[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 106 (Monday, June 25, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4365-S4367]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TANZANIA
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I rise to call attention to the trend of
increasing restrictions on basic freedoms in Tanzania, a country that
appeared to be on a path toward greater democracy and political
openness. I am deeply concerned about reports of Tanzanian security
forces' use of repressive laws, decrees, and actions to harass those
who disagree with the current regime and unattributed attacks on
democratically elected opposition party officials. I call upon the
Trump administration to increase its efforts to encourage the
government of Tanzania to support individual and collective freedoms,
freedom of expression, and civil liberties. Such norms are the
hallmarks of a healthy democracy and are among the basic rights and
duties guaranteed to Tanzania's citizens under their constitution.
These reports are troubling because, on the whole, Tanzania is among
the most stable and peaceful countries in the region. Tanzania is a top
African
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contributor of personnel to international peacekeeping operations, and
we honor the sacrifice of the Tanzanian people, who have lost nearly 50
peacekeepers during these vital missions, including 14 killed in the
Democratic Republic of Congo. It is one of the leading African
economies and had the sixth largest GDP in Africa, according to IMF
data published in April.
U.S.-Tanzanian ties have, for many years, been cordial, and U.S.
bilateral aid expanded significantly under the previous two U.S.
administrations. The U.S. has had a robust development relationship
with Tanzania, including investments in some of our premier development
programs, such as Feed the Future, the Global Health Initiative, the
Global Climate Change Initiative, Power Africa, the President's
Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief--PEPFAR--and Trade Africa. Since 1962,
Tanzania has hosted a Peace Corps program. In 2013, Tanzania also
successfully completed a Millennium Challenge Corporation, MCC, funded
Compact.
Upon taking office in October 2015, President John Pombe Magufuli
pledged to stamp out public corruption and make his government
accountable to ordinary citizens, and he has taken some steps to do so.
He made an unannounced visit to the Ministry of Finance to see civil
servants at work on his first day as President and redirected funds
from Independence Day celebrations toward anticholera operations. He
initiated corruption reviews of the Tanzanian Port Authority and
Tanzanian Revenue authority, resulting in the dissolution of an
ineffective board and purging of civil servant rolls of ``phantom
staff.'' According to AfroBarometer surveys, the government's handling
of corruption in public office has had a positive impact, reducing
citizens' perceptions of institutional corruption in key public
agencies.
By many measures, Tanzania is doing fairly well. My purpose is not to
offer gratuitous criticisms of Tanzania or its people, but to register
my strong concern that the progress of the last decade and a half in
the areas of democracy and respect for civil liberties may be
undergoing a reversal right before our eyes. Tanzania's success in
advancing economically and politically is what makes the current
political backsliding so troubling. I fear that while we are all
rightly focused on the resolving the many crises on the continent and
around the globe, the gradual downward spiral of respect for civil
liberties in Tanzania is proceeding unnoticed, unremarked, and
unchallenged by its friends and partners. As we address crises
throughout the region and the world, we must also be mindful of the
maintenance of strong democratic institutions, good governance, and
accountability which ultimately secure resilient communities.
The Magufuli Presidency has been marked by three troubling trends.
First is the rise in recent years in the harassment of opposition
political figures and restrictions on their activities. In September
2017, Tundu Lissu, a Member of Parliament--MP--and Parliamentary chief
whip of the opposition Chadema party was shot by unknown assailants and
seriously wounded. Lissu, who is also the president of the Tanganyika
Law Society, is a fierce critic of President Magufuli and his
government, but also a longstanding critic of corruption who may face
hostility from many quarters. Lissu has often been arrested for his
longstanding criticism of the government.
Other opposition Parliamentarians face police harassment. In late
September 2017, police arrested a Chadema MP after a party event, and
at least two other MPs complained that police were prohibiting meetings
with constituents.
In February of this year, the U.S. Embassy released a statement of
concern about the rise in politically related confrontations after
reports of kidnapping and violence in Tanzania that resulted in the
death of Daniel John, who was a leader of a local opposition party, and
the injury of opposition supporter Reginald Mallya.
