IMMEDIATELY RELEASE THE 13 ARRESTED BY TANZANIAN AUTHORITIES ON 17 OCTOBER 2017

Masithandane End Hate Crimes Collective

21 October 2017, South Africa

#ISLA #CHESA #Freedom #HumanRightsActivists #TanzaniaArrests #Tanzania #freeTanzania13

24 October 2017 UPDATE: Picket Action took place in Pretoria, Tshwane, South Africa, in front of the Tanzania High Commission.

• Picket Action! Tanzania Arrests, Tanzanian High Commission PTA
• online petition, please sign.

Addressed to:

• The Hon. George Mcheche Masaju Attorney General of the United Republic of Tanzania
• The Hon. Bahame T.M. Nyanduga Chairperson, Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance
• United Republic of Tanzania The Hon. Adv. Pansy Tlakula, Chairperson, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
• The Hon. Soyata Maiga Vice- Chairperson, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
• The Hon. Solomon Ayele Dersso Commissioner, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights

Your Excellency’s,

Masithandane Ends Hate Crimes Collective call on Tanzanian authorities to immediately release 13 individuals, including three lawyers and their clients, arbitrarily detained on Tuesday 17 October 2017 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. 

Attendees of a consultation and meeting held by the Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa (ISLA) and the Community Health Services and Advocacy (CHESA) were arrested after a raid by Tanzanian police on Tuesday, 17 October 2017.  The police had a copy of the concept note and the agenda of the consultation. Up until 20 October 2017, no one was charged and all were granted bail. Yet, on Friday 20 October 2017, the bail was revoked for everyone with no reasons given and they were told a fresh investigation process was starting, everyone was taken into custody.

The Tanzanian Constitution enshrines the right to seek legal redress when fundamental rights have been violated (Art 30(3)), yet, a legal consultation on a case challenging the Tanzanian government’s decision to limit provision of certain health services it has previously provided, was raided. Access to justice is a right for all citizens that must be upheld and respected. We believe these are politically motivated arrests which work to intimidate and thus dissuade citizens from approaching judicial institutions when their rights have been violated.

On Wednesday, 18 October 2017, the Regional Commissioner of Police had issued a press statement referring to the arrests stating 12 people who were “promoting homosexuality”, had been detained. This is a mischaracterization of a legal consultation and such acts erode rights to justice by arbitrarily targeting particular individuals. 

The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ rights, which Tanzania is a signatory to, recognises an individual’s right to an appeal to competent national organs against acts violating their fundamental rights as recognized and guaranteed by conventions, laws and customs in force (Art 7(a)) and applies to all under the law. 

The African Charter also outlines that every individual shall be equal before the law (Art 3(1)), including access to justice and legal consultation, these arrests go against the promotion and protection of human rights and basic freedoms for all in the African continent.

There is no legal basis for these proceedings. Therefore, we echo ISLA and CHESA’s statements and call on Tanzanian authorities to: immediately release the 13 individuals who are currently arbitrarily detained; allow citizens access to legal representation without intimidation; discontinue ongoing persecution of human rights defenders, lawyers and their clients and refrain from such actions in the future; allow the foreign nationals, whose passports have been seized, to leave the country. 

On Tuesday 24 October 2017, Masithandane Ends Hate Crimes Collective plans to exercise our rights to protest and call for the release of the 13 arrested, by picketing outside of the Tanzanian High Commission at 850 George St, Arcadia, Pretoria, 0001, South Africa between 12h00 and 14h30. We ask all who are able to join us, in solidarity with the 13 people unfairly detained by Tanzanian authorities, and for freedoms and rights to be granted equally to all under the law.

PRESS STATEMENT Issued by CHESA and ISLA

Sibongile Ndashe, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Dar-es-Salaam, 20 October 2016- On Tuesday, 17 October 2017, a legal consultation convened by the Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa (ISLA) and Community Health Services and Advocacy (CHESA) was raided by the Tanzanian Police. The consultation was convened in order to get more instructions and evidence on a case that we plan to file before a court. The case concerns a challenge to government’s decision to limit the provision of certain health services that it had previously provided.

Thirteen people were detained and released on bail with no charges made. On Wednesday, the Regional Commissioner of police issued a press statement, referring to the “arrests” and stated that twelve people who were promoting homosexuality had been arrested. This mischaracterisation of a legal consultation where lawyers and their clients were discussing a very specific case to be referred to the court is unfortunate. The police had a copy of the concept note and the agenda of the consultation. Three lawyers were part of the group, that was detained, include ISLA’s executive director, Sibongile Ndashe. The bail was revoked on Friday 20 October 2017 with the view of starting the investigation afresh. All thirteen people are back in custody.

