BARD AI
JF-Expert Member
- Jul 24, 2018
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(Mkuu wa Mkoa wa Songwe, Brigedia Jenerali Nicodemus Mwangela Mapema akiwachapa viboko wanafunzi wa Shule ya Sekondari ya Wavulana ya Oswe)
Mahakama ya Afrika ya Haki za Binadamu na Watu imeiamuru Tanzania kuondoa adhabu ya viboko kwenye sheria zake ili ziendane na Mkataba ulioanzisha mahakama hiyo.
Katika uamuzi wake wa Septemba 5 kuhusu rufaa ya Yassin Rashid Maige dhidi ya kifungo chake cha miaka 30 kwa wizi wa kutumia silaha, mahakama iliyoketi Arusha ilihitimisha kuwa mahakama za Tanzania zilikiuka haki ya utu ya Maige kwa kumhukumu kuchapwa viboko 12 kama sehemu ya adhabu yake. .
Ilisema masharti ya adhabu ya viboko katika Sheria ya Kanuni ya Adhabu ya Tanzania, Mwenendo wa Makosa ya Jinai, Sheria ya Adhabu ya Viboko na sheria nyinginezo yanatakiwa kufanyiwa marekebisho “ili kuyafanya kuendana na katazo la utesaji, ukatili, unyama au udhalilishaji au adhabu katika kifungu cha 5 cha Mkataba wa Afrika wa Haki za Binadamu na Watu."
Jopo la majaji 11 liliamuru mamlaka za Tanzania kuwasilisha ripoti kuhusu hali ya utekelezaji wa amri hiyo kila baada ya miezi sita "hadi pale mahakama itakapozingatia kuwa kumekuwa na utekelezaji kamili."
Historia ya Tanzania ya kupinga adhabu ya viboko kuwa ni hatua ya kinidhamu imejikita zaidi katika matumizi yake shuleni kutokana na matukio ya mara kwa mara ya walimu na hata viongozi wa serikali za mitaa kuitumia kuwaadhibu kikatili wanafunzi, mara nyingi mbele ya wenzao kwa makosa ya kitabia.
Matukio yanayotambulika katika suala hili ni pamoja na lile la mwaka 2021 ambapo mwanafunzi wa shule ya msingi mkoani Kagera mwenye umri wa miaka 13 alifariki dunia baada ya kupigwa na mmoja wa walimu wake kwa madai ya kuiba kwenye mkoba wa mwalimu mwingine.
Oktoba 2019, Mkuu wa sasa wa Mkoa wa Dar es Salaam, Albert Chalamila alizua tafrani kubwa kwa wananchi baada ya kuwachapa viboko wanafunzi 14 wa shule ya sekondari hadharani kwa madai ya kusababisha moto na kuteketeza mabweni mawili ya bweni lao lililopo mkoani Mbeya ambako alitangazwa kuwa Mkuu wa Wilaya. wakati.
Wanafunzi hao wanadaiwa kuchoma mabweni hayo kulipiza kisasi kunyang’anywa simu zao na uongozi wa shule. Wakati kitendo cha Chalamila kikilalamikiwa na watetezi wa haki za watoto nchi nzima, kilipata pongezi kutoka kwa Rais wa wakati huo John Magufuli.
Katika uamuzi wake wa Septemba 5 kuhusu kesi maalum ya wizi wa kutumia silaha, mahakama ya Afrika haikutofautisha kati ya adhabu ya viboko shuleni na kote kote ikiwa ni pamoja na kama adhabu kwa makosa makubwa ya jinai.
Kwa mujibu wa mahakama, kutokuwepo kwa "vifungu vya mipaka" katika Kifungu cha 5 cha Mkataba "inahusisha kwamba marufuku yake ya ukatili, unyama na adhabu ya kudhalilisha ni kamili na lazima pia iongezwe ili kutoa ulinzi mkubwa iwezekanavyo dhidi ya unyanyasaji wa kimwili. au kiakili."
Maige anatumikia kifungo chake katika Gereza Kuu la Uyui mkoani Tabora tangu Septemba 2003 alipotiwa hatiani kwa kosa la wizi wa nyumba mwaka 1999 wilayani Urambo mkoani Tabora. Milio ya risasi ilifyatuliwa wakati wa wizi huo lakini hakuna aliyejeruhiwa na risasi hizo.
Mahakama ya wilaya ya Urambo imemkuta na mtuhumiwa mwingine mmoja na hatia ya kosa hilo na kumhukumu kila mmoja kifungo cha miaka 30 jela na viboko 12 vya fimbo hiyo. Ingawa washtakiwa wote wawili walikata rufaa Mahakama Kuu, rufaa ya Maige ilitupiliwa mbali huku ya mwenzake ilikubaliwa na kusababisha kuachiliwa mapema kutoka kwa gaol.
Rufaa zaidi katika Mahakama ya Rufaa pia ilitupiliwa mbali Aprili 2013. Kisha Maige aliwasilisha ombi lake katika mahakama ya Afrika mwezi Juni 2017.
