Rights lobby, EU fault proposed Katiba over death penalty

 

European Union (EU) Delegation Head of Cooperation in Tanzania, Mr Eric Beaume (left), and Plan International Tanzania Country Director Mr Jorgen Haldorsen display a book entitled: ‘Because I am a Girl’ during its launch in Dar es Salaam on Thursday, as part of efforts geared to protect human rights. The EU wants capital punishment be deleted from Tanzanian law books. PHOTO | EMMANUEL HERMAN 

By Katare Mbashiru The Citizen Reporter

In Summary

The EU said, the constitutional review process was the right opportunity to abolish the death penalty and advised that the country should consider the issue further in the next steps.

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Dar es Salaam. The European Union and the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) have expressed dissatisfaction over the Proposed Constitution retaining provisions supporting death penalty.

The EU said, the constitutional review process was the right opportunity to abolish the death penalty and advised that the country should consider the issue further in the next steps.

“We call on Tanzania to support the Resolution on a moratorium on the use of death penalty which will be put to vote at the 69th session of the UN General Assembly in December 2014,” said EU head of Political, Press and Information Section, Ms Luana Reale.

In her statement emailed to The Citizen, Ms Reale said the EU was happy with the Tanzanian civil society organisations working towards the abolition of death penalty in Tanzania for their relentless efforts of awareness raising and campaigning.

“Where death penalty still exists, it was important to make sure that it is applied only for the most serious crimes, with guarantees of fair trial and sparing at least the youth and the mentally disabled,” she said.

The EU welcomed Tanzania’s continued de facto moratorium since 1995 calling for the abolition of death penalty in Tanzania. “We also welcome recent steps taken by the African Union towards the adoption of an Additional Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Abolition of Death Penalty,’’ added Ms Ruale.

The HLRC yesterday insisted yesterday that Article 33 and 95(1)(c) of the proposed constitution were against the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that provides for the right to life.

LHRC director of Empowerment and Advocacy, Ms Imelda Urio said apart from the two articles of the proposed Mother Law, amendments should also be made in the penal code to protect human rights.

She was speaking on the World Day against Death Penalty that is marked every October 10. “Capital punishment does not provide for security in the society and studies show that it has never helped in reducing crime worldwide,’’ she said.

Ms Urio added that death penalty was one of the forms of violence, inequality and that it was inhuman, causing immense psychological torture to people who are on death row.

As of December 2013 according to her, 3892 people had been convicted with murder and put on death row. For more than 19 years now, people who were convicted are still languishing in prisons waiting to be hanged.
By: The Citizen

Let girls be girls, not brides

 

In Summary

At an age when she should have been in school learning and dreaming, Tecla became a child bride. She wanted to be like other children: playing games, listening to stories, and eventually achieving her goal of being a school teacher. But instead, her dreams were shattered by a marriage she didn’t choose and by sexual violence.

Dar es Salaam. Tecla, a young Zimbabwean girl, was sold for a few cows by her father to help alleviate the family’s poverty. She was raped by her husband, became pregnant and contracted HIV/Aids. Her baby died soon after birth. Tecla was only 12 years old.

At an age when she should have been in school learning and dreaming, Tecla became a child bride. She wanted to be like other children: playing games, listening to stories, and eventually achieving her goal of being a school teacher. But instead, her dreams were shattered by a marriage she didn’t choose and by sexual violence.

Every day, 39,000 girls like Tecla are forced into child marriage somewhere in the world. That’s 27 girls a minute. And every year, 16 million girls between the ages of 15 and 19 -- 90 per cent of whom are married -- give birth to children, despite the fact that many are children themselves.

Child marriage is one of the most violent crimes against girls. It can rob them of their childhood, deny them of the chance to finish school and expose them to domestic and sexual violence. Child marriage can also jeopardize girls’ health, increasing both their risk of acquiring HIV and other sexually-transmitted diseases and their chances of dying in pregnancy and childbirth due to early pregnancies and poor access to family planning.

