**Updates IFEX alert of 26 January 2000** (ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – The following is an ARTICLE 19 press release: CRISIS WILL DEEPEN UNLESS TREASON TRIAL ENDS AND COMMONWEALTH AGREEMENT IS REVIVED, CLAIMS RIGHTS GROUP On 3 April the trial resumes of eighteen leaders of the Zanzibar opposition party, the Civic United Front (CUF), facing the death […]
**Updates IFEX alert of 26 January 2000**
(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – The following is an ARTICLE 19 press release:
CRISIS WILL DEEPEN UNLESS TREASON TRIAL ENDS AND COMMONWEALTH AGREEMENT IS REVIVED, CLAIMS RIGHTS GROUP
On 3 April the trial resumes of eighteen leaders of the Zanzibar opposition party, the Civic United Front (CUF), facing the death penalty on spurious treason charges. In a report released today, A19 calls for their immediate release and for the revival of a year-old Commonwealth-brokered agreement aimed at ending Zanzibar’s long-running political crisis ahead of October elections.
Andrew Puddephatt, Executive Director of ARTICLE 19, said: “The treason trial shows that the Zanzibar government is not serious about creating the conditions for credible elections. Its cynical attitude to the Commonwealth agreement only confirms this. Unless the government reverses its refusal to consider basic reforms such as an independent electoral commission before the Commonwealth deadline of May 2000 for implementing the agreement, the island may see serious unrest in the months ahead.”
Andrew Puddephatt also expressed concern that the Tanzanian government is standing by while Zanzibar slips even further into crisis, since it has the ultimate responsibility for ensuring that Tanzania as a whole meets its international human rights obligations. ARTICLE 19 challenged the international community to avoid a repeat of the electoral fiasco on Zanzibar in 1995, urging them to provide concerted support for the Commonwealth agreement.
In its report, ARTICLE 19 also provides the first comprehensive analysis of the laws in Zanzibar which create such a hostile climate for freedom of expression, association and assembly on the island. A companion report, also released today, sets out comparative information on the legal situation for the media on the mainland. ARTICLE 19 is calling for the immediate repeal of restrictive Tanzania-wide laws such as the Political Parties Act and National Security Act, and Zanzibar laws such as the Registration of News Agents, Newspapers and Books Act and the Societies Act.
Notes to Editors:
1. Multi-party elections are set for October 2000.
2. The reports being released today by ARTICLE 19 are: Zanzibar: Democracy on Shaky Foundations and Media Law and Practice in Southern Africa: Tanzania Mainland.
3. For a hard copy of the report contact Katherine Huxtable/ Ilana Cravitz on 44 207 278 92922.