Second is closing media space. According to the 2017 World Press
Freedom Index, published by Reporters Without Borders, RSF, Tanzania
dropped 12 places between 2016 to 2017 to 83 out of 180. While this is
the best score in east Africa, RSF stated that the climate for
journalism ``has not improved since John Magufuli's election.''
Tanzania was ranked alongside Turkey, which indicates just how
significantly Tanzania's democratic space has shrunk under the Magufuli
regime. Newspapers have faced suspension or other sanction for coverage
deemed critical of the government. In September 2017, the government
banned the publication of two newspapers, in one case for 90 days and
in another for 2 years, and 3 months after another publication was also
shuttered for 2 years. In January 2018, the Committee to Protect
Journalists reported that Tanzania's regulatory commission imposed
fines on five television stations for ostensibly ``broadcasting
seditious and unbalanced content.'' The stations were fined after
reporting on human rights abuses by security personnel and unidentified
assailants during a November 2017 ward by-election.
President Magufuli signed the controversial media services bill just
a month into his tenure. The bill replaced independent media oversight
mechanisms with a government-controlled one, and requires all
journalists to get accreditation from a government-appointed board.
This leaves them vulnerable to manipulation and undue pressure to
provide coverage favorable to the state and majority party.
In April 2016, then-Information Minister Nape Nnauye ordered a halt
to live broadcasts of Tanzania's Parliamentary proceedings, denying
journalists the ability to report accurate information and denying the
public the right to transparency from their government. In November,
President Magufuli signed in to law the Media Service Act 2016, which,
among other measures, requires media houses to ``broadcast or publish
news or issues of national importance as the government may direct,''
effectively giving the government outsize influence in controlling
media messaging. The government then moved to restrict online content
when, in September 2017, Tanzania's National Assembly passed the
Electronic and Postal Communications (Online Content) Regulations. The
regulations empower the Tanzanian Communications Regulatory Authority
to monitor and surveil online blogs and internet cafes and ban
``offensive, morally improper'' content. This restricts debate and has
a chilling effect on the expression of views critical of government.
If there is any doubt as to whether the government seeks to control
the media, we have only to look at what President Magufuli himself said
in March 2017: ``I would like to tell media owners--be careful, watch
it. If you think you have that kind of freedom, (it is) not to that
extent.'' A day later, a rap musician was arrested after he released a
song deemed insulting to the government. Magufuli's 2017 warning
followed the late 2016 arrest of a founder of a corruption-reporting
and whistle-blowing website, Jamii Forums, and a police demand that the
site reveal its users' names. The website's cofounder was charged on
several counts of obstructing justice and running an unregistered
website.
These and other actions clearly demonstrate a disturbing deliberate
government effort to censor the press and curtail the constitutionally
guaranteed freedom of expression of Tanzania's citizens. I was pleased
to see the announcement that the U.S. Agency for International
Development or USAID, which supports good governance projects around
the world, is funding a civil society and media-strengthening project
that will work with media houses and radio stations in Dar es Salaam,
Zanzibar, and other areas of the country. I am unconvinced, however,
that this well justified effort alone will be adequate to address the
broad range of worrying trends that I have outlined. I would welcome
additional efforts of a similar nature by USAID and other
organizations, such as the National Endowment for Democracy.
The third troubling trend is the closing space for civil society. In
March, the President promised to crack down on anyone who participates
in demonstrations deemed illegal by the government, vowing not to let
his economic reforms be derailed by street protests. The reforms, some
of which are not endorsed by the International Monetary Fund's most
recent economic review, include reducing tax evasion,
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halting copper concentrate exports, and banning imports of coal and
gypsum. Prior to planned antigovernment demonstrations on April 26, a
senior law enforcement official stated that ``Those who plan to
demonstrate tomorrow will seriously suffer . . . they will be beaten
like stray dogs.'' Because the Tanzanian authorities deployed a heavy
police presence and threatened to use force, the protests failed to
move forward.
Magufuli's repression extends to sexual orientation and HIV policies.
Homosexuality is illegal in Tanzania, and homosexuals and transgender
persons have repeatedly faced threatening comments by government
officials, as well as police harassment. Under previous Tanzanian
governments, the country's HIV policies called for dedicated outreach
to key populations. Such efforts have been halted under Magufuli's
government. In 2016, the government raided and closed drop-in centers
and private clinics that provide services to those in the LGBTI
community, sex workers, and people who use drugs. Several organizations
reported that the crackdown has resulted in HIV-positive men failing to
access their antiretroviral treatment, while others no longer access
testing and preventive services.