We know that putting an end to child marriage would have tremendous benefits – not only for the girls themselves, but also for their communities. When girls aren’t forced to marry, they can stay in school, will have healthier children and can meaningfully contribute to their families and economies. In fact, each additional year of education for a woman reduces infant mortality by up to 10 percent.

And by enrolling just 10 percent more girls in school, a countries can increase its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by approximately three percent. It is a virtuous circle and, as we say at Women Deliver, everybody wins.

It is undeniably difficult to change the cultural and social traditions and norms that make child marriage a common practice in parts of the world. But, it is not impossible. Around the world, passionate advocates, including several of the Women Deliver Young Leaders, are stepping up to demand change in their communities.

For example, in Zimbabwe, the Rising Birds Project is bringing young people together to increase community awareness about the harmful impact child marriage has on girls’ education and health. The project puts pressure on elders and decision-makers to outlaw customary child marriage practices, strengthen the enforcement of new laws and encourage male involvement to bring about change.

Around the world in Bangladesh, Women Deliver Young Leader S.M. Shaikat is also trying to put an end to child marriage. S.M.’s project, known as Jagoroni (Bengali for ‘rising’), has enlisted over 650 young people to help advocate to stop child marriage and dowry-related violence. Youth-led ‘watchdog’ groups use mobile phones and online networks to report dowry violence to authorities and hold local law enforcement agencies accountable.

Young people are also working to ensure that girls – both married and unmarried – are empowered with youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health information and services they need to protect their health and choose when and with whom to have a baby. Among other things, this includes sexuality education, as well as information about modern contraceptives and where to access them. For example, Maureen Odour is using mobile technologies to provide young people with information about sexual health in Tanzania, and Nargis Shirazi has created digital platforms to spark dialogues about typically taboo topics in Uganda.

Projects like these and others are helping to change the realities of millions of girls around the world. Young people – including young men – are taking matters into their own hands and telling their families, community leaders and policymakers that they will no longer stand for child marriage.

As the world marks International Day of the Girl Child (11 October), let’s join these young leaders in their calls and amplify their voices to put an end to this unacceptable form of violence. Together, we can build a world where 12 year-old girls like Tecla are preparing for school, not for marriage – and on their 18th birthdays, are planning for university or for job interviews, not for another pregnancy.

We cannot stop advocating until every girl, no matter where she is born, has the right to go to school, to choose who and when she marries, and to pursue her dreams. Let girls be girls, not brides.

Katja Iversen is the Chief Executive Office of a global advocacy organisation: Women Deliver. Yemurai Nyoni is the founder of the Rising Birds Project to combat child marriage in Zimbabwe and Women Deliver Young Leader.
By: The Citizen

Alarm over late cancer detection

Ocean Road Cancer Institute acting executive director Diwani Msemo speaks at a press conference in Dar es Salaam yesterday. He said, some 44,000 Tanzanians are diagnosed with cancer every year, but only 8,800 can be fully cured. PHOTO |  SALIM SHAO 

By Saumu Mwalimu, The Citizen Report

In Summary

Acting executive director of the Ocean Road Cancer Institute (ORCI), Dr Diwani Msemo, said yesterday that the situation is highly attributed to late detection of the disease as many hospitals lack special scanning machines for detecting cancer.

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Dar es Salaam. Some 44,000 Tanzanians are diagnosed with cancer every year, but only 8,800 can be fully cured, a cancer specialist has said.

Acting executive director of the Ocean Road Cancer Institute (ORCI), Dr Diwani Msemo, said yesterday that the situation is highly attributed to late detection of the disease as many hospitals lack special scanning machines for detecting cancer.

Dr Msemo said that myths that cancer is not a curable disease or operation related to cancer lead to the spread of the disease have also contributed to a tendency of people hiding their cancer condition until it gets out of control.

Briefing journalists on October 12th charity walk organised by his institute and its partners to raise fund for breast cancer awareness, Dr Msemo said that in developed countries 80 per cent of those diagnosed with cancer very early stand a good chance to survive while in Tanzania only 20 per cent survive.

