• ALERT Date: April 11, 2007 Persons: Anna Makange Violation: Beaten On April 11 2007, police officers in Tanzania’s Tanga region attacked and seriously injured freelance journalist, Anna Makange. Makange, who is based in Tanga and a member of Tanga Press Club, was forced to undertake two weeks bed rest unconsciously following the attack by members of the Field Force Unit (FFU), a police department in Pongwe, within Tanga town. The attacked occurred a few hours after a road accident that claimed the life of one child. Residents of Pongwe had decided to block the road and not to remove the deceased’s body from the road. They were waiting for any public leader to go and witness the event. Anna Makange traveled to the scene of the accident to report on the incident. After interviewing the Pongwe residents, the journalists decided to visit Anna’s parents who also reside in Pongwe. On her way to Tanga town from Pongwe, Anna was attacked by FFU policemen who beat her repeatedly. The reason for the police’s actions remain unknown. Anna Makange is underwent medical treatment at a government hospital. After examination, it was observed that Anna had developed problems in her spinal code, thus causing her serious pains around her abdomen. She has since sought legal and medical support to maintain her health. • ALERT Date: March 29, 2007 Persons: Media in Tanzania Violation: Legislation (positive legislation) On March 29 2007, the government of Tanzania published the draft Media Services Bill of Tanzania. This Bill was published is expected to be introduced in the Tanzanian Parliament in later in the year. Analysts welcomed certain aspects of the Bill, such as the proposed new defamation regime and provisions on the protection of journalists’ confidential sources. Concern was however expressed that other parts are unnecessarily restrictive, particularly the proposed regime for the licensing of all journalists, and the registration regime for the media. These are said to go far beyond what international law accepts as legitimate, and will hinder rather than help the free flow of information in Tanzania. International free expression watchdog, Article 19, made the following recommendations: • The proposal that all journalists should hold a recognised professional or academic qualification and be licensed by a central body violates international law and should be removed from the draft Bill; • The need for the proposed registration for the media regime should be reconsidered, particularly in light of the fact that most if not all mass media are already registered under Tanzanian company law. If a registration regime is nevertheless found to be necessary, it should apply to true mass media outlets only, be of a minimal nature and be administered by an independent body; • The government should give self-regulation a chance to succeed for the print media at least, and refrain from introducing a statutory regime; • The proposal that all publishers should lodge a cash bond should be abandoned. • ALERT Date: March 16, 2007 Persons: Elders in Mbeya region Violation: Others A group of elders in Mbeya region, southern part of Tanzania mainland, that has been reported So This Is Democracy? 2007 -109- Media Institute of Southern Africa