Today, DefendDefenders and 37 Tanzanian, African and international human rights organisations publish a letter calling on states to use the next session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) to raise concern over Tanzania’s situation in order to prevent a further deterioration.

Since a group of 30 NGOs first wrote a letter on Tanzania, in August 2018, the space for human rights defenders (HRDs), civil society, journalists, bloggers, the media, LGBTI persons, and opposition and dissenting voices has continued to shrink. The situation in Tanzania, which ranks 118th in Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index this year, calls for a response at the United Nations. This can be in the form of individual (national) or joint statements by state delegations.

In the letter, the group of NGOs say: “While we do not believe that at this point, the situation calls for a [HRC] resolution, warning signs of a mounting human rights crisis exist.” We echo the statements delivered in recent months by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and call for preventative engagement with the Tanzanian government.

Signatories:

1. AfricanDefenders (the Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network)
2. African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX)
3. Amnesty International
4. ARTICLE 19
5. Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
6. Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia (AHRE) – Ethiopia
7. Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
8. Center for Civil Liberties – Ukraine
9. Central Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (Réseau des Défenseurs des Droits Humains en Afrique Centrale – REDHAC)
10. The Centre for Peace and Advocacy (CPA) – South Sudan
11. CIVICUS
12. Civil Rights Defenders
13. Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA)
14. Committee to Protect Journalists
15. Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative
16. DefendDefenders (the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project)
17. Geneva for Human Rights / Genève pour les Droits de l’Homme
18. Human Rights Defenders Network – Sierra Leone
19. Human Rights Watch
20. International Commission of Jurists
21. International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
22. International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA)
23. International Service for Human Rights
24. The International Youth for Africa (IYA) – South Sudan
25. JASS (Just Associates)
26. Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC)
27. Ligue burundaise des droits de l’homme ITEKA – Burundi
28. MARUAH – Singapore
29. The Network of South Sudan Civil Society Organizations in Uganda (NoSSCOU)
30. The Nile Centre for Human Rights (NCHR – South Sudan)
31. Odhikar – Bangladesh
32. The ONE Campaign
33. Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (SAHRDN)
34. Reporters Without Borders
35. Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights
36. Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition (THRDC)
37. West Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (ROADDH/WAHRDN)
38. World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)