizations. Candidates are vetted and
approved by the CCM Central Committee, which often ignores the
preferences expressed by local party caucuses. Elections for
both the Presidency and Parliament are held every 5 years, most
recently in 1990.
While voting is by secret ballot, reliable observers report
that CCM officials ensure that the correct candidates are
elected by appropriate majorities. Many Zanzibaris, for
example, believe that the 1985 and 1990 elections in the
islands were fraudulent. During the elections on Zanzibar,
reliable observers noted that public sector employees were told
to register to vote or face dismissal, and some 400 civil
servants in Pemba who refused to register to vote were sent
home on compulsory leave without pay. Most were reinstated in
1991; however, many were rehired at lower level positions than
those they had held previously. Zanzibar election procedures
are similar to those for the mainland, with the final selection
being made by the Central Committee of the CCM, thus allowing
the mainland CCM leadership to decide who will hold office.
In February President Mwinyi appointed a commission, led by the
Chief Justice of the High Court, to gather public opinion on
the appropriate political system for Tanzania and to report to
him by March 1992 on recommendations for changes, if any, in
the system and Constitution. Repeated, reliable reports
indicated that local party officials often seek to harass and
intimidate persons who make antiparty statements to the
commission. However, by the end of the year, statements by a
variety of government and CCM officials indicated the
acceptance of an expected recommendation to open the political
system to competing parties.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
Because of government opposition (see Section l.d.), there are
no local groups devoted solely to monitoring human rights
abuses in Tanzania. The Government resents outside inquiries
into alleged violations of human rights. Representatives of
international human rights groups have visited Tanzania, but
persons they interviewed were subsequently questioned by the
police. The New York-based Lawyers Committee For Human Rights
issued a 7-page circular on the continued imprisonment of
former Zanzibar Chief Minister Self Sharif Hamad, which was
distributed widely.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Language, or Social Status
The Constitution does not permit discrimination based on
nationality, tribe, origin, political affiliation, color,
religion, or lifestyle. However, the Barabaig people of
central Tanzania have been subject for many years to government
discrimination. The Barabaig and their attorneys maintain that
the Government has illegally dispossessed them of their
traditional lands in order to implement a government-run
agricultural project. They have also accused project employees
of beating them, killing their cattle, and despoiling tribal
graves and religious sites. The Government has suppressed
attempts by the local independent press to cover the story; it
has also resisted Barabaig efforts to seek legal redress.
The Asian community has declined by 50 percent in the past
decade to about 40,000 (plus 4,000 in Zanzibar). A
business-oriented minority in a society historically committed
to socialist policies and remaining both culturally and
economically exclusive, the Asians are regarded with
considerable antipathy by many African Tanzanians, in part
because of the Asian community's disproportionate influence in
key sectors of the economy. Despite this, there are no laws or
official policies discriminating against them. As the
Government's economic policies evolve and greater stress is
given to the private sector, Asians are encouraged to invest in
areas previously reserved for the public sector and are a force
in the reawakening economy.
Both party and government constitutions endorse equality in the
workplace. Nevertheless, strong traditional norms still divide
labor along sexual lines and place women in a subordinate
position. Women face widespread discrimination in access to
educational opportunities, for example, and in the countryside
are largely relegated to farming and raising children.
Statistics for 1979, the latest available, showed 97 percent of
economically active women were engaged in agriculture, the vast
majority on small family farms.
Progress on women's rights has been more noticeable in urban
areas, where traditional values are weaker, but even there and
in the public sector, which employs 80 percent of the salaried
labor force, certain statutes restrict their access to some
jobs or their hours of employment. According to a 1986
estimate, women constituted less than 14 percent of the wage
employment sector, and in 1991 most women were still
concentrated in lower salaried civil service positions such as
clerks, secretaries, and telephone operators. A manpower
survey showed that women occupied 20.1 percent of high and
midlevel positions, but they have little access to
decisionmaking positions.
The overall situation for women is even less favorable in
heavily Muslim Zanzibar. Women there and in many parts of the
country face discriminatory restrictions on inheritance and
ownership of property because of concessions by the Government
and courts to customary and Islamic law. While provisions of
the Marriage Act provide for certain inheritance and property
rights for women, application of customary. Islamic, or
statutory law depends on the lifestyle and stated intentions of
the male head of household. The courts have thus upheld
discriminatory inheritance claims, primarily in rural areas
where individuals practice a traditional lifestyle.
Violence against women is widespread. Legal remedies exist but
in practice are difficult to obtain. Traditional customs
subordinating women remain strong in both urban and rural areas
and are often upheld by local magistrates. The husband has a
free hand to treat his wife as he wishes, and wife beating
occurs at all levels of society. The Government has no
programs to inhibit this abuse.
