By Evelyne Musambi, NAIROBI
Kenya
An international human rights group denounced Tanzania’s government on Monday for detaining critics and urged it to respect freedom of expression and the right to protest.
Human Rights Watch said 22
people have been detained since June for criticizing a government decision to
have a foreign logistics company manage Tanzania’s ports.
The ports agreement was
approved by Tanzania’s parliament on June 10, triggering protests in which a
number of people were arrested.
An opposition politician,
Mdude Nyagali, who is a vocal critic of the plan to give control of the
country’s ports to the United Arab Emirates company was also arrested after he
criticized the agreement at a news conference.
“The Tanzanian government’s suppression of
its critics is a troubling sign of its low tolerance for dissenting views,”
Oryem Nyeko, a Tanzania researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement
Monday.
Tanzania
has made some reforms since the death in 2021 of autocratic President John
Magufuli, who cracked down on critics and introduced draconian laws.
Current President Samia Suluhu
Hassan, who is serving out Magufuli’s term, has been accused of continuing her
predecessor’s anti-democratic policies but was lauded in 2022 for lifting a
prohibition on four newspapers that had been banned by the former leader.
Human Rights Watch said the
new government should review the repressive laws passed during Magufuli’s
administration.
“Hassan’s government has made
important progress on rights, and instead of falling back to the previous
government’s stance, it should stem this tide of repression,” Nyeko said.
The government says the ports
agreement will increase efficiency and boost revenue.
Hassan called it “a rare
opportunity” to expand the country’s economy.
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