E-mail from Anonymous May.25

FINLAND SUSPENDS FURTHER AID TO ZANZIBAR
FEATURES AFRICA NETWORK NEWS BULLETIN, MAY 22, 1996.
Finland has announced suspension of further aid to the Zanzibar government until the political situation and human rights improve there. A statement issued in Dar es Salaam by the Finnish embassy said that the Finnish government will not enter into new agreements with the union government of Tanzania to assist projects in Zanzibar. However, the statement added that Finland will continue to fund the projects to which it has already committed itself. Some political disputes have arisen since the last general elections in the Isles. The Tanzanian government as well as the local Zanzibar authorities have time and again said the disputes are the country;s internal affairs and the governments , both the union and the local, are making efforts to deal with the situation.
Donors block aid to Zanzibar, slam rights abuses
DAR ES SALAAM , May 7, 1996 By Matt Bigg
Key western donors, unhappy with reports of human rights abuses on the Tanzanian islands of Zanzibar, are blocking aid worth millions of dollars to the semi-autonomous islands, diplomats said on Tuesday. The diplomats said the donors are led by the Scandinavian block made up of Norway, Sweden and Denmark -- which recently suspended aid to Zanzibar. They said 14 other western nations could follow suit. Diplomats said there has been a wave of persecution of opposition politicans and followers in Zanzibar. Norway last month suspended $4 million of aid to Zanzibar, apparently in protest. The government crackdown followed tension on the islands after controversial multi-party elections last October, which the opposition Civic United Front (CUF) says were rigged in favour of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM). The CCM and Zanzibari President Salmin Amour retained power by a narrow margin. Western diplomats say there were signs that the presidential vote was rigged. CUF leader Seif Sharrif Hamad refuses to recognise the Zanzibari government and has embarked on a campaign of civil disobedience. ''We don't say that there must be new elections, all we say is that there are persistent reports of human rights violations and we would hope the government would look into it,'' Norweigan ambassador, Nils-Johan Jorgensen, told Reuters in an interview. Goran Engstrand, Dar es Salaam-based head of Sweden's Development Aid Agency (SIDA), said his country was postponing aid worth $50,000 to rehabilitate the Fisherman's Square market in Zanzibar's historic stone town. Another $1 million Swedish project aid for primary schools was being withheld, he added. Donors stress they do not want to dictate Zanzibar policy to the mainland Tanzanian government. But there is concern that Tanzania is taking an increasingly hardline approach on the opposition in Zanzibar and suspending aid is seen as the best means of exerting pressure. ''The present trends in the field of democratisation and respect for human rights in Zanzibar are not conducive to development co-operation,'' local dailies quoted Swedish ambassador Thomas Palme as saying. Zanzibari authorities acknowledge that aid cuts will hurt the famed clove islands, but have so far resisted external pressure to negotiate with CUF, arguing that it is an internal matter. CUF last week accused the government of arresting 600 of its supporters in an opposition crackdown, but the government denied this, saying only as few as 63 ''trouble-makers'' had been arrested since April. The islands of Zanzibar, which joined with mainland Tanganyika to form the Union of Tanzania in 1964, consist of the main island of Unguja and Pemba, which is a CUF powerbase.

Copyright (c) Reuters America Inc.
MORE DONORS THREATEN TO CUT OFF ZANZIBAR AID
EASTERN AFRICA NEWS, MAY 7, 1996
Sweden and Denmark have joined Norway in cutting off aid to Zanzibar, citing human rights abuses by President Salmin Amour. Swedish envoy to Tanzania, Thomas Palme told the press in Dar es Salaam that the trends towards democratisation and human rights issues in Zanzibar are not conducive for development cooperation with government agencies. His country will therefore not commit any new funding for health, education or culture. If human rights violations continue, the 1995/96 general worth 650,000 US dollars will be suspended. The programme covers educational materials, rehabilitation of school building, training of teachers and support for rural printing presses. Denmark has been supporting primary health and primary education since 1989 and ambassador Flemming Bjork Pedersen says if a decision were to be taken now, it is most likely that the support would be suspended.

