The Committee to Protect Journalists, an organization that advocates for press freedom worldwide, has urged President John Pombe Magufuli to drop charges against freelance journalist Erick Kabendera and provide a public accounting of the fate of missing journalist Azory Gwanda.
The CPJ appeal is contained in a letter to President Magufuli written by its Executive Director Joel Simon of which a copy was obtained Tuesday by APA in Kigali.
In the letter, CPJ said that just last month at the Defend Media Freedom Conference in London, Foreign Minister Palamagamba Kabudi affirmed that the Tanzania government wants to facilitate investigative journalism and ensure that journalists are protected against any actions, persecution or impunity.
Allowing Kabendera to return to his work, and taking Gwanda’s disappearance seriously, would be important step toward fulfilling these pledges, CPJ emphasized in the letter.
Kabendera was taken forcefully from his home on July 29, 2019, and denied access to a lawyer for more than 24 hours. Police initially claimed they were investigating Kabendera’s citizenship.
However, days after his arrest prosecutors switched tracks and charged him with economic crimes, for which he cannot qualify for bail.
He was moved between police stations several times during his interrogation.
The manner of his arrest and detention suggests retaliation that seeks to silence his critical reporting, including on divisions within the ruling party, CPJ pointed out in the letter.
On Gwanda, CPJ said he also worked as a freelance journalist, based in the Coast Region.
He went missing on November 21, 2017, in the company of unidentified men believed to be security personnel.
Prior to that, Gwanda chronicled mysterious killings and abductions, including of ruling party officials and police officers.
Despite calls for an investigation from his family, Tanzanian media and civil society, and United Nations experts, there has been no credible accounting for his fate.
Instead, officials have sent mixed signals about their knowledge of his whereabouts while stonewalling about progress in the investigation.
The CPJ letter also referred to remarks made in a July interview by Foreign Minister Kabudi claiming that Gwanda was one of many people who had “disappeared and died” in the Rufiji region.
Although Kabudi later said his comments were taken out of context and he did not know Gwanda’s fate, his comments are deeply troubling and underscore the urgent need to investigate what has happened to this journalist.
CPJ emphasizes that these cases strike fear in the local media community and have the potential to exacerbate a culture of self-censorship, as journalists retreat from critical reporting for fear of facing a similar fate.
They are also emblematic of the rapid deterioration of press freedom in Tanzania, which has included the suspension of media outlets on specious allegations, restrictive regulation, and legal harassment of journalists, as CPJ has documented.
The CPJ in the letter underscored that public commitments that Tanzania has made to press freedom will remain empty words without urgent action.
It reminded President Magufuli that the goals that his government has set for itself, including rooting out corruption, cannot be fulfilled without a press that is able to operate independently, safely, and without fear of retaliation.
“We therefore urge your government to immediately free Kabendera and drop all charges against him, and ensure that Gwanda’s case is investigated thoroughly and the findings made public”, CPJ added.
CPJ also said it would welcome an opportunity to meet representatives of the government to discuss these concerns.
CU/as/APA