Tanzania: Protest Government Attack on Activists

Contributor

Dec 06, 2001

The Tanzanian police have arrested two men and issued a warrant for the arrest of the third who have been pressing for an international investigation of allegations of forcible evictions and killings at Bulyanhulu in Tanzania in August of 1996. This alert calls for protests to the World Bank and the Tanzanian government.

Source: ATTAC e-mail newsletter via Mike Sansom
African Initiatives

6- Alert

Protest Tanzanian Government Attack on Activists Investigating Murders

at World Bank-Supported Gold Mine

[based on information provided by MiningWatch Canada, Center for

International Environmental Law (U.S.), Corner House (U.K.) and

Bretton Woods Project (U.K.)]

The Tanzanian police on Saturday arrested two men and issued a warrant

for the arrest of the third who have been pressing for an

international investigation of allegations of forcible evictions and

killings at Bulyanhulu in Tanzania in August of 1996. This alert calls

for protests to the World Bank and the Tanzanian government.

The mine is insured by the Multilateral Insurance Guaranty Agency

(MIGA), a branch of the World Bank Group which provides "political

risk insurance" to corporations. MIGA has itself been the subject of a

shut-down campaign waged by Friends of the Earth, the 50 Years Is

Enough Network, and others (the U.S. Congress is expected to vote soon

on a bill that would cut all U.S. funding for the Agency). The

attitude of MIGA management in this case -- total support for Barrick

Gold's denial of any wrongdoing and opposition to a full

investigation -- illustrates the Agency's role as a publicly-supported

advocate for corporate interests at the expense of the very people the

World Bank claims to prioritize.

On Saturday November 24th, Mr. Rugemeleza Nshala, President of the

Lawyers' Environmental Action Team (LEAT), and Augustine Mrema, the

National Chairman of the Tanzanian Labour Party, were taken from their

homes and charged with sedition. A warrant has been issued for the

arrest of LEAT lawyer Tundu Lissu, who is out of the country.

As of the time of writing, Mr. Rugemeleza has been freed on bail, but

must report daily to a police station. Mr. Mrema is under house arrest

in hospital. The police also searched -- ransacked, really -- the

homes of all three. In what would appear to be an infringement of

lawyer-client privilege, the police have apparently seized evidence

given to LEAT by its clients the families of the small scale miners.

BACKGROUND

LEAT is a Tanzanian NGO which has been actively investigating the

alleged killing of at least 62 gold miners, illegal evictions and

destruction of livelihoods when the Bulyanhulu site was cleared of

artisanal miners in August 1996. Reports indicate that anywhere from

30,000 to 40,000 small scale miners and their families were forcibly

evicted at that time. Attorney Lissu alleges that the evictions were

done precipitously, in defiance of a High Court injunction and with a

great deal of violence, causing the 62 deaths.

The company that claimed the mining concessions in the area at the

time was Kahama Mining Corporation Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary

of Sutton Resources, a Canadian company. In March 1999, Barrick Gold

Corporation, based in Toronto, acquired all the Sutton shares --

including KMCL -- for $500 million. MIGA and Canada's Export

Development Corporation (EDC) cover 99.5% of the project through

political risk insurance. The sample letter to the President of the

World Bank Group (below) includes further serious concerns about

MIGA's involvement with Bulyanhulu.

KMCL, former Sutton directors and Barrick deny that any of this

happened and say that the miners were there illegally, that the

evictions were "closely supervised and closely scrutinized, and that

representatives of the police, government and the companies observed

the whole process." They say that the evacuation process was "legal,

peaceful and without incident." They do not dispute that only a few

miners received any compensation at all.

In July, Barrick Gold sent Kent Thomson (a corporate lawyer) to

Bulyanhulu to investigate on their behalf. Barrick and former Sutton

directors accuse LEAT and other NGOs in Tanzania and Canada of making

"false and scandalous claims," and have claimed they are raising the

issues to generate funding.

On September 27, 2001, MiningWatch Canada, the NGO Working Group on

the Export Development Corporation (Canada), and the Council of

Canadians held a joint press conference to publicly release a video of

the removal of small scale miners in Bulyanhulu in August 1996. The

groups called for an independent international inquiry into the nature

of the removals. The names and the pit numbers of 56 persons who LEAT

says died during the evictions were published in the Tanzanian papers

on the same day.

RECENT PUBLICITY IN TANZANIA

The raids follow wide publicity in the Tanzanian press of LEAT's

investigation of the Bulyanhulu case. On Monday, November 19th, LEAT

held a press conference in which it reiterated its call for an

international commission of inquiry to investigate the alleged

killings at Bulyanhulu in 1996.

The conference came a week after LEAT wrote to the Director of

Criminal Investigation telling him that it did not think the police

force had any moral authority to re-investigate the killings given

their alleged complicity in the crimes. It had also declined to hand

over the police videotape which it had obtained unless and until the

police provided the information it claimed was available that

disproved the allegations of the killings.

