The International Federation for Human Rights (fidh) and its member organisation, the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) in Dar es Salaam, deplore the violence in Zanzibar during the 2005 General Election held on October 30th. The National Democratic Institute (NDI) sent election observers to Zanzibar to observe these elections. The incumbent Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and Civic United Front (CUF) were in tight competition for parliamentary seats and presidential position.
According to our reliable sources, there has been excessive deployment of Tanzania People’s Defense Force soldiers, Special Forces and Police. There have been reports of many troubling incidents, mainly army soldiers were seen harassing mostly CUF supporters. In one incident, one such supporter was arrested and assaulted by army soldiers on his way back from the hospital. Others were beaten as they celebrated what they deemed to be a landslide victory against the incumbent CCM.
The atmosphere of intimidation and fear kept many Zanzibaris from exercising their right to vote, as downtown Zanzibar, Darajani, was full of army soldiers and patrolling military vehicles. It seems that the conditions for elections are not running fairly, army soldiers were given the mandate to distribute voting materials to polling stations along with supervising the collection of the results and the ballot papers from polling stations. It is estimated that every polling station had a minimum of 15 army soldiers on guard duty.
Additionally, our sources observed a truck full of men, in partial army uniform, entering a polling station and proceeding to vote without providing necessary residential documentation. Again, it is suspect whether these individuals were indeed residents eligible to vote.
The FIDH and LHRC urge the authorities to strictly abide by their human rights commitments and take all necessary measures to guarantee fair and transparent elections, and to prevent any excessive use of force.
Yours sincerely,
Helen Kijo-Bisimba
Executive Director, Legal and Human Rights Centre
Sidiki Kaba
President of FIDH
Contact : FIDH Permanent Delegation to the United Nations, Geneva, tel (41) 22 700 1288 or (41) 79 42 77 328