Young women also find themselves under attack, for reasons which
remain unclear. President Magufuli forcefully endorsed a law dating
back to the 1960s that allows all state schools in Tanzania to ban
young mothers from attending, saying in June 2017, ``As long as I am
president . . . no pregnant student will be allowed to return to school
. . . After getting pregnant, you are done.'' He said that young
mothers could opt for vocational training or become entrepreneurs, but
should not be permitted to pursue formal education in public schools.
Critics say the ban lacks public support, is misogynistic, and breaks
international human rights conventions. It also contradicts a promise
set out in the ruling party's 2015 election manifesto, which pledged to
allow pregnant school girls to continue with their studies. According
to the Tanzania Bureau of Statistics, about 21 percent of
Tanzanian girls aged 15 to 19 have given birth. This troubling pattern
of discouraging women from completing their education inhibits
Tanzania's potential for economic growth and undermines women's
potential to contribute to Tanzania's workforce. It also is counter to
Tanzania's commitments under the Convention on the Elimination of all
Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
Finally, Tanzania has, for decades, hosted refugees from various
conflicts and political crises in the conflict-afflicted and densely
inhabited countries in the Great Lakes region of central Africa--some
for extended periods--and has played a mediating role in attempts to
resolve such crises. In 2014, Tanzania also naturalized a large number
of long-term Burundian refugees. Instability in Burundi has led to
hundreds of thousands of Burundians to seek refuge and safety in
Tanzania. In fact, Tanzania very generously hosts 245,584 Burundian
refugees and asylum seekers, more than any other country, according to
the latest statistics from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
In July of 2017, however, President Magufuli ordered the suspension
of the registration and naturalization of thousands of Burundian
refugees. He said, ``It's not that I am expelling Burundian refugees. I
am just advising them to voluntarily return home . . . I urge
Burundians to remain in their country, I have been assured, the place
is now calm.'' During the same month, the Commission of Inquiry on
Burundi, deployed by the U.N. Human Rights Council, reported the
``persistence of serious human rights violations in a climate of
widespread fear.'' Such violations included ``extrajudicial executions,
acts of torture and other inhuman and degrading treatment, sexual and
gender-based violence, arbitrary arrests and detention and enforced
disappearances.'' With peace talks stalled in Burundi--and the May 2018
constitutional referendum accompanied by widespread violence and
intimidation, including 15 killings--Tanzania risks pushing refugees
back to unstable and unsafe communities.
The pattern of crackdowns on civil society, media, refugee, and
public health providers under the Magufuli administration are contrary
to the values that the United States has long supported both at home
and abroad and are cause for concern. It is essential that the United
States take a strong and proactive stance on these matters. Toward that
end, I recommend that the administration take several actions.
Immediately nominate an ambassador to lead our diplomatic efforts to
push back against the tide of antidemocratic actions. The post has been
vacant for well over a year.
Conduct a review of assistance aimed at ensuring that the democracy,
human rights and governance components of our bilateral assistance
programs, which are an essential complement to sustainability in other
areas of development that we support, are robustly funded and
adequately address current challenges.
Increase assistance to build the capacity of civil society and media
stakeholders in Tanzania.
Join with likeminded partners in the diplomatic community in Tanzania
and in multilateral fora to jointly condemn President Magufuli's war on
democratic freedoms and civil liberties and urge the Tanzanian
Government to take concerted action to ensure that all political and
civic rights guaranteed under the Tanzanian Constitution are fully
respected.
It seems to me that, at the same time President Magufuli is waging a
war against poor governance, there is in fact another more pernicious
effort being undertaken to roll back democratic freedoms and civil
liberties. It is imperative that the United States, as a champion of
democracy and freedom, raise its voice in support of Tanzanians who are
pushing back against growing oppression. The Tanzanian Constitution
states that ``the civic rights, duties and interests of every person
and community shall be protected.'' Let us stand with those who are
fighting to see that those guarantees are protected.
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