By Our Correspondent, NAIROBI
Kenya
Tanzanian opposition leader, Tundu Lissu, says the citizens of his country have the biggest task to end impunity and police brutality by electing the right leaders.
CHADEMA Vice Chairman Lissu
said electing good leaders was the first step in addressing the persistent
problem of human rights violations.
He spoke in Nairobi on Tuesday
as Tanzania prepares for municipal elections in November amid kidnappings,
torture and arbitrary arrests of opposition leaders and civil society
activists.
The police were blamed for the
incidents but denied responsibility.
“If the government does not
take action, we the people should take action and elect a government that will
look after the interests of the people,” Mr Lissu said.
He said citizens must examine
the reasons and factors behind kidnappings with a view to reforming Tanzania’s
legal system to prevent such occurrences.
“Besides electing another government, we must ask what contributed to these heinous crimes of the government. What kind of environment has contributed to kidnappings and police brutality, because you can elect another government only to realize it’s worse than the last. If citizens have the right to life, crimes of this nature should be thoroughly investigated in accordance with our Constitution, laws and legal frameworks.”
“We should also interrogate
the circumstances under which our security apparatus operates with a view to
ending it.”
Mr. Lissu condemned the
abductions and enforced disappearances of Tanzanians.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan
also condemned the killings but asked foreign diplomats to steer clear of the
issue as investigations continue.
Mr. Lissu was the victim of
attacks by suspected security agents. In 2017, he survived an assassination
attempt that left him hospitalized abroad for months, first in Kenya and later
in Belgium. His attackers were never identified or arrested.
On Tuesday, Mr Lissu said the
current abductions and disappearances of citizens were illegal and contravened
universal human rights.
The reported cases could
tarnish the reformist image of President Suluhu, who has been praised for
easing the crackdown since succeeding John Magufuli, who died in office in
2021.
“We are not surprised that the
Tanzanian government is yet to take action against the reported cases of
kidnappings. People have been disappearing for a long time since 2015 during
President Magufuli’s tenure,” Mr Lissu said.
“Government should ensure that
its security apparatus is not used to brutalize its own citizens, whether in
Tanzania, Kenya, the US or Russia. This is because our domestic laws do not
allow kidnapping of citizens.”
Machano is the second senior
opposition official to be kidnapped and tortured in the space of two months.
Ali Kibao, a member of
Chadema’s secretariat, was abducted from a bus by gunmen early last month while
traveling from Dar es Salaam to the coastal city of Tanga.
Chadema organized
demonstrations against the killing of Kibao and the abductions and
disappearances of individuals and opposition party officials in Dar es Salaam,
but the police blocked them.
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