Rights centre takes newsman`s brutal killing to UN and ICC body

The Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) has lodged two landmark petitions against the government over continued human rights violations to the United Nations and International Criminal Court � citing the recent killing of Channel Ten correspondent Daudi Mwangosi as a test case, the Guardian has learnt. The petitions are addressed specifically to the UN Special Rapporteur on judicial killings and to the ICC Director of Criminal Investigations. LHRC Executive Secretary Hellen Kijo-Bisimba told a news conference in Dar es Salaam yesterday that her move was aimed at eliciting global intervention over what she describes as �continued killings of the innocent people� and that the victims had suffered death �for unknown reasons.� Pensive and visibly moved, Ms Kijo-Bisimba confirmed that her office had sent the two reports of complaints to the international judicial organizations since 28 September 2012. The reports are requesting the world bodies to take decisive measures � including legal action against the government � �as quickly as possible� in order to curb increasing incidents of killings of civilians in Tanzania. She said the LHRC took these measures after a thorough review of three probe reports over the death of Mwangosi, whose killing �in cold blood� is blamed on policy on duty at Nyololo village in Mufindi District, Iringa Region over a month ago. She noted that her office took particular exception to the probe report made by a committee formed by the Minister for Home Affairs, Dr. Emmanuel Nchimbi, and led by Judge Steven Ihema, arguing it has spoken roundly in favour of the government -- and that it was �full of lies.� She argued that the government was likely to take actions in favour of the police �seen on a TV screen � killing the journalist� and that her centre �no longer� trusted the report � hence her petitions to the Hague. Ms. Kijo-Bisimba also criticized the government�s report, saying it fell short of critical details, and sought instead to �protect the killers and the government officials� involved in covering up �the whole issue.� �This is a habit typical of the government � defending its officials accused of committing crimes � and looking for opportunities to exonerate them from blame,� she said, arguing that her centre wasn�t surprised when the government-sponsored report came out � indicating an �open desire to protect the offenders.� �Our government has yet to put a system of investigating itself or hold its officials accountable,� she stressed. �Anyone reading the report of Dr. Nchimbi�s probe committee in detail would see how it has factored in some �falsehoods� in order to show how (the opposition) CHADEMA leaders were at fault for convening an illegal meeting � which the police had disallowed (ostensibly) to pave for way of the national census � this was clearly wrong,� she said. In any case, the Iringa Regional Police Commander, Michael Kamuhanda had interfered with the principles of good governance because his junior officer � the OCD Mufindi -- had already given CHADEMA party officials the right to assemble. The Media Council of Tanzania (MCT) also released its report on the same day, accusing the police of �deliberately and consciously� killing the journalist. The report carries details of events from the scene of killing and has reviewed video and other incriminating media output. She also took issue with the time frames: Dr. Nchimbi�s team spent a whole month (30 days) � against just two weeks which the others two accomplished the same tasks. Preliminary research by the Centre shows that 24 people died at the hands of police officers between January beginning of September this year � but no action had since been taken against the killers. As Tanzanians grapple with the murder of Mwangosi, data released by the LHRC shows that police have killed some 209 people between 2005 and early September 2012 � an average of 30 extra-judicial killings a year. The killing of Mwangosi may be the latest in a series of such brutalities yet hardly unique. A UN report released in October last year ranks Tanzania at the 10th slot among countries with the worst police killings around the world. The UN document places Pakistan at the top, followed by Philippines and Mexico; Egypt comes a close fourth � as do Iran, North Korea, Russia, Brazil and Bahrain in that order. However, the UN report acknowledges that the Tanzania government was determined to review laws governing press freedom, evidenced by a large number of privately owned print and electronic medias houses. On Wednesday the Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance also released its report which indicated that police trampled on a number of human rights when they interrupted Chadema activities at Nyololo village in Mufindi District, Iringa Region, resulting in the killing of Mwangosi. According to the Commission�s report, RPC Kamuhanda violated Political Parties Act, (Cap 258 RE.2002) Section 11 (a), (b) and Police Act (Chapter 322) by interfering with jurisdiction of Mufindi Officer Commanding District (OCD), who was supposed to have issued the order. The report said Kamuhanda issued the order to ban Chadema activities when he knew he was not the Officer in Charge of police in the respective area, adding that under the circumstances, the order was therefore not lawful because it was issued by a person who had no legal mandate to do so