Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan Tuesday lifted a blanket ban on political assemblies by opposition parties. Hassan expressed the will to have a dialogue within and among political parties in Tanzania. The ban was imposed in 2016 by Hassan’s predecessor John Magufuli to curb political dissent and included draconian measures which prohibited political parties from organizing [...]
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Tanzania villagers sue Barrick Gold in Canada court for mining abuses
A group of Tanzanian villagers Wednesday filed legal action with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice against the mining company Barrick Gold for a number of human rights violations at its North Mara Gold Mine. It is the first time that the mining company has faced legal action in Canada for human rights violations abroad. [...]
African Union committee holds Tanzania guilty of violating fundamental rights of girls
The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) Thursday held that Tanzania’s policy on the expulsion of pregnant and married girls with no opportunity of re-entry to schools and the forced pregnancy testing conducted in schools violates various provisions of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the [...]
HRW calls for end to rights abuses against African girls on Day of the African Child
Human Rights Watch (HRW) Thursday urged members of the African Union (AU) to take drastic steps to protect young girls and women. The report was released on the AU’s the Day of the African Child. Among the concerns raised by HRW are child marriage, free education for children, and allowing pregnant girls and young women [...]
Amnesty International condemns Tanzanian violence against Maasai
Amnesty International released a statement Wednesday condemning Tanzanian violence towards the Maasai ethnic group. Fears are mounting as the indigenous Maasai are being severely injured by Tanzanian soldiers. Tanzania is planning on using Maasai lands in endeavors such as conservation and hunting excursions. Hunting plans drafted in 1992, along with UNESCO protections, caused multiple problems [...]
Kenya dispatch: DRC joins East Africa bloc in Nairobi ceremony
Caleb Keraka is a Staff Correspondent for JURIST in Kenya and a fourth-year law student at the University of Nairobi School of Law. On April 8th in Nairobi the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) formally joined the East African Community (EAC) bloc by signing the EAC Accession Treaty. This came after meeting the requisite conditions [...]
Tanzania drops charges against opposition leader Freeman Mbowe
The government of Tanzania Friday dropped charges relating to economic crimes and terrorism against Freeman Mbowe, according to Tanzania’s opposition party. Freeman Mbowe was arrested last July in a nighttime raid by the local police hours before he was scheduled to hold a press conference to push for constitutional reforms. His party, Democracy and Progress [...]
French high court gives CSOs procedural win in Total Uganda oil case
The Court of Cassation, France’s highest court, ruled Wednesday to resolve procedural issues in favor of six nonprofit groups in their case against oil giant Total Uganda. Six French and Ugandan civil society organizations (CSOs) brought the case against Total in 2019: Friends of the Earth France, Survie, Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO), CRED, [...]
Tanzanian officials on Sunday suspended another newspaper accused of false stories, despite President Samia Suluhu Hassan pledging to uphold the media freedoms that had been revoked by her predecessor, the late John Pombe Magufuli. The newspaper, Raia Mwema (which translates to Good Citizen), is a leading weekly Swahili newspaper that has been suspended for 30 [...]
Article 66.2 of TRIPS Agreement: LDCs and Technology Transfer
Climate change is a serious challenge facing countries. Least developed countries (LDCs) are the most vulnerable to climate change impacts due to a lack of adequate resources, particularly technological resources, required to mitigate/adapt to climate change impacts within their territories. Some international agreements recognize this technology challenge faced by LDCs and thus provide for technology [...]