My blog post this week centers around current and uprising
human rights issues in Zanzibar, Africa. According to my reference article,
there has been citing’s of rights violations which has led to a tension in the
African area which is deemed by officials as “unnecessary”. Due to these
factors, the Tanzania Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance, has intervened
and condemned the situation in the Isles. These groups urge authorities to immediately
address it.
A press release from the commission stated that “The
situation in Zanzibar is an indication of lack and good governance and
accountability and rule of law. The commission advises the government to make
sure that such incidents never reappear”.
More issues come from Zanzibar with their Commissioner, Zahor
Khamis, have also added to the situation. A statement by TCHRG stated that he
condemned the murder of a police officer, destruction of public and private
property, and the “controversial kidnapping” of a kidnapping of a famous Muslim
cleric.
With these claims being made it’s hard to distinguish what
is true. The Commissioner of Police, Mussa Ali, has denied these allegations,
mostly about the kidnapping of the Muslim cleric. However, the Human Rights
Commission is getting involved. “Although the abduction claims are unclear, we
urge through investigations to find the truth and also hunt for criminals
behind the murder of the policeman, injuring people and destroying property,”
Zahor stated in a press release.
In addition to these acts, these have been alleged that police
in Zanzibar have been launching nation-wide campaigns to pull-down Uamsho
flags. Witnesses have claimed that armed officers have been in these rights
violations in different parts of Zanzibar. It’s also been reported that these
same officers have been beating these citizens. However, the Zanzibar police have
constantly denied reports of these “alleged” attacks.
The question here is not only who is right, the government,
police, or the citizens, but what can be done once the truth is found out? Also
human rights are questionable here, not only with the citizens, but also with
the government and police involved.
No comments:
Post a Comment