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Magufuli Is Bulldozing Human Rights in Tanzania
Andrew Green Friday, Nov. 1, 2019
Editor’s Note: Every Friday, Andrew Greencurates the top news and analysis from and about the African continent.
The space for dissent in John Magufuli’s Tanzania is closing rapidly. Amnesty International issued a report this week accusing Magufuli, who was elected president in 2015, of creating a “climate of mounting fear with growing restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.”
Magufuli, who earned the popular nickname “the Bulldozer” from his time as minister of public works, was elected promising to reform Tanzania and end corruption. Instead, his administration has steadily trimmed the rights of opposition politicians and members of civil society. Media outlets have been shuttered, and a prominent journalist, Erick Kabendera, has been jailed on charges that appear to be politically motivated; his trial has been delayed repeatedly. In a WPR briefing last year, Robbie Corey-Boulet detailed the ways in which Magufuli has created a more regressive environment for women and girls.
With a presidential election approaching next year, Amnesty and other human rights groups are calling on Magufuli to lift restrictions that activists say are being used to harass and penalize political opponents and to limit press freedom. The measures include a cybercrime law, which penalizes the publication of “false” information, and a ban on opposition political rallies that Magufuli declared in 2016. Human rights groups have also called for the release of more than a dozen journalists and politicians “facing prosecution based solely on trumped-up and politically motivated charges.”
Magufuli’s administration has vowed to issue a “line-by-line response” to both Amnesty’s report and another one on media and civil society restrictions released by Human Rights Watch. But there is little indication that it will change its tactics. A popular comedian, Idris Sultan, was ordered to report to a police stationthis week after he shared an image on social media that showed his head swapped onto Magufuli’s body. Sultan could be charged under the cybercrime law with impersonating someone else.
Keep up to date on Africa news with our daily curated Africa news wire.
Here’s a rundown of news from elsewhere on the continent:
Andrew Green Friday, Nov. 1, 2019
Editor’s Note: Every Friday, Andrew Greencurates the top news and analysis from and about the African continent.
The space for dissent in John Magufuli’s Tanzania is closing rapidly. Amnesty International issued a report this week accusing Magufuli, who was elected president in 2015, of creating a “climate of mounting fear with growing restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.”
Magufuli, who earned the popular nickname “the Bulldozer” from his time as minister of public works, was elected promising to reform Tanzania and end corruption. Instead, his administration has steadily trimmed the rights of opposition politicians and members of civil society. Media outlets have been shuttered, and a prominent journalist, Erick Kabendera, has been jailed on charges that appear to be politically motivated; his trial has been delayed repeatedly. In a WPR briefing last year, Robbie Corey-Boulet detailed the ways in which Magufuli has created a more regressive environment for women and girls.
With a presidential election approaching next year, Amnesty and other human rights groups are calling on Magufuli to lift restrictions that activists say are being used to harass and penalize political opponents and to limit press freedom. The measures include a cybercrime law, which penalizes the publication of “false” information, and a ban on opposition political rallies that Magufuli declared in 2016. Human rights groups have also called for the release of more than a dozen journalists and politicians “facing prosecution based solely on trumped-up and politically motivated charges.”
Magufuli’s administration has vowed to issue a “line-by-line response” to both Amnesty’s report and another one on media and civil society restrictions released by Human Rights Watch. But there is little indication that it will change its tactics. A popular comedian, Idris Sultan, was ordered to report to a police stationthis week after he shared an image on social media that showed his head swapped onto Magufuli’s body. Sultan could be charged under the cybercrime law with impersonating someone else.
Keep up to date on Africa news with our daily curated Africa news wire.
Here’s a rundown of news from elsewhere on the continent:
