SECTOR 1 1.4 Government honours regional and international instruments on freedom of expression and freedom of the media Tanzania is a dualist state – jargon used in international law to describe a country that separates its national laws from international treaties and other instruments. Consequently, international instruments signed and ratified by Tanzania do not automatically become law. Unless such instruments are ‘translated’ into national laws, they are not recognised as applicable laws within Tanzania. Panellists said that because of this arrangement, international instruments relating to freedom of expression that have been ratified by Tanzania are hardly respected in the country. Panellists stated that when it suits the government, principles and clauses from international treaties are included in the national law ‘in tiny bits’. It was also the view of the panel that the authorities were more inclined to ignore international treaties altogether, which they then fail to honour. For example, Tanzania has not met its obligations to report regularly on the state of press freedom and guaranteed human rights, even though the country has ratified the African Charter and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disability, which require such reports from parties. To drive home the point, one panellist said, ‘Our commitment to international human rights standards, even in the judiciary, is so little that we do not tend to mention it.’ There have been some attempts to test Tanzania’s dualist status and general disregard for international instruments. In March 2019, the East African Court of Justice (EACJ). ruled that many provisions of the Media Services Act contravened freedom of expression and press freedom provisions of the treaty establishing the East African Community. The EACJ called on Tanzania to repeal those provisions, notably those dealing with sedition, criminal libel and publication of false information. Media rights organisations praised the ruling11 as an essential step in addressing Tanzania’s declining freedom of expression and media freedom record. Tanzania has appealed the ruling and at the time of the AMB, the repressive provisions of the Media Services Act were still applicable. Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: Score of previous years: ✓ ✓ ✓✓✓✓✓✓ ✓ ✓✓ ✓ 2 .1 2006: n/a; 2008: n/a; 2010: 2.2; 2012: 3.3; 2015: 2.5 11 See for example CPJ. Available online at https://cpj.org/2019/03/east-african-court-rules-that-tanzanias-media-serv.php. 17 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER TANZANIA 2019