Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2006 - Tanzania
- Document source:
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Date:
14 March 2007
Investigation into Messrs. Kidanka and Bukuku's assault104
On September 10, 2005, Mr. Christopher Kidanka, head of the information department of the Legal Human Rights Centre (LHRC), was violently beaten by prison guards after he tried to give assistance to Mr. Mpoki Bukuku, a journalist for the British daily The Citizen. Both men were covering the forcible evictions of inhabitants of the Ukonda neighbourhood in Dar es Salaam.
Both men were then locked up for two hours in a car parked in the sun, without water or medical care, although their wounds were bleeding profusely.
Messrs. Kidanka and Bukuku lodged a complaint and a commission composed of four policemen and four prison guards was established to investigate the events and to publish a report within two weeks. The Dar es Salaam Resident Magistrate Court first heard the case on September 21, 2005; on this occasion, five senior prison officers and four prison guards were indicted for "assault". They all pled not guilty and were released on bail. They were nonetheless banned from leaving the city.
On April 19, 2006, Messrs. Kidanka and Ezekiel Massanja, LHRC finance and administration manager, were summoned to testify by the Resident Magistrate Court in Dar es Salaam. The hearing was then postponed until May 15, 2006.
Proceedings remained pending as of the end of 2006.
[Refworld note: This report as posted on the FIDH website (www.fidh.org) was in pdf format with country chapters run together by region. Footnote numbers have been retained here, so do not necessarily begin at 1.]
104. See Annual Report 2005.
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