Tanzanian Attorneys Face Charges of Sedition

Issued jointly with the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide, U.S. Office
EUGENE, OREGON, May 17, 2002

Two distinguished Tanzanian attorneys are facing criminal charges for speaking out against human rights abuses. Tundu Lissu and Rugemeleza Nshala of the Lawyers' Environmental Action Team (LEAT) in Dar es Salaam face charges of sedition for their work to rectify alleged human rights abuses against small scale miners in Bulyanhulu.

LEAT represents a group of small-scale miners that were forcibly evicted from their mines in 1996 by the Tanzanian Police. The evictions took place despite an injunction issued by the High Court of Tanzania restraining the Tanzanian government and the Kahama Mining Corporation, Ltd., a subsidiary of a Canadian company. The evictions were to make way for the development of the Bulyanhulu mine. According to LEAT, the area was legally designated a small-scale mining concession area. Without the proper license and little notice to the miners, the Tanzanian government and the mining company took control of the mine sites.

Buried Alive

In the course of the eviction, over 400,000 small-scale miners were forced from their land. These miners and their families have never been properly compensated or resettled. During the forced eviction roughly 65 miners are alleged to have been buried alive. The Tanzanian government refused to investigate the alleged atrocities when they were reported, despite a legal obligation under the Inquests Act of 1980 to do so. No compensation for loss of property or life was ever issued. Despite evidence to the contrary, the Tanzanian government and Barrick Gold, the Canadian company that now owns the mine, have vigorously denied claims of injury and death.

The mining incident has received international attention, and many people and organizations have called on the Tanzanian government to allow an independent international investigation. To date, no independent investigation has been initiated and the claims of LEAT's clients remain unresolved.

Criminal Charges Pending

Attorneys Tundu Lissu and Rugemeleza Nshala now face charges for the criminal act of sedition. These charges are expected to be levied on May 31, 2002. These charges are based on written and oral statements alleged, by the government, to have been made by the two attorneys in the course of their representation of their clients' interests. If the government is successful in leveling these charges against Lissu and Nshala, they could face up to two years in prison for representing the public interest and engaging in what should be considered protected free speech.

LEAT is East Africa's leading environmental law organization. In 1999, LEAT won a key victory protecting East Africa's largest contiguous mangrove forest. LEAT represented local communities that challenged an Irish developer's plans to build what would have been the world's largest prawn farm in the ecologically fragile Rufiji Delta.

In 2000, LEAT hosted the E-LAW Annual International Meeting in Arusha. E-LAW U.S. has worked with attorneys at LEAT for many years.

Voice Your Support for LEAT

You can send a letter to the Tanzanian government voicing your support for LEAT's efforts to investigate allegations of human rights abuses at Bulyanhulu and LEAT's lawful right to represent its clients by using E-LAW's campaign site at http://www.elaw.org/campaigns/takeAction.asp?id=1133