He said that since the vast majority of those found with cancer didn’t go to hospital early, it became difficult to treat the disease. However, professionally, cancer is curable, said Dr Msemo.

Dr Msemo added, although Tanzania is among a few countries in the world to have free cancer treatment, it needs to conduct more campaigns and step up efforts geared to scale down cancer.

as those given the HIV/AIDs because the disease is growing and more people are dying.

“We have several challenges including the luck of funds to buy diagnosis machines, chemotherapy medicine and other medical staffs that force the patients to wait up to six weeks to being diagnosed of getting chemo,” he said.

He added although in Tanzania, cervical cancer claims more lives compared to other types, but 511 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year and the number is rising.

The walk “Pink Sunday Funwalk” will be graced by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare Dr Seif Rashid will start at that Kunduchi Beach Hotel aims at raising Sh130 million.
By citizen

Nyerere’s leadership sadly missed, opine Tanzanians

 In this Bettmann/CORBIS image, President Julius Nyerere addresses a press conference at State House in

Posted  Saturday, October 11  2014 at  11:25

In Summary

His recorded speeches continue to reverberate as if he made them yesterday. Is Tanzania the way he would have wished it to be? What you do miss most about him?

This year, Tanzanians mark the 15th anniversary of the death of Founding Father of the Nation Julius Nyerere, who died on October 14, 1999. People in Tanzania, Africa and across the world remember him for various reasons.

His recorded speeches continue to reverberate as if he made them yesterday. Is Tanzania the way he would have wished it to be? What you do miss most about him?

07158352..

I miss his leadership as president. He was a man of action and true to his word. He dealt with criminals appropriately in order to protect interests of the country. He was very close to the people. He did not seek people’s sympathy but found solutions to people’s problems.

07844833..

What is happening now in Tanzania is not what Mwalimu Nyerere wished. I’m missing his leadership style. His gap is too obvious now. There is currently sort of a vacuum at the top. Leaders are not always not there.

06852944..

Mwalimu Julius Nyerere was the only leader who worked for his nation. He couldn’t wait for his people to work for their nation. He helped people have self-esteem, so he led them to fight against tribalism, racism and religionalism.

He could stand strongly before big nations and make a case for the entire continent of Africa.

Currently there is no leader like him in the whole of Africa. His talent is nowhere to be seen.

Very OK

One time he wanted Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania to unite and form one government. He really believed in unity.

Janeth K

He must be in deep sorrow right now if at all he is able to see what we’re doing to mother Tanzania. This is not what Mwl Julius Nyerere wanted.

Pritesh

We were suppressed in his time. Having toothpaste was regarded as a crime. Having an ordinary television was a sin. His policy of nationalisation put the entire country behind by a hundred years.

We look at Kenya and its progress which we were entitled to but we never got what we deserved due to such socialist policies which made an era of lazy people who expected to be fed for free if they did not have anything.

Now the times are becoming more realistic but there is a lot of space for improvement within our systems and approach in handling situations such as medicals, education and many more of such nature.

Harris L

We are far away from where he wished Tanzania to be.

corruption has been increasing rapidly, leaders don’t observe the code of conduct and ethics and most are hypocrites. We are not in well at all.
By: The citizen

Z’bar CA member collapses in shock

NCCR-Mageuzi vice chairman (Zanzibar) Haji Ambar Khamis (left) speaks to journalists in Dar es Salaam yesterday. Second left is party’s national chairman James Mbatia and vice chairperson (Mainland) Leticia Mosore. PHOTO | THE CITIZEN CORRESPONDENT      

By The Citizen Correspondent

In Summary

He had a rough time of it trying to prove he had no hand in the inclusion of his name on the list of CA members who approved the document presented to President Jakaya Kikwete on Wednesday.

Dar es Salaam. A member of the disbanded Constituent Assembly from Zanzibar collapsed yesterday as he tried to explain how shocked he was to learn that his name was on the list of members who voted in favour of the proposed constitution. Mr Haji Ambar Khamis was taken to Amana Hospital.

