ZAM asks Dutch govt to suspend support for Tanzania after torture scandal

ZAM, a Netherlands-based media organisation, has called on the Dutch government to suspend its immigration support programme in Tanzania and stop supporting the repression of human rights.

In a statement issued on Monday, the media platform accused the Netherlands of “assisting dictators” under the guise of migration control.

Its demands follow the arbitrary arrest, detention, torture and deportation of Agather Atuhaire, a journalist with the Network of African Investigative Reporters and Editors (NAIRE), and Kenyan human rights activist Boniface Mwangi.

ZAM described the act as a “state-enabled brutality” and linked the abuse to the “Dutch-backed immigration capacity-building project in Tanzania known as Project Hostmanship.”

Project Hostmanship is managed by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Return and Departure Service.

The project, although aimed at curbing illegal migration to Europe by training foreign immigration agencies, is considered to have emboldened the repressive regime to crack down on civil society in the country.

According to ZAM, the initiative has strengthened repressive forces in Tanzania, resulting in the abuse of individuals through beatings, sexual assault, and psychological torture.

“If the Netherlands does not want people to leave Tanzania, the Dutch government, instead of assisting dictators, would do better to support Tanzanian forces for democracy so that citizens can stay safely home in freedom,” it said.

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Ms Athhaire and Mr Mwangi had travelled from Uganda and Kenya, respectively, to observe the political trial of Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu.

They were picked up at their hotel in Dar es Salaam and accused of violating Section 45 of Tanzania’s immigration law for failing to declare that they were in the country to observe a trial.

Mr Lissu, whose party has been banned from participating in elections planned for October, had publicly called for protests against election rigging, resulting in Samia Suluhu’s government charging him with treason.

After their arrest, Ms Athhaire and Mr Mwangi were handed over to “a local torture squad,” who subjected them to days of abuse before dumping them near the borders of their home countries.

The security operatives also threatened to humiliate them if they disclosed what had happened to them.

Tanzanian police had initially informed local rights groups that the pair would be deported by air. However, last Thursday, Mr Mwangi was found abandoned on a roadside in northern Tanzania, near the Kenyan border. Ms Atuhaire was also abandoned at the border.

Amnesty International described the arrest of the activist and journalist as one that reveals “the dangers faced by human rights defenders in Tanzania, while noting that there must be accountability and justice.”

Last Friday, the US Department of State’s Bureau of African Affairs stated that it found the reports of the two activists’ mistreatment to be deeply concerning and called for an immediate investigation.

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“We call for an immediate and full investigation into the allegations of human rights abuses. We urge all countries in the region to hold to account those responsible for violating human rights, including torture,” it said.

ZAM has decided to back the investigations into the torture of Ms Atuhaire and Mr Mwangi.

It also stated that the perpetrators and their commanding officers should be held accountable.

“The Dutch government needs to supply an explanation of what has happened, or failing this, to request an inquiry into the incident from its Tanzanian counterparts.

“In light of rising oppression and autocracy in East African states such as Tanzania, but also Uganda, which holds many political prisoners, and Kenya, where scores of good governance protesters were shot dead a year ago, ZAM calls upon the Dutch government to stop assisting repressive states,” it added.