Saturday's police raids are clearly an attempt to intimidate LEAT into

silence. The arrests constitute a serious violation of Mr.

Rugemeleza's, Mr. Mraeme's and Mr. Lissu's human rights and we join

LEAT in urging that the Government of Tanzania takes immediate steps

to drop the charges.

LEAT has urgently requested international solidarity, asking all to

press the demands that all charges against Mr. Nshala, Mr. Lissu, Mr.

Mrema and all others arrested in relation to this case be dropped

immediately, that LEAT's legal status be protected, and that an

independent commission of inquiry into the Bulyanhulu allegations be

set up immediately.

Below are two sample letters, one to World Bank President James

Wolfensohn, and the other to the Tanzanian Embassy (we have included

the address and fax for the embassy in the U.S. in our letter, with

addresses for the U.K. and Canada following). Please take action ASAP.

James Wolfensohn, President The World Bank Group 1818 H Street, NW

Washington, DC 20433 Fax: 202/522-0355

Dear Mr. Wolfensohn,

RE: Bulyanhulu Gold Mine, Tanzania: Arrest of LEAT lawyer

I wish to express my grave concern at the arrest on Saturday night of

Mr. Rugemeleza Nshala, President of the Lawyers' Environmental Action

Team (LEAT) and of Mr. Augustine Mrema, Chairman of the Tanzanian

Labor Party. LEAT is a Tanzanian NGO which has been actively

investigating allegations of widespread human rights abuses associated

with the MIGA-backed Bulyanhulu Gold Mine in Tanzania. Specifically,

LEAT has been investigating allegations of mass killings, illegal

evictions and destruction of livelihoods, when the site was cleared of

artisanal miners in August 1996. I understand that Mr. Nshala has

been released on bail but is required to report daily to the Dar es

Salaam Central Police Station. I also understand that he is facing

sedition charges. The police also searched the house of Mr. Tundu

Lissu, a lawyer with LEAT who has been speaking on this matter

internationally, including in Washington with MIGA staff. All

indications are that the police would have arrested Mr. Lissu had he

been in the country. In the course of these raids, the police

reportedly seized evidence given to LEAT by its clients - the families

of the small-scale miners.

The arrests and raids follow LEAT's recent efforts on the Bulyanhulu

case. Two weeks ago, LEAT wrote to the Director of Criminal

Investigation, expressing its view that the police did not have any

moral authority to re-investigate the killings, given their alleged

complicity in the crimes. LEAT also declined to hand over the police

videotape of the events that it had obtained, until the police

provided the information they claimed disproved the allegations of the

killings.

Last Monday (November 19th), LEAT held a press conference in which it

reiterated its call for an international commission of inquiry to

investigate the alleged killings at Bulyanhulu, a call that has

received support from respected non-governmental organizations around

the world.

The arrest of Mr. Rugemeleza raises further serious doubts about

MIGA's involvement in the project. LEAT and other NGOs have already

drawn MIGA's attention to apparent major failures in the application

of MIGA's due diligence procedures with respect to Bulyanhulu.

Although the clearances and alleged killings being investigated by

LEAT took place prior to MIGA's direct involvement, ownership of the

land from which, according to local sources, as many as 600,000

artisanal miners were evicted was disputed and a court injunction was

in place forbidding the evictions. No compensation or alternative

resettlement of the artisanal miners was provided. As such, the

evictions appear to have been in direct contravention of MIGA policies

as well as with the laws of Tanzania. Indeed, there is thus a strong

case that MIGA's resettlement policies should have been applied to the

project since those who had been evicted still had a claim to the land

at the time that MIGA became involved. MIGA not only failed to apply

its resettlement policies but also appears to have taken at face value

claims by the company that the evictions were "peaceful". Evidence

available at the time directly challenged this view and a MIGA

official has since admitted in an email that the evictions were

"forceful" and "swift".

I join LEAT in demanding that all charges against Mr. Nshala, Mr.

Lissu, Mr. Mrema and all others arrested in relation to this case be

dropped, that the NGO status of LEAT be protected, and that an

independent commission of inquiry into the Bulyanhulu allegations be

set up immediately.

The police raid appears to be an attempt to intimidate LEAT and other

proponents of the commission of inquiry into silence. The arrest and

raids appear to constitute a serious violation of the fundamental

human right to free speech, a free press, and to unfettered

participation in the political process. Given that they relate

directly to LEAT's investigation of a MIGA-backed project, I believe

that the World Bank should intervene with the Tanzanian authorities. I

ask that you, as President of the World Bank Group and MIGA, use your

office to ensure that Mr. Rugemeleza's, Mr. Lissu's and the others'

human rights are protected and that LEAT's right to investigate the

Bulyanhulu case - and to publicize its findings - is ensured.

Sincerely,

Ambassador Mustafa S. Nyang'anyi Embassy of Tanzania 2139 R Street,

N.W. Washington, DC 20008 Fax: (202) 797-7408

Dear Ambassador Nyang'anyi:

RE: Bulyanhulu Gold Mine: Arrest of LEAT lawyer