The Tanzanian Constitution enshrines the right to seek legal redress when fundamental rights have been violated (Art 30(3)). The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ rights, which Tanzania is a signatory to, also recognises an individual’s right to an appeal to competent national organs against acts violating his fundamental rights as recognised and guaranteed by conventions, laws and customs in force (Art 7(a)). Tanzania is a signatory to a number of international human rights treaties that recognizes these and other related rights.

We view this as an attempt to intimidate citizens from approaching judicial institutions when their rights have been violated, to create an environment where lawyers are afraid to provide legal representation and to ultimately create an environment where it is unthinkable to hold the state accountable for human rights violations. There is no legal basis for these proceedings. We call upon Tanzanian authorities to discontinue the ongoing persecution of lawyers and their clients. Allow citizens to access legal representation without intimidation and allow the foreign nationals whose passports have been seized to leave the country.

Issued by CHESA and ISLA, 20 October 2017

CHESA Community Health Education Services and Advocacy

• www.chesa.or.tz
• facebook.com/pg/CHESA-TANZANIA-410441092480633

ISLA Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa

• www.the-isla.org
• www.facebook.com/ISLAFRICA

ADD YOUR VOICE!

• Letter to Tanzania
• List of Tanzanian embassies
• online petition, please sign.

CALL TO ACTION! 

Contact the Tanzanian High Commission near you, and in as many countries as possible, and also contact the Tanzania Attorney General's office to:

1. Reiterate that the detention is ILLEGAL! The 13 [lawyers and their clients] were in consultation on how to approach the courts to demand access to adequate health services.
2. That the "investigation" that the police say they are doing is for a non-existent offence.
3. That we view this as a witch-hunt and abuse of legal process.

#ISLA #CHESA #Freedom #HumanRightsActivists #TanzaniaArrests #Tanzania

PICKET ACTION!

TO PROTEST #Tanzania Arrest, #TanzaniaArrests, #freeTanzania13 at the Tanzania High Commission (822 George Avenue, Acadia, Tshwane) 24th October 2017 from 12:00 MEET AT Venning Park, Eastwood St, Arcadia, Pretoria, at 11:00 am Picket to demand the immediate release of unlawful arrest of 13 people detained by the Tanzanian Police. A legal consultation convened by Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa (ISLA) and Community Health Services and Advocacy (CHESA) was raised by the Tanzanian Police. The consultation was convened in order to get instructions and evidence on a case that ISLA planned to file before court, to challenge a decision by the Tanzanian government to limit the provision of certain basic essential health care services. Organised by Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa (ISLA) and partners including Lawyers for Human Rights. Contact Matilda Lasseko (ISLA): 072 740 1764 or Sharon Ekambaram (LHR): 083 634 8924 and e-mail: matilda@the-isla.org

• facebook event: Picket Action! Tanzania Arrests, Tanzanian High Commission PTA

Follow us on

• facebook.com/masithandane, @masithandaneCol
• www.lhr.org.za
• facebook.com/LawyersForHumanRights
• www.the-isla.org
• www.facebook.com/ISLAFRICA

RELATED ARTICLES LIST (supplied here)

• 76crimes.com

HIV and TB in 2017: Time for Honesty and Transparency

A message to delegates at SA AIDS 2017

13 June 2017

We are a group of organisations and individuals concerned with the state of South Africa’s response to HIV and Tuberculosis (TB). We are worried that in a time when the HIV and TB response in South Africa should accelerate it may instead begin to unravel. The underlying reason for this danger is the ongoing and widespread dysfunction in the public healthcare system. It is also to do with a problem that infects and corrodes our wider body politic, corruption and capture of institutions that are meant to serve the public.

With more than 150 000 annual deaths from AIDS and TB, 270 000 new HIV infections and 450 000 new TB infections, we cannot afford a lacklustre response to an ongoing crisis that we have not yet brought under control.

Who weakened the NSP?

After months of supposed widespread consultation with civil society, the research community and other stakeholders, the National Strategic Plan (NSP) for HIV, TB and STIs 2017 – 2022 was released in May 2017.  The NSP is supposed to be the plan that brings us together and gives direction to our efforts. Unfortunately, the NSP, as it stands, fails to provide the much-needed direction and leadership we require. Important interventions civil society advocated for in the NSP have not been included or have been removed from the final draft. No explanations have been given for these various omissions or last-minute changes that weakened the NSP.