He had a rough time of it trying to prove he had no hand in the inclusion of his name on the list of CA members who approved the document presented to President Jakaya Kikwete on Wednesday.

He told reporters he did not take part in either preparing or voting on the document. In fact, he added, he had nothing to do with the document from April after he boycotted sittings of the assembly together with other members who disputed the manner in which the assembly was conducted.

He returned to the CA in August but claims he had neither discussed the document nor voted on it.

Mr Hamis is a vice chairman of the opposition NCCR-Mageuzi in Zanzibar. “I have never participated in approving the proposed constitution,” he insisted. “The truth is that I have been pained so much because I don’t know what the future holds for me and my family.”

The politician, who was once a candidate for the Zanzibar presidency, broke down during the interview. NCCR-Mageuzi officials led him out of the office as he appeared to be losing consciousness.

The Citizen on Saturday’s correspondent in the company of the NCCR-Mageuzi leaders witnessed him being laid on a bed as doctors moved to examine him.

NCCR-Mageuzi Chairman James Mbatia, who was the first to speak at the press conference, said information put out by leaders of the disbanded CA that Mr Hamis voted for the document was wrong.

After thoroughly going through a copy of the proposed constitution, he added, they discovered that name of one-time party member Haji Ambar Hamis was on the list of those who approved the proposed Katiba.

Mr Mbatia explained: “On the list of members who took part in approving the proposed constitution, his (Ambar’s name) is on the list of CA members from Zanzibar.

But following a discussion with him, Mr Hamis sincerely assured us he had never participated in preparing or approving the proposed constitution.”

According to Mr Mbatia, putting the name of the party’s national leader on the list of those who endorsed the document without his consent amounts to gross fraud.

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“This is embarrassing for Mr Hamis, his family, his party, members of the Coalition of Defenders of Peoples’ Constitution (Ukawa) and Tanzanians in general,” he added.

Mr Mbatia believes CA leaders made the move deliberately to mislead the public and warned that it posed a big threat to the security of the nation, given the potential for violence.

CA Assistant Secretary Thomas Kashilila declined to respond to the claims, saying he was not the assembly’s spokesperson. “I haven’t heard such allegations and I am not the spokesperson,” said Dr Kashilila. He referred this reporter to the CA chairman.

News

The Hague court sets trial date for Congolese warlord Ntaganda

Rwandan-born Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda is seen during his first appearance before judges of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, on March 26, 2013, since his surprise surrender to face charges including murder, rape pillaging and using child soldiers in eastern Congo. PHOTO | FILE      

In Summary

The Rwandan-born Ntaganda faces 13 war crimes and five counts of crimes against humanity for his role in a brutal civil conflict in the DR Congo’s volatile northeast a decade ago.

The Hague, Friday. Former Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda, nicknamed “The Terminator,” will face trial next year for war crimes including using child soldiers and sex slaves in his rebel army, the International Criminal Court said on Thursday.

The Rwandan-born Ntaganda faces 13 war crimes and five counts of crimes against humanity for his role in a brutal civil conflict in the DR Congo’s volatile northeast a decade ago.

“The Trial Chamber scheduled the opening of the trial on June 2,” the Hague-based ICC said in a statement.

Prosecutors allege that Ntaganda, who surrendered to the court in a shock move last year, was allegedly involved in raping child and women soldiers and keeping them as sex slaves.

He is also accused of using child soldiers in his Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC) in attacks prosecutors say killed at least 800 people as warlords battled rival militias for control in the mineral-rich Ituri province.

Ntaganda, 40, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

He is the founder of the M23 rebel group that was eventually defeated by the government late last year after an 18-month insurgency in the eastern DR Congo’s North Kivu region.

The first-ever suspect to voluntarily surrender to the ICC, Ntaganda walked into the US embassy in the Rwandan capital Kigali a year-and-a-half ago and asked to be sent to The Hague.

