50 ACTIVISTS ORGANIZATION SET TO REPORT THE MWANANCHI NEWSPAPER SAGA TO UN

Dar es Salaam. Activists yesterday asked the United Nations and international community to pressure the government into scrapping draconian laws that suppress press freedom.About 50 non-governmental and media organisations under the Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition (THRD Coalition) also voiced their opposition to the banning of the dailies Mwananchi and Mtanzania for 14 and 90 days, respectively.THRD Coalition coordinator Onesmo Olengurumwa told the media after a two-hour closed-door meeting that the UN and international community should become aware of the existence of repressive laws in Tanzania, particularly the Newspaper Act, 1976 and National Security Act, 1970.He said the two laws were being arbitrarily used to muzzle and intimidate the media and deny Tanzanians their right to information.“We want the government to immediately repeal these laws. We urge the UN and the international community at large to intervene and pressure the government on this because this is an issue of human rights violation,” Mr Olengurumwa noted.He said instead of banning Mwananchi and Mtanzania, the government should have resorted to other avenues such as the courts or the Media Council of Tanzania.But two prominent CCM members supported the ban, saying media practitioners must abide by the laws of the land.Former CCM Publicity and Ideology Secretary John Chiligati said it was unacceptable for the media to operate in total disregard of the laid-down rules and regulations.“It is difficult to build a country where people are not made accountable for their actions. The government is right to take appropriate action against people who break the law, even if they happen to be in the media,” he said.The chairman of the party’s youth wing, Mr Sadifa Juma Khamis, said newspapers, regardless of their popularity or reach, are not above the law.“If you have committed an offence, you should be punished according to existing laws...this is what has been done,” he said.THRD Coalition urged the government to lift its ban on Mwananchi, Mtanzania and Mwanahalisi, saying it violated Tanzanians’ constitutional right to information. Mwanahalisi, a weekly publication, was banned indefinitely last year for allegedly publishing seditious articles.

Source:THE CITIZEN