Some of our key concerns with the NSP include:

1. Low targets for PrEP: The NSP’s extremely low targets for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drastically weakens the possibility for HIV prevention among women and girls, sero-discordant couples, key populations and anyone who considers themselves at serious risk of HIV infection. Early drafts of the NSP made a strong case for the provision of PrEP as recommended by the WHO (a technical committee recommended a target of 500 000 as a start). Draft 2 of the NSP, which was the version that was presented to the SANAC Plenary and adopted by all sectors including government, agreed to a target of 1.4 million by 2022. In the final version of the NSP the PrEP target was reduced to a mere 85 000 people by2022.
2. Gender-Based Violence, HIV and the absence of targets: In recent months, we have witnessed with horror the murder, rape and brutality meted out by men on women, girls and members of the LGBTQIA community. The continued extremely high rates of HIV infection amongst these groups are another form of this violence. We have argued that violence and HIV should be fought together, with bold, imaginative, resourced and visible campaigns. The complete absence of targets for key populations means that no one can be held accountable for implementation failures. This points to the NSP, in its current form, merely paying lip service to our communities without allocating resources or setting objectives and targets for the delivery of services.
3. Ignoring community healthcare workers and human resources: The NSP fails to make any substantial commitments regarding community healthcare workers and human resource requirements more generally. In so doing, the NSP ignores the staff shortages plaguing the public healthcare sector in South Africa. Without serious engagement with this human resource crisis, it is highly unlikely that key NSP targets will be met.
4. Dealing pragmatically with TB: The NSP provides no emergency plan for TB and especially drug-resistant TB this while rates of MDR and XDR-TB in South Africa are increasing alarmingly. While some promising commitments are made about finding more people with TB more quickly, no realistic indication is given as to how this will be done. 
5. Failing sex workers: Despite progressive commitments in the South African National Sex Worker HIV Plan 2016-2019 on these issues, the final NSP was sanitised of provisions on the need for the decriminalisation of sex work and eliminating the police practice of using possession of condoms or lubricant as evidence of sex work and grounds for confiscation or arrest. This is despite clear international evidence and guidelines.  Similarly, the NSP does not make any specific reference to the far-reaching human rights abuses faced by sex workers or the need to recognise ‘sex work as work’ as stated by the Deputy President at the launch of the National Sex Workers HIV Plan in March 2016. Likewise, no attention is paid to the pressing issues of migration. 

Corruption and mismanagement in SANAC

While the NSP should provide the roadmap, the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) is supposed to be the place where civil society and government can come together to jointly drive the programmes outlined in the NSP. 

Since SANAC was revived in 2007 many of us have put great energy into it and attempted to use the opportunities for consultation provided by SANAC. At times this consultative structure has functioned well. But in recent years consultations at SANAC have become further and further removed from our communities and the issues they face. In many cases civil society participation at SANAC has been reduced to irrelevance, with the current SANAC civil society leadership unable and unwilling to criticise any weaknesses of service delivery. This lacklustre approach is evident in the NSP.

In our view SANAC now faces a crisis of governance and legitimacy. The SANAC board of trustees have in recent months failed to respond with sufficient seriousness and transparency to the failure of SANAC civil society leaders to disclose financial conflicts of interest. The board has also failed to provide satisfactory explanations for funding approved for the organisation of a board member and various other questionable governance practices. In addition, the recent resignation of two board members (Phologkolo Ramothwala and Mthetho Tshemese) have not been explained. Questions remain over the process for appointing a CEO, which seems to have aimed at a preferred candidate (one who would be less independent and more willing to turn a blind eye to corruption) and the decision to appoint an interim CEO rather than extending the contract of the previous CEO. SANAC has been operating without a CEO for the last five months. 

SANAC is meant to be at the heart of social mobilisation around HIV and TB. To play this role its sectors must be deeply located in civil society. They are not. Not surprisingly therefore it has failed to conduct much-needed sector audits aimed at establishing representation and reach into real constituencies of people who claim to be civil society leaders. As a result, individuals with no constituencies in the real world can vote and be elected to positions of power. 

This has left SANAC open to capture by people intending to make money out of HIV and TB. This together with the previously mentioned concerns regarding governance at SANAC is deeply concerning given the billions of rands in aid that are channelled through SANAC structures.

We are disappointed that the SANAC Chairperson, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, has not dealt with these allegations despite promising to do so in a letter to TAC. (See here for the original letters from TAC to the Deputy President in February and March 2017).

For these reasons, our various organisations will in the coming weeks be discussing the possibility of withdrawing from SANAC and stepping up our campaigns around HIV and TB through an independent and effective civil society co-ordinating structure. 

A new movement, new commitment, new energy

In conclusion, we reaffirm our commitment to work together amongst ourselves and other non-corrupt individuals and organisations for a revived response to HIV and TB, linked to a public healthcare system that provides quality services to all. We have set in motion this renewed commitment to work together at a meeting of partner organisations in Johannesburg on 8 June 2017. In future meetings, we will invite a much wider group of organisations and individuals. 