Katika uamuzi wake, mahakama ya Afrika ilibainisha kuwa ingawa mahakama ya wilaya ilitoa adhabu ya kifungo na kuchapwa viboko, ambayo ilithibitishwa na Mahakama Kuu na Mahakama ya Rufaa, hakukuwa na rekodi ya iwapo hukumu hiyo ya kupigwa viboko “ilitekelezwa. nje."
Mahakama hiyo ilitoa mfano wa Ibara ya 13(6) (e) ya katiba ya Tanzania ambayo "inakataza utesaji, unyama au adhabu ya udhalilishaji" na Sheria ya Adhabu ya Viboko nchini "ambayo inakusudiwa kudhibiti utolewaji wa adhabu ya viboko."
Pia ilitaja Kanuni ya Adhabu ya Tanzania "ambayo kwa ujumla inatambua adhabu ya viboko kama aina halali ya adhabu" kwa makosa kama vile ubakaji na Sheria ya Mwenendo wa Makosa ya Jinai "ambayo pia inajumuisha adhabu ya viboko miongoni mwa adhabu zinazoruhusiwa ambazo mahakama inaweza kuzitoa."
Pamoja na amri ya kukomeshwa kwa adhabu ya viboko, mahakama hiyo pia iliagiza mamlaka ya Tanzania kumlipa Maige Tsh300,000 (dola 119) kama fidia ya "unyanyasaji wa kimaadili" kutokana na kupigwa viboko na kunyimwa haki yake ya uwakilishi wa kisheria wakati wa nyumbani. kesi mahakamani.
Lakini ilitupilia mbali madai ya Maige kwamba ukiukaji huo ulikuwa mkubwa kiasi cha kuhalalisha kifungo chake cha jela kupunguzwa au kuachiliwa kwake mapema.
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The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights has ordered Tanzania to remove corporal punishment from its laws to bring them in line with the Charter establishing the court.
In its September 5 ruling on an appeal by Yassin Rashid Maige against his 30-year sentence for armed robbery, the court sitting in Arusha concluded that Tanzanian courts had violated Maige’s right to dignity by sentencing him to be caned 12 times as part of his punishment.
It said provisions for corporal punishment in Tanzania's Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code, Corporal Punishment Act and other laws need to be amended "in order to make them compliant with the prohibition of torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in Article 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights."
The 11-judge panel ordered Tanzanian authorities to submit a report on the status of implementation of the order every six months "until the court considers that there has been full implementation."
Tanzania's history of opposition to corporal punishment as a disciplinary measure has been mainly confined to its application in schools due to frequent incidents of teachers and even local government officials using it to brutally punish pupils, often in front of their peers, for behavioural offences.
Notable instances in this regard include one in 2021 where a 13-year-old primary school student in Kagera region died after being beaten by one of his teachers for allegedly stealing from another teacher's purse.
In October 2019, current Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner Albert Chalamila caused a big public stir when he flogged 14 secondary school students in public for reportedly causing a fire that razed two dormitories at their boarding school in Mbeya region where he was posted as RC at the time.
The students allegedly torched the dormitories in retaliation to having their mobile phones confiscated by the school administration. While Chalamila's action was roundly castigated by children's rights advocates across the country, it gained him a commendation from then President John Magufuli.
In its September 5 ruling on a specific case of armed robbery, the African court did not distinguish between corporal punishment in schools and across the board including as a penalty for serious criminal offences.
According to the court, the absence of "limitation provisions" in Article 5 of the Charter "entails that its prohibition of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment is absolute and must also be extended to provide the widest possible protection against abuse be it physical or mental."
Maige has been serving his sentence at Uyui Central Prison in Tabora since September 2003 when he was convicted for the 1999 robbery of a house in Urambo district, Tabora region. Gunshots were fired during the robbery but nobody injured by the bullets.
The Urambo district court found him and one other suspect guilty of the offence and sentenced each to 30 years in prison and 12 strokes of the cane. Although both convicts appealed to the High Court, Maige's appeal was dismissed while his colleague's was upheld leading to early release from gaol.
A further appeal to the Court of Appeal was also dismissed in April 2013. Maige then filed his application to the African court in June 2017.
In its ruling, the African court noted that although the district court had imposed both the prison and caning sentence, which was subsequently upheld by both the High Court and the Court of Appeal, there was no record of whether the caning sentence "was actually carried out."
The court cited Article 13(6) (e) of the Tanzanian constitution which "proscribes torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" and the country's Corporal Punishment Act "which is meant to regulate the infliction of corporal punishment."
It also referred to Tanzania's Penal Code "which generally recognises corporal punishment as a legitimate form of punishment" for offences such as rape and Criminal Procedure Act "which also includes corporal punishment among the permissible punishments that a court can mete out."
Along with the order for abolishment of corporal punishment, the court also directed Tanzanian authorities to pay Maige Tsh300,000 ($119) in compensation for "moral prejudice" as a result of the caning and his right to free legal representation being denied during the domestic court proceedings.
But it dismissed Maige's claim that the violations were serious enough to justify his jail sentence being curtailed or his early release.