Although officially discouraged by the Government, female
circumcision is still performed in approximately 20 of the
country's 130 mainland ethnic groups. Government officials
have called for changes in customs which adversely affect
women, but no legislation has been introduced which would
specifically restrict the practice of female circumcision. In
1991 a woman, accused of murder after a girl on whom she had
performed a circumcision died, was discharged by a High Court
justice. Seminars sponsored by various governmental and
nongovernmental organizations are regularly held in an attempt
to educate the public on the dangers of these and other
traditional practices. Health authorities state the practice
is declining, but nongovernmental sources maintain it is on the
rise, especially in central Tanzania.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
Workers do not have the right to form or join organizations of
their own choice. The right of association is still limited to
one labor union organization, formerly named JUWATA and now
named the Organization of Tanzania Trade Unions (OTTU), to
which all unionized workers belong. In August at an
extraordinary congress representatives of JUWATA declared the
federation's independence and the end of its former role as a
mass organization of the country's sole political party, the
CCM, while at the same time pledging continued affiliation to
the party. Legislation institutionalizing the restructuring of
the trade union federation under the new name of OTTU was
introduced in Parliament in late October. The bill drew wide
criticism from the legal community, some Members of Parliament,
and others for denying the right of workers to form their own
trade union or unions. JUWATA has since been officially
renamed OTTU, though its organization and policies remain
unchanged.
OTTU, like its predecessor JUWATA, represents approximately 60
percent of the workers in industry and govern.Tient but in
reality has little influence on labor policy. Most business
and labor leaders doubt that OTTU will actively protect worker
rights during the projected 3-year transitional, restructuring
period, culminating in union general elections in 1994.
Workers have the legal right to strike only after complicated
and protracted mediation and conciliation procedures leading
ultimately to the Industrial Court. The Industrial Court
receives direction from the Minister of Labor and Youth
Development (who was also the Secretary-General of JUWATA until
July). If OTTU is not satisfied with the decision of the
Industrial Court, it can then conduct a legal strike. These
procedures can prolong a dispute for months without resolving
it. Pending a resolution, frustrated workers often stage
impromptu wildcat strikes and walkouts.
Although most strikes are in effect illegal (there were no
legal strikes in 1991), there were no reports of government
prosecutions against workers involved in walkouts and
disputes. However, in April two representatives of
approximately 60 primary teachers in Kigoma rural district were
detained by the police and forced to give statements after an
alleged illegal meeting over salary grievances. Work stoppages
by doctors at Muhimbili medical center in July, teachers at the
college of business education in August, nurses and other
workers at Aga Khan Hospital in Dar es Salaam in September, and
workers at the Kwimba district hospital in Mwanza in September
did not result in arrests or prosecutions.
OTTU has not changed JUWATA ' s policy of limiting its
international affiliations to regional and pan-African trade
union organizations, including the Organization of African
Trade Union Unity and a newly created East African National
Trade Unions Consultative Council.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
Collective bargaining is protected by law but limited to the
private sector. Wages for employees of the Governm.ent and
state-owned organizations, which account for the vast bulk of
the salaried labor force, are set by the Government; OTTU does
not bargain collectively on behalf of government employees.
Although OTTU may negotiate on behalf of most private sector
employees with the Association of Tanzania Em.ployers,
collective agreements must be submitted to the Industrial Court
for approval. The Committee of Experts (COE) of the
International Labor Organization (ILO) observed again in 1991
that these provisions are not in conformity with ILO Convention
98 on Collective Bargaining and the Right to Organize. There
are no export processing zones in Tanzania.TA.NZANIA
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
The Employment Ordinance prohibits forced labor. However, for
a number of years the COE has observed that provisions of
various Tanzanian laws are incompatible with ILO Conventions 29
and 105 on forced labor. Again in 1991, the ILO's June
conference criticized the Government's failure to amend the
offend'^ng laws despite the fact that a drafting effort has been
under way for several years. Specifically, the Human Resources
Deployment Act (1983) requires every local government authority
to ensure that able-bodied persons over 15 years of age not in
school engage in productive or other lawful employment. In the
past, massive police raids were used to round up persons who
had no evidence of employment. The law has recently been
interpreted more leniently, but concern over the high crime
rate and the increase in the number of street beggars
encouraged the Government to again conduct police raids against
the urban unemployed, including a May roundup of beggars in Dar
es Salaam. Many regional and district authorities pass laws
requiring farmers to plant specified cash and food crops and to
keep minimum acreages under cultivation. Penalties for
violating these requirements include fines and imprisonment.
Enforcement of such laws tends to be haphazard at best, however.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
By law children under the age of 15 are prohibited from
working, but this provision applies only to the formal wage
sector in both urban and rural areas and not to chilaren
working on family farms or herding domestic livestock. Persons
between the ages of 15 and 18 may be employed, provided the
work is safe and not injurious to health, but they are not
allowed to work between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. Enforcement by the
Ministry of Labor and Youth Development in the formal wage
sector is good but sporadic to nonexistent in the rapidly
growing informal sector.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
There is a legal minimum wage for employment in the formal
sector which was increased in July. However, OTTU often
negotiates higher minimum wages on an employer-by-employer
basis, depending on the financial status of the business. A
worker paid at the minimum rate, even when supplemented with
various benefits such as housing and transport allowances and
food subsidies, could not provide an adequate standard of
living for a family.
In July President Mwinyi announced a change from a 6-day
workweek to a 5-day, 40-hour workweek for government
employees. Most private employers retained a 6-day, 40-hour
workweek schedule for workers. Working hours in the private
sector are regulated. In general, women may not be employed
between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Several laws regulate safety in the
workplace, and an occupational health and safety factory
inspection system, set up with the assistance of the ILO, is in
place, managed by the Ministry of Labor and Youth Development.
Its effectiveness, however, is minimal. OTTU officials have
claimed that enforcement of labor standards is fairly effective
in the formal sector, but no verification studies have been
performed. Local observers note that enforcement of labor
standards is nonexistent in the informal sector.
