Tanzanian Government Refuses U.N. Report of Human Rights, Plans to File Contrary Report

"My dreams for the future are simple: work, a happy, healthy family, a lovely long motorcycle ride, and continuing the struggle to awaken people to the need for serious human rights reform."

 - Mike Farrell

The Tanzanian government has accused the United Nations of releasing a false human rights report for the country.

The government says it will file its own report which will represent the true human rights situation in the country as against what the United Nations currently published.

The accusations were delivered on behalf of the government of Tanzania by the Deputy Minister for education, William Ole Nasha who told members of Parliament that Tanzania record on the respect for human rights was not as bad as it was being portrayed by activists and the United Nations.

Mr. Ole Nasha accused rights bodies of what he said is a tendency to distort the reality and filing "exaggerated reports" with the UN panel on human rights.

He made this known while responding to a question by a Member of Parliament who challenged the government to say whether it was facing difficulties in expounding its record.

You will recall that there were reports in the media that 38 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the country jointly signed a petition which was sent to member and observer states of the UN Human Rights Council. They were asking them to address what they referred to as a crackdown on human rights in the country.

According to the petition, journalists, opposition and dissenting voices, human rights defenders, and LGBTI people "have come under increasing pressure as the government enacts draconian laws, threatens independent journalism, and restricts freedoms of opinion and expression."

Speaking on the matter to The East African, government spokesperson, Dr. Hassan Abasi, confirmed that Tanzania has already filed its own report with the UN.

"We know there are some non-governmental organizations that are being used by some powers that have written to the UN complaining about the Tanzania human rights issue," he said, adding that the government was not answerable to NGOs he claimed were churning out "cheap propaganda."

Whose report will you believe? The government or the NGOs?

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