Together we will build a new movement for quality healthcare and the possibility of ending AIDS and TB in South Africa. We call on all delegates to the South African AIDS Conference and thousands of AIDS and TB activists and concerned persons to join the fight against opportunism whilst the task of responding to HIV and TB remains an enormous ongoing challenge that requires honesty and transparency about our successes and failures. 

Issued by the 

• Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), 
• SECTION27, 
• Legal Resources Centre (LRC), 
• Masithandane End-Hate Crimes Collective, and 
• Rural Health Advocacy Project (RHAP)

Masithandane End-Hate Crimes Action Group urges community action on International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia

17 May, 2017
As the world commemorates the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia South Africa is faced with a growing wave of brutal violence against women, especially Black lesbians. In the first 5 months of 2017 alone 8 known violent hate crimes against Black lesbians and members of the LGBTIQ community have been publicised, compared with 5 in the year 2016. Bobby Motlatla, Enrico “Tamara” Van der Merwe, Sarie Sitkamer, Lebogang Moremi, Matiisetso “Nonki” Smous and Lerato “Tembai” Moloi have been attacked or killed in April and May this year. The Masithandane End-Hate Crimes Action Group urges South Africans to actively engage in efforts to protect the LGBTIQ community and to reject violence against members of our community.

South Africa’s appalling femicide rates, 1 every 8 hours, and violence against women rates of 1 in 5 women, are gaining visibility. Yet the detailed picture is complex showing that poor and working class women are most vulnerable, as well as those who are gender non-conforming. A spate of recent cases has seen different sectors of society speak out and increased media coverage of hetero- normative femicide. This, in stark contrast to the silence around similarly violent homophobic and transphobic femicide. The sensitive coverage of these hate crimes by mainstream media is crucial for raising awareness and building broad social acceptance and respect for the ‘other’. It encourages social debate and provides space for people to examine their own prejudices and the impacts of condoning hatred of any kind.

Similarly, the role of social media in increasing visibility and building awareness cannot be underestimated. Yet the Masithandane Collective cautions against the use of violent, explicit and objectifying images. “We must remember that victims are also people with names and faces. They are loved by friends, families and communities and we must honour their memories.” Says Bev Ditsie, co-founding member of the Masithandane Collective.

While government programmes are coming into place through the National Task Team on LGBTI and the Rapid Response Team, there remains room for improvement and acceleration of programmes for implementation. The successful investigation and prosecution, as well as appropriate sentencing in hate crime cases can signal to perpetrators that they will not get away with their crimes and indeed society will no longer tolerate such crimes.

It is important that everyone play a role in preventing violent hate crimes. The Masithandane Collective calls on all South Africans to take action within their own communities, we are not hopeless and helpless. These actions can include holding dialogues to build understanding and developing mechanisms to make their communities safe, accepting and respecting. From churches to civic groups, culture clubs to sports clubs, schools to universities, small businesses to big businesses, everyone is called to action. The Masithandane Collective also calls on all civil society formations to work together to roll out programmes in all communities. The clarion call “Enough is Enough” must be harnessed into specific actions to make our communities safer for all.

**Masithandane End-Hate Crimes Action Group was formed in December 2016 with the aim of mobilising communities to actively prevent violence based on hate. In response to the persistent murder of Black lesbians and other members of the LGBTIQ community, the Collective works in communities with local activists to engage communities and change attitudes especially at hotspots like shebeens and spaza shops. They also provide a platform that links communities, families and activists to existing resources and services that support efforts to address and end hate crimes.

For further details contact:

• Phumi Mtetwa - phumim@gmail.com (076 246 3018)
• Bev Ditsie - b.ditsie@gmail.com (076 976 7948)
• Tapuwa More - tapuwamoore@yahoo.com (060 431 4979)

Masithandane End Hate Crimes Action Group

• facebook.com/masithandane @masithandane
• masithandane.endhate@gmail.com
• masithandane.blogspot.co.za

A call for prevention strategies

Phumi Mtetwa, 5 December 2016

"To all my FB and real friends, and family, especially if you are based in South Africa:

We have a serious crisis. LGBTIQ bodies are being tortured and murdered. Whilst all of us are advocating for the Hate Crimes Bill to become law, I want to make a call. Mine is one that does not rely on legal instruments. Mine is one that does not rely on [State] institutions. Mine is one that relies on SOCIETY! The PEOPLE(S) of South Africa.

We need a NATIONAL IMBIZO. One that would discuss strategies to PREVENT hate crimes from taking place in the first instance. One that will not make us undertakers. One that will not make us toyi-toyi outside courts. One that will not build our already high stress levels. One that will not increase the already high levels of my declining mental-health status.

Friends, can we discuss PREVENTION strategies?

If you are with me, how should we go about organising ourselves?

I am coming to knock at your door!!!"