NEWS REVIEW: TANZANIA
LGBTIQ people are enduring an ongoing campaign of government oppression.
In October 2018, the government launched what it called a ‘moral crusade’ against LGBT people. Paul Makonda, Regional Commissioner of Dar-es-Salaam and ally of President John Magufuli, launched the crackdown in a video in which he urged the public to report, to the authorities, those they knew or suspected might be gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered.
Makonda said he had put together a special taskforce to find, arrest and punish LGBT people, and that they had a list of 100 people who they had already begun rounding up.
An un-named LGBT activist told The Guardian at the time: “They are raiding houses. It is a horrible thing. It is just going to get worse. So many people are leaving the city, running away. They are targeting the activists, saying we are promoting homosexuality. We have to hide.”
Another said, “It’s like open season on gays in the city.”
Homosexuality is considered a taboo subject in Tanzania. Sex between consenting same-sex adult partners, even in private, is a crime punishable by 30 years imprisonment according to Section 154 of the Tanzanian Penal code. Some assert this could be extended to life imprisonment. When the crackdown began it was reported that thousands of people either went into hiding or fled the country completely.
So it’s little surprise that finding LGBT Tanzanians willing to talk to foreign media, to tell us what’s going on there now, is difficult.
Collecting testimonies from those directly affected to put together this story for DNA came with many challenges. How do we gain the trust of the people whose lives are on the line, especially in Tanzania where outing gays for persecution is a common practice?
How do I find people whose very survival depends on them staying hidden?
Networks exist, and WhatsApp has revolutionised communication with groups, especially across Africa. Still, to be introduced to a potential interviewee requires building up a great amount of trust before any actual interview may happen. Gays are often hunted and entrapped using social media and dating apps and their existing friendship circle so people are rightly cautious.
My first contact was an activist named Kakande in neighbouring Uganda, and he suggested some people who had fled to Uganda plus some others still in Tanzania.
At first, and with the promise of anonymity, most of the contacts seemed interested in participating. After two days I had about seven potential interviewees. But circumstances are difficult and communications patchy, and although I sent out questions, many did not send answers. Understandably, considering the penalties, some got cold feet. Others saw no direct benefit to themselves (ie, money).
One activist from Nigeria referred me to his PA who obviously thought we were booking him for a speaking gig. Others lost interest as they had spoken to journalists before and hadn’t seen any positive change as a result. Finally, after reassurance that their identity would be kept secret, we secured two interviewees.
John (not his real name) was working as a human rights activist in Dar-es-Salaam when the crackdown began. “Most of us went silent due to the fear of being arrested,” he told us. “Some fled the country to avoid the claws of the crackdown.”
What is the situation like now, 10 months after the crackdown began? “It is still a reality,” says John. “Still pushing people into hiding or fleeing the country.”
David (not his real name), a gay law student still in Tanzania, says the situation remains precarious. “There are ongoing individual arrests, offices and workshops are raided by police officers,” he says. “People being chased out from their families and landlords are kicking out tenants. People are still fleeing the country as we speak. Hate speech from religious leaders and politicians is at its peak.
“Authorities will arrest any person that is said to be gay from a tip-off or a phone call,” he says. “Most LGBTQ people are arrested at gatherings or places like bars when they are spotted by
someone who decides that they shouldn’t be there because they are ‘less than human’.”
We also learn from David that once someone has been arrested, their mobile phone and social media contacts are used to entrap others.
“Once government officials condemned LGBT people through the media, homophobes took the lead and began publicly outing people,” says John. “The next thing you know, people are being harassed, in some cases tortured, charged with homosexual offenses, cases filed against them – and then often dismissed due to a lack of evidence.”
But dismissal of the charges and release from the prison does not heal the trauma of the ordeal. Often the victim’s reputation and standing in the community is irrefutably damaged, and there is no legal recourse for wrongful arrest.
“Should they decide to sue, no case would ever be tried,” says law student, David. “The police act with total impunity. When victims are released, they usually try to put everything behind them and just move forward.”
For some, however, the prison sentence is even worse. David claims it is “common” for LGBT people to suffer sexual assault at the hands of police while in custody.
“Some policemen demand sexual favours from imprisoned LGBT people in exchange for their freedom,” says David. There is a terrible irony in being found “guilty” of committing consensual sex, only to be raped in prison. “Victims also try to buy their freedom by paying huge sums of money to police officers.”
Why is this even happening? We asked David and John what has motivated this attack on the LGBT community.
“In Tanzania, scrutinising gay issues takes precedence over discussing the national budget,” says David, and from the government’s point of view, the less the economy is discussed, the better. Tanzania should be prospering; it has a strong economy based on agricultural exports, yet, half the population lives below the poverty line. “The LGBTIQ community can, at any time, be used as a scapegoat to divert the citizens from the real issues.”
This sentiment is echoed by John. “It’s about the pursuit of political power,” he says. “In Tanzania, hate is fuelled by churches and religious organisations.”
In recent years, when governments have launched campaigns against their own LGBTIQ citizens, the world has responded positively in our favour. Diplomatic pressure and condemnation from multi-national corporations has helped temper the anti-gay laws of both Uganda and Zimbabwe. In some cases, however, like Chechnya, international outrage only seems to drive the abusive practice further underground.
David and John both say that LGBTIQ Tanzanians have felt the support, to some extent, of the international community.
In a statement last year, the EU said it was, “deeply concerned about the deteriorating situation for LGBTI people” in Tanzania and that, in their opinion, “respect for human rights and the rule of law has been repeatedly undermined”.
Following the comments, the EU’s ambassador to Tanzania was forced to abandon her mission and leave the country.
Despite this, some international pressure has resulted in a positive outcome. Tanzania has issued a declaration saying that Commissioner Makonda was voicing his personal opinion as opposed to speaking on behalf of the government. It’s obviously a PR stunt as the crackdown remains in force, but at least the official government has distanced itself from him.
The Tanzanian government will take little notice of direct criticism from the international LGBT community but, says David, “tweeting and creating awareness around the world is important and very supportive”.
John says he hopes the international community, including other African nations, “put pressure on the Tanzanian government through embassies, UN agencies, and the World Bank as well as international donors and organisations.
Something that John feels could make a significant practical difference would be the creation of an accessible and available emergency fund through Tanzanian LGBT organisations so they can respond immediately to crises as they unfold.
“We cannot respond to emergencies in a timely fashion due to lengthy and cumbersome fund application vetting procedures and language barriers,” says John. “We need support for the local Tanzanian LGBT movement to engage with regional and international human rights mechanisms. This will enable us to address our issues at another level because within Tanzania it is very difficult to hold the government accountable.”
Meanwhile, the crackdown continues and LGBTIQ Tanzanians remain at risk of arrest and detention at the whim of a tip-off from an anonymous member of the public, and vulnerable to extortion and sexual abuse once in the hands of the authorities.
“LGBT community members who are not out are going to stay in the closet,” says Kakande, “and those who have been out will remain in hiding or relocate to other countries for safety.”
“Those who are still in the country have to keep a low profile,” says John. “We constantly watch over our shoulders and look after each other as we try to carry out activism.”
Offices and workshops are raided by police… People are chased out from their families, landlords are kicking out tenants.