Copyright 1996 Features Africa Network
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Distributed by Africa Online Inc.
TANZANIA REFUTES CLAIMS OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
EASTERN AFRICA NEWS, MAY 4, 1996
The Tanzanian government on Thursday dismissed claims of human rights violations in Zanzibar by the opposition. A State House statement issued in Dar es Salaam said on Thursday that a section of the media reported about 600 people being detained in Zanzibar without trial following President Mkapa's recent visit to show solidarity with President Salmin Amour. Those reports were fabricated by the Opposition, according to the statement. What was claimed to be human rights violations were measures taken by the Isles government to curb criminal acts by members of the opposition parties, the statement said. "The Zanzibar government will not hesitate to use all means available to preserve peace in the Isles," declared the statement. President Mkapa in his recent tour of the Isles explained that the union government recognized the revolutionary government of Zanzibar led by Dr Salmin Amour, saying he was a democratically elected President.
NORWAY DENIES STOPPING SUPPORT FOR ZANZIBAR
EASTERN AFRICA NEWS, MAY 4, 1996
Norway has denied it has stopped its development programmes in Zanzibar, saying that its support for the ongoing projects is intact. The local press quoted Norwegian ambassador to Tanzania Nils-Johan Jorgensen as saying on Thursday that Norway is now financing three electrification programmes worth 10.5 million US dollars in Zanzibar. Last week it was reported here that Norway had withdrawn 4.5 million US dollars earmarked for a rural electrification project because it was unhappy with the political situation in Zanzibar. Ambassador Jorgensen said that there were instead plans to implement phase four of the electrification programme worth Sh 4.5 million US dollars, although "there have been lack of clarity on the situation in Zanzibar."

[C] 1996, Features Africa Network
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Distributed by Africa Online, Inc.
Zanzibar police deny crackdown on opposition
DAR ES SALAAM , May 2, 1996 By Matt Bigg
Police on the Tanzanian islands of Zanzibar denied on Thursday launching a crackdown on the opposition Civic United Front (CUF) and said only 63 arrests were made last month. ''It is not true at all that 600 people have been arrested,'' Assistant Police Commissioner Jaffer Salum told Reuters. ''The figure is only 63 arrested in April after the sabotage of an electrical transformer at Mtoni,'' Salum said by telephone, adding there were no detentions without charge. CUF said on Wednesday 600 supporters had been detained in Zanzibar since last week when Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa endorsed Zanzibar's Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM-Party of the Revolution) government. The speech gave the ruling party a free hand to clamp down on opposition support, CUF said in a statement, adding that it had reached the figure of 600 through relatives of the detained. Diplomats said on Thursday they had received recent reports of a pattern of arrests in Zanzibar. ''We have had lots of reports of arrests and detentions and it is part of a pattern of oppression...63 sounds too low,'' a western diplomat told Reuters. Political tension on Zanzibar has been rising since disputed elections on the islands last October. Incumbent CCM president Salmin Amour scraped home in the poll but the CUF and international observers said the result was rigged in favour of the ruling party. Since then the CUF has refused to recognize Amour's government and Norway suspended $4 million of aid to Zanzibar, apparently in protest at the election result. The government has blamed the CUF for waging a campaign of civil disobedience after the election including causing an explosion at Mtoni electrical transformer on Unguja island last month. Zanzibar's deputy chief minister accused the opposition of trying to make political capital out of a police investigation. ''There is a development among the opposition to politicise everything. If there are arrests it would be suspects of criminal activities not members of parties,'' Omar Mapuri said. The islands of Zanzibar, which joined with mainland Tanganyika to form the Union of Tanzania in 1964, consist of the main island of Unguja and Pemba, which is a CUF centre.
Copyright (c) Reuters America Inc.
Zanzibari opposition claims 600 activists held
DAR ES SALAAM, May 1, 1996 By Matt Bigg
The opposition on the Tanzanian islands of Zanzibar said Wednesday that up to 600 of its supporters have been detained without charges in a government crackdown since last week. The Civic United Front (CUF) said in a statement the arrests followed a tough speech by mainland Tanzania's President Benjamin Mkapa in which he backed Zanzibar's President Salmin Amour, who the CUF says took power through rigged elections last year. ''Around 600 people have been detained and these are reliable figures supplied by the relatives of those detained,'' CUF official Ibrahim Lipumba told Reuters. There was not immediate comment from the Zanzibari and mainland Tanzania governments on the arrests. Two weeks ago, Zanzibar's chief minister, Mohammed Gharib Bilal, said his government had arrested 40 opposition activists for stirring up unrest. Bilal said opposition leader Seif Sharrif Hamad refused to concede defeat by the ruling party in elections last October and resorted to a campaign of civil disobedience. The worst act of sabotage was the dynamiting of a power transformer in the main island of Unguja which caused a blackout for four days. The plant was repaired at a cost of $1 million. Bilal was appointed chief minister in the islands after the Oct. 22 elections in which the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (Party for the Revolution) and President Salmin Amour retained power by a narrow margin. Hamad, the CUF and Western diplomats disputed the results, saying there was signs the presidential vote was rigged. During his first presidential tour of Zanzibar's Unguja island recently Mkapa told a rally he would not compromise with CUF and warned that the government would take stern measures against agitators. Since then CUF has refused to recognize Amour's government, boycotting the island's multiparty parliament. Diplomats said there has been a wave of persecution of CUF supporters and Norway last month suspended $4 million of aid to Zanzibar, apparently in protest at the actions of government. The islands of Zanzibar, which joined with mainland Tanganyika to form the Union of Tanzania in 1964, consist of the main island of Unguja and Pemba, which is a CUF center.
Copyright (c) Reuters America Inc.
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