Key developments: In May 2006, Tanzania stated it was in the process of adopting national implementation legislation. It intends to acquire 1,000 additional mines for use in its project to train mine detection rats.
The United Republic of Tanzania signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997, ratified on 13 November 2000 and became a State Party on 1 May 2001. In May 2006, Tanzania stated it was in the process of adopting national implementation legislation.[1] The decision to develop implementation legislation was taken after a review of Tanzania’s position that the existing law, The Tanzania Armaments Control Act, 1991, was insufficient.[2]
Tanzania submitted its annual Article 7 transparency report on 27 February 2006, covering the period 1 May 2005 to 30 April 2006.[3] On 2 May 2006, it submitted an “Additional Report,” which consisted of the expanded Form D on mines retained for training.[4]
Tanzania attended the Sixth Meeting of States Parties in Zagreb, Croatia in November-December 2005, where it reported on a mine detection project with sniffing rats.[5] Tanzania also attended the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in June 2005, where it made statements on Article 7 reporting and stockpiled mines, and in May 2006, where it made a statement on retained mines.
Tanzania has made some remarks with respect to key issues of interpretation and implementation related to Articles 1 and 2. In February 2004, Tanzania stated that it does not subscribe to the use of antipersonnel mines in joint operations and would not provide assistance “to anyone in activities prohibited to a State Party under this convention.”[6] It has not indicated what acts it considers permissible and prohibited. In regard to Article 2, Tanzania has said on several occasions that it does not use antivehicle mines as antipersonnel mines, but has not stated its view on the legality of antivehicle mines with sensitive fuzes or sensitive antihandling devices.[7]
Tanzania has reported that it has not produced antipersonnel mines.[8] The country is not believed to have exported mines. Tanzania completed destruction of its stockpile of 23,987 antipersonnel mines between March 2003 and July 2004, well ahead of its treaty-mandated 1 May 2005 deadline.[9]
Initially, Tanzania retained 1,146 mines for training purposes.[10] This included 369 mines for training troops and 777 mines for the APOPO mine detection rats research project.[11] Tanzania reported using 44 PMD6 mines for the project from May 2005 to April 2006, leaving a total of 1,102 as of April 2006.[12]
For the first time, Tanzania provided the types of mines being retained for the APOPO project: 96 M14; 54 M16; 131 PMD6; 130 No. 4; 96 PMR1; and 226 PMR2.[13] There were inconsistencies with information previously provided. It did not specify the types of mines used in training troops, which will be used “as training aids” and “for demonstration purposes.”[14]
At the May 2006 intersessional meetings, Tanzania told States Parties that it had prepared a new, expanded Form D on retained mines.[15] This provided details on the APOPO project to breed, train and test mine detection rats with mines held by the Sokoine University of Agriculture. Tanzania reported that it planned to increase the number of trained rats to meet the demand from Great Lakes region countries, and therefore intended “to request 1,000 deactivated antipersonnel mines from either the government of Mozambique or from its humanitarian demining organisations.” This would bring its number of retained mines to 2,102, including 1,733 for the APOPO project.[16] In a May 2006 letter to Landmine Monitor, Tanzania stated that it “has requested 1,000 deactivated antipersonnel mines from Mozambique for the development of the APOPO project which trains sniffer rats to detect landmines.”[17]
In 2005, DanChurchAid expanded its mine risk education (MRE) program for refugees in the refugee camps in Kasulu district of western Tanzania. By September 2005, more than 50,000 refugees had attended MRE sessions.[18]
Tanzania is not known to be mine-contaminated.[19] Tanzania’s main link to the landmine problem has been the refugee population entering from neighboring countries; a few nationals have reportedly been killed or injured in the border areas. The last reports of mine casualties involving nationals were in 1999 (three dead and one injured),[20] and in 2003 (three killed in a mine incident in Burundi).[21]
In the absence of special services for them, people with disabilities have depended on humanitarian aid provided to refugees. Healthcare in the refugee camps is provided free of charge to the local population as well as people living in the camps, so many Tanzanian citizens visit the camps for medical treatment; these services are considered to be of better quality than national health services. However, camp services have also suffered from a lack of medicines and staff.[22]
Public health facilities and services available to landmine survivors along the Tanzania-Burundi border have been sparse and underfunded. Survivors have usually been treated in local hospitals―mostly mission hospitals in the border area that are not specifically equipped to handle landmine casualties.[23]
In 2006, UNICEF aimed to provide supplies, equipment and training to primary healthcare services in 12 refugee camps and to build capacity for services for disabled refugee children.[24]
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has provided medical care for war-injured refugees arriving in Tanzania from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2005, the ICRC organized medical treatment for two refugees with long-term health problems related to their war injuries.[25] In 2005, five technicians from the Tanzania Training Centre for Orthopaedic Technologists and regional centers undertook training courses at the ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled (SFD) regional training center in Addis Ababa, with ICRC support. The Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre in Moshi produced 295 prostheses and 605 orthoses, with material support from SFD; three people from the Centre participated in the courses at the SFD center in Addis Ababa.[26]
In 2006, Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF) started a data collection and analysis system for healthcare information management in 11 refugee camps in western Tanzania, funded by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s International Emergency and Refugee Health Branch.[27]
In September 2005, the Christoffel-Blindenmission (CBM) and Handicap International (HI) implemented the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper and Disability project, in collaboration with Tanzanian and German organizations and other partners. With World Bank funding, HI produced materials on Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) and disability; CBM organized a workshop on PRSP in Tanzania. The main objectives were raising awareness and stimulating participation of people with disabilities in the country’s national poverty reduction strategy. The project has created a disability network, with the Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation Tanzania acting as the secretariat.[28]
Tanzania does not have specific legislation protecting the rights and needs of people with disabilities; people with physical disabilities have limited access to healthcare, education and employment due to physical barriers and a limited disability budget. The Department of Social Welfare is responsible for disability coordination, but the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Labour have been responsible for ensuring the rights of people with disabilities in their respective domains. Two seats in parliament have been allocated to women with disabilities.
