HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH ACCUSES POLICE OF HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES ON GAYS IN TANZANIA

 Neela Ghoshal, the Human Rights Watch Researcher (LGBT Rights) for East Africa

By Nasser Kigwangallah, recently in Dodoma

HUMAN Rights Watch has urged Members of the Parliament (MPs) to speed the process of enacting laws that would deter law enforcing agencies, such as the police, from discriminating vulnerable groups so as to escalate the war against HIV/AIDS in the society.

The call to that effect was made by Neela Ghoshal, the Human Rights Watch Researcher (LGBT Rights) for East Africa in her key note address to MPs at the 6^th Annual Conference of Tanzania Parliamentarians Aids Coalition (TAPAC) which ended in Dodoma on Sunday.

She said discrimination against sex workers, people who use drugs or LGBTI, gays and lesbians has reached an alarming state of concern in Tanzania and remedial steps are urgently needed if the war against HIV/AIDS is to be won.

“A research conducted by Human Rights Watch group between May 2012 and April, 2013 has shown massive human rights violations experienced by sex workers, drug users, lesbians, gays, bisexual, transgender and intersex people including MSM exposed very troubling situation of sexual exploitation,” she said.

According to her there were reports from people interviewed of unlawful torture and other forms of ill-treatment by the police and other law enforcement officials during security operations in some parts of the country.

She added that the research also documents grave human rights violations by police, including torture, rape, assault and arbitrary arrest of people found to be involved in sexual orientation.

She said other forms of abuses by law enforcers are extortion, as well as refusal to accept complaints from members of the most vulnerable groups in the society.

Neela Ghoshal said many cases rested on confessions obtained during beatings and torture or on suspects’ appearance and other behavior.
“No one should be sentenced to prison time because they blurt out a confession to stop torture, or because a judge doesn’t like what they drink, how they dress, or what kind of text messages they send,” she said.

On his part, Abdillah Ally, (famously known as Zungu) a renowned homosexual operating in Dar es Salaam testified by saying that they have been tortured and raped in prison by police and other law enforcers.

He said we have documents from our members who reported abuses by authorities prosecuting suspected gays and lesbians.
He said there are cases of men who have been beaten so badly by police and vigilante groups because of their sexual practices.
Condemning the practice as illegal and inhumane, the Nkasi legislator Ali Keissy urged his fellow MPs to abhor the practice as being a condemned sin in front of god almighty.
“Being gay or lesbian is a practice which stands for condemnation and we as MPs should be careful, otherwise the country will in future, be ruled by a gay president or we shall have gay MPs and gay councilors ,” he said.
The two day conferebce was officially closed by Ummy Mwalimu, deputy minister in the Ministry of Community Development, Gender and Children.
She said it was not a good omen to discriminate gay, lesbians and such groups if we all want to eradicate HIV/AIDS in the country.
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