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Tanzania: Information regarding the government's treatment of those accused of seditious activities and the fate of failed asylum seekers returned to Tanzania

Information regarding the fate of failed asylum seekers who are returned to Tanzania is currently unavailable to the IRBDC. However, a former senior government official was placed under house arrest when he returned to Tanzania after many years of exile despite official assurances of his safety (Amnesty International Report 92). According to the Right to Leave and Return in International Law and Practice, in Africa, "the right to leave and return has not been a significant part of the discussions of the Human Rights Committee". (Hannum 110). Hannum further cautions that "consideration of the right to leave and return must also take into account the relative fragility of democracy in Africa and the widespread existence of military or other dictatorships" (110).

                Tanzania reportedly suspects Tanzanians abroad of engaging in "underground publications" designed to incite people inside Tanzania against the Union of Tanzania and Zanzibar (Africa Events 23). In his comments published in the West Africa, 25 June-1 July 1990, Ruby Ofori makes a reference to the President's "heavy-handed response to striking university students" (West Africa 1068).

For more background information on Tanzania's current situation, please find the attached excerpts from the following documents:

-"Babu Warns Nyerere", New African, London: IC Publication, February 1990.

-"Tanzania's Struggle with the IMF", New African, May 1990.

-"Tanzania's Religious Politics", New African, November 1989.

-"Mwinyi's Dilemma", New African, June 1989.

-"Tanzania: Drive Against Corruption", New African, April 1990.

-"News from Zanzibar", News From Africa Watch, Washington: Human Rights Watch, 19 May 1989.

Bibliography

1. Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 1989, London: Amnesty International Publications, 1989, p. 92.

2. Hannum, Hurst, ed., The Right to Leave and Return in International Law and Practice, Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1987, p. 110.

3. Ibid., p. 110.

4. "Tanzania: The Merchant of Hope". Africa Events, June/July, 1988, p. 23.

5. West Africa, London: West Africa Publishing Company, 25 June-1 July 1990, p. 1068.