Observers said Ntaganda was possibly fearing for his life as a fugitive from a rival faction in the M23 movement, although his motives remain unclear.

The ICC had issued two arrest warrants against Ntaganda -- the first in 2006 and a second with additional charges in 2012. He was transferred to the ICC’s detention unit a few days later and judges confirmed the charges against him in June. (AFP)

Fighting in eastern DRC has left some 60,000 dead since 1999, exacerbated by the wealth of mineral resources in the region, notably gold and minerals used in electronic products.

Former FPLC commander Thomas Lubanga was sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2012 for conscripting children under 15 and using them in hostilities.
By: The citizen

Syria: Kobane siege death toll 'passes 500'

Quentin Sommerville says he can hear frequent explosions coming from the town

At least 553 people are said to have died in a month of fighting for Kobane, the Kurdish town just inside Syria under Islamic State (IS) attack.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based Syrian opposition body which monitors the conflict, counted 298 IS fighters among the dead.
US aircraft have bombed IS positions as Kurdish fighters cling on to the town's vital border crossing with Turkey.
But the defenders say they are outgunned on the ground.
"The supply of fighters is very good..." Kobane official Idris Nassan told Reuters news agency. "But fighters coming without arms, without weaponry, is not going to make a critical difference."

 

 Islamic State gunmen crouch during fighting in Kobane

Correspondents watched from just over the border in Turkey on Saturday as fighting raged for the town.
Turkey, wary of its recent long conflict with its own large Kurdish population, has ruled out any unilateral ground intervention.
Some 200,000 Syrian Kurdish refugees have crossed the border since the IS advance began nearly a month ago.
Meanwhile, fighting has continued in Iraq, where IS overran large parts of the north during the summer.
'More than 1,000' According to the Observatory, the true figure for deaths in the siege of Kobane could be more than 1,100 since the IS attack began on 16 September.
Of the deaths it has been able to document, 226 are of Kurdish fighters and nine are of other Syrian opposition fighters, who were fighting on their side.
Of the 20 civilian deaths recorded, 17 were victims of IS executions, it said.
Kobane resounded to small-arms fire and explosions on Saturday following the failure of a pre-dawn IS offensive to take more ground.
According to the Pentagon, US air strikes on IS targets at Kobane since Friday have hit an IS fighting position; damaged a command and control facility; destroyed a staging building; struck two small units of fighters; and destroyed three lorries.

Mr Nassan said the air strikes had helped the Kurdish fighters regain some territory in the south of the city but they were not enough.
"A few days ago, [IS] attacked with a Humvee vehicle, they use mortars, cannons, tanks," he said. "We don't need just Kalashnikovs and bullets. We need something effective since they captured many tanks and military vehicles in Iraq."

Kurdish demonstrators in Duesseldorf

Civilians watch the fighting in Kobane from the safety of the Turkish side of the border

A Syrian Kurdish refugee and her child at a camp in Suruc, Turkey

In Europe, at least 20,000 Kurds living in Germany marched in the city of Duesseldorf on Saturday to highlight the threat to Kurds in Kobane.
At a smaller rally in the Austrian town of Bregenz, two people were stabbed and seriously wounded when Kurdish protesters clashed with a rival demonstration, said to involve Turks and Chechens.
Pro-Kurdish rallies were held in other European cities including Paris, Basel and Barcelona.
Car bombs At least 38 people were killed and many more injured in three bomb attacks in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
Elsewhere in Iraq, at least 14 people were killed: four injured soldiers died when their ambulance was attacked in a "friendly fire" incident near Baquba while a suicide bomber killed at least seven people in a market in Meshahda, near Baghdad.
US and other aircraft from the international coalition carried out air strikes on IS targets inside Iraq as well as dropping supplies to Iraqi government forces at Baiji, where Iraq's biggest oil refinery is located.
IS fighters control large stretches of territory in Syria and Iraq. The group is known for its brutal tactics, including mass killings, abductions of members of religious and ethnic minorities, and the beheadings of soldiers and journalists.