The NGO Disabled Aids and General Engineering lobbied the government for better access to public transport. Reportedly, the Ministry of Education created a special fund to increase access to education, especially for people with disabilities. The local NGO Haki Elimu raised awareness about the lack of facilities for physically or visually disabled students in government schools.
[1] Letter from Baraka H. Luvanda, Second Secretary, Permanent Mission of the United Republic of Tanzania to the UN, Geneva, 9 May 2006.
[2] Article 7 Report, Form A, 21 June 2004.
[3] The date of submission on the report itself is 6 January 2006. It is a one-page report with all forms indicated as “unchanged” or “not applicable.” Previously Tanzania submitted reports on 19 August 2005, 21 June 2004 and 5 February 2003 (due 28 October 2001).
[4] Landmine Monitor was given a copy of this during the intersessional meetings in Geneva in May, but it had not been posted on the UN website as of July 2006.
[5] Statement by Dr. Costa Ricky Mahalu, Ambassador of Tanzania to Italy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zagreb, 30 November 2005.
[6] Intervention by Tanzania on Article 1, Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 9 February 2004 (notes by Landmine Monitor); repeated in Article 7 Report, Form J, 21 June 2004.
[7] Intervention by Tanzania on Article 1, Standing Committee on the General Status and Operation of the Convention; Article 7 Report, Form J, 21 June 2004.
[8] Article 7 Report, Form A, 5 February 2003, stated, “Tanzania is not producing mines of any type.” Article 7 Report, Form E, 21 June 2004, indicated “non applicable” in reference to decommissioning of production capabilities.
[9] For details, see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 798.
[10] Article 7 Reports, Form D, 21 June 2004 and 19 August 2005. Tanzania did not identify specific mine types in its reports, listing fragmentation (257) and blast (573) mines from China, the No. 4 blast mine (175) from the UK, blast mines (111) from India and fragmentation mines (30) from Korea.
[11] Statement by Tanzania, Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 12 May 2006. Notes by Landmine Monitor (Human Rights Watch).
[12] Article 7 Report, Form D, 2 May 2006; Statement by Tanzania, Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 12 May 2006.
[13] Article 7 Report, Form D, 2 May 2006. In previous reports, Tanzania had not listed any mines from the US (M14 and M16). Mines that were previously listed as 453 blast mines from China are now identified as 226 PMR2 fragmentation mines from China, 131 PMD6 blast mines from Russia and 54 M16 blast mines from the US. Mines that were previously listed as 96 blast mines from India are now identified as 96 M14 blast mines from the US.
[14] Article 7 Report, Form D, 2 May 2006. The mines will be used by the Tanzania Military Academy, Morogoro School of Military Engineers, Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar Schools of Infantry, and Songea and Tabora Service Battalions.
[15] The form was agreed to by States Parties at the Sixth Meeting of States Parties in December 2005. Statement by Tanzania, Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 12 May 2006 (notes by Landmine Monitor/HRW).
[16] Article 7 Report, Form D, 2 May 2006. Tanzania lists the 1,000 mines of 15 types it intends to procure.
[17] Letter from Baraka H. Luvanda, Permanent Mission of the United Republic of Tanzania to the UN, Geneva, 9 May 2006.
[18] DanChurchAid, “Humanitarian Mine Action in Burundi,” Copenhagen, 7 November 2005, www.danchurchaid.dk, accessed 5 June 2006.
[19] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 798-799.
[20] Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 157; Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 191.
[21] Landmine Monitor analysis of “Tableau Récapitulatif des données sur les victimes civiles de mines antipersonnel et UXO (2003-March 2004),” Department for Civil Protection, Ministry of Interior and Public Security, information provided by Liliane Bigayimpunzi, UNICEF, Bujumbura, 25 May 2004.
[22] Amnesty International, “Burundi: Refugees at Risk: Human Rights Abuses in Returns to and from Burundi,” 27 June 2005, amnesty.r3h.net, accessed 13 June 2006.
[23] See Landmine Monitor Report 2002, pp. 480-482.
[24] UNICEF, “Humanitarian Action Tanzania: Summary for 2006,” www.unicef.ca, accessed 12 June 2006.
[25] ICRC, “Annual Report 2005,” Geneva, June 2006, p. 144.
[26] ICRC, “Special Fund for the Disabled Annual Report 2005,” Geneva, 10 March 2006, p. 18.
[27] VVAF, “Tanzania Refugee Camps Begin Implementing iMMAP Health Interface,” www.vvaf.org, accessed 12 June 2006.
[28] CBM and HI, “Handbook: Making PRSP inclusive,” http://siteresources.worldbank.org, accessed 12 June 2006.
[29] US Department of State, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices–2005: Tanzania,” Washington DC, 8 March 2006.