Brazil drought crisis deepens in Sao Paulo

Water levels at the Atibainha dam, part of the Cantareira system, are extremely low

The governor of the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo has asked for emergency clearance to siphon the remaining water out of the main reservoir serving Sao Paulo city, which has almost run dry.

After nine months of unprecedented drought, 95% of the water has gone.
Geraldo Alckmin, re-elected in last week's elections, has been criticised for not imposing water rationing to tackle the crisis.
Twenty-nine other Brazilian cities have been affected by the drought.
In Sao Paulo's main reservoir, the Cantareira system, the fall in the level has exposed a cracked earth landscape littered with the wrecks of dozens of old cars dumped over the years.

The Cantareira System provides water to greater Sao Paulo

The region got only a third of the usual rain during Brazil's wet season from December to February

Residents of the region of Sao Paulo state that depends on the Cantareira water system protest during a drought that is the worse in 80 years

The drought has also affected other states. Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais are locked in an increasingly hostile battle over water resources, since Sao Paulo - the economic power engine of Brazil - is trying to draw water from a river system that also serves these other two states.
So far the crisis in Sao Paulo city has been managed by a policy of cutting water pressure at night and giving incentives to people who cut back on use.

Brazil says first suspected Ebola case tests negative

 

Brazilian authorities sent an Air Force plane to pick Mr Bah

 up from Cascavel

Brazil says a Guinean man who had been suspected of having Ebola has tested negative for the disease.

The man arrived in the country on Thursday and had been quarantined.
Souleymane Bah went to a public health centre in the town of Cascavel in the southern state of Parana after suffering a fever.
He was flown to the National Institute of Infectology in Rio de Janeiro but fears he was the country's first case of Ebola infection proved unfounded.
Health Minister Arthur Chioro said "all health protocols and procedures were applied efficiently and with great success".
Guinea is one of the three West African countries most affected by Ebola.
Mr Bah's symptoms appeared on the 20th day after he left Guinea - within the 21-day incubation period. He no longer has the fever.
Mr Bah arrived in Brazil as a refugee and was granted leave to remain until 2015 by immigration police.
Sixty-four people who came into contact with Mr Bah, mostly in the health centre in Parana, were monitored for symptoms of Ebola.

Haiti: Hundreds attend 'Baby Doc' Duvalier's funeral

 

 Duvalier's coffin was draped with the Haitian flag, but he was

 not given a state funeral

Hundreds of people in Haiti have attended the funeral of the country's former ruler, Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier.

Duvalier was accused of corruption and widespread human rights abuses during his 15-year rule.
He was not given a state funeral, but the Haitian government sent representatives to the service.
Duvalier died of a heart attack in the capital Port-au-Prince last Saturday aged 63.
Some of those who served under him - including retired military officers - friends and family members paid their last respects at the chapel of his former school.
"Long live Duvalier! He's not dead!" they chanted during the service.
President Michel Martelly wrote on Twitter last week that Duvalier was "an authentic son of Haiti".
'Not guilty' Duvalier was just 19 when in 1971 he inherited the title of "president-for-life" from his father, the notorious Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier.
During "Baby Doc" Duvalier's repressive regime, tens of thousands of people were tortured and killed, human rights groups say.

 

For some time, Jean-Claude Duvalier was the youngest president

 in the world

 

Supporters said the impoverished Caribbean nation was better off 

under Duvalier's rule

 

The son of "Baby Doc," Francois-Nicolas Duvalier, was at the

 religious ceremony

"Baby Doc" Duvalier was forced to flee Haiti following a popular rebellion in 1986.
He lived in great luxury in France during exile, but returned home in 2011, a year after Haiti was devastated by a major earthquake.
Duvalier described his return to Haiti as a gesture of solidarity to the nation.
He was arrested and charged, but released shortly afterwards.
When he finally appeared in court in February 2013, he denied responsibility for abuses carried out during his time as president.
Judges ruled he could face crimes against humanity charges, but the case had stalled some time before he died.