POLITICS-ZANZIBAR: Rape on the Increase as Justice Systems Falter

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Ananilea Nkya

UNGUJA, ZANZIBAR, Oct 15 2003 (IPS) - Tanzania’s isles of Unguja and Pemba Isles are reporting an increase in the number of rape cases.

Activists blame the justice system for the situation saying that although rape is a crime few cases are ever brought to court and hardly any of the alleged rapists convicted.

Reports indicate that 118 rape cases were filed at the Vuga Resident Magistrate’s Court in Zanzibar between 2000 and June this year but that none of them were convicted. Vuga Deputy Court Magistrate, Ali Ameir, was quoted recently as saying out of 118 cases, 44 of the accused were acquitted for lack of evidence and 74 were still being heard in the court of law.

Ameir said during 2001 a total of 34 rape cases were filed in the same court most of which were dismissed and 17 have not been concluded todate. He said last year 42 rape cases were brought to the court and 15 of the accused were freed for lack of evidence. The remaining 27 cases are still pending.

According to the Registrar, from January to June this year 27 cases were filed in Vuga, which is the only court which attends to such cases, but one of them was dismissed due to lack of proof and 26 are still being heard in court.

The law enforcers says they are disturbed by trend in which rape cases are increasing among the island community saying that what makes it worse is that those cases that are filed are usually thrown out due to a result of lack of evidence. "I feel bad to see the number of rape cases going up every year, but no one is convicted," Ameir said.

Zanzibar High Court Judge, Mshibe Ali Bakari, said experience has shown that in most cases accused persons were acquitted for lack of evidence. "In most cases a child is cleaned and the private parts washed after being raped and before going to hospital for medical examination," Judge Mshibe noted, adding that cleaning the area removes the sperm which are principal evidence for rape".

"The evidence needed in a rape or sodomy case is the presence of sperm in the victim’s private parts, and this has to be proven in the court by submitting a medical report," the Judge emphasized. He admitted that there was an increase of rape cases in Unguja and Pemba Isles and that initial findings of a research he is conducting indicate that only five percent of the actual rape cases are filed in the court of law.

"A much bigger number of the cases go unreported and study needs to be done to establish why this happens," he said.

According to the Zanzibar Law Number 7 on Sexual Offenses Special Provisions Act of 1998, the maximum penalty for rape is life sentence. To ensure justice is carried out, the Zanzibar Minister for Youth, Employment, Women and Children, Samia Suluhu Hassan, said there was need to educate the police as well as the general public on how to handle rape cases to avoid losing evidence.

She said she was informed that some policemen advised rape victims who report at police stations to clean their private parts before they go to hospital for examinations, something which contributes to interrupting with important evidence.

But Zanzibar Assistant Commissioner of Police, Khamis Mohamed Simba said rape cases were being dismissed because victims of the crime do not immediately report the crime to the police. Instead they choose to first solve the incidence between the accused and the victim’s families. If the process fails then the police are generally called upon. "The culture of families in Zanzibar to protect each other is the major cause of loss of evidence on sexual violence cases," said Simba.

He said another reason was the disappearance of witnesses in court and some of the accused would run away after being granted bail.

According to Samia unless massive sensitization of the public on strategies to avoid rape, how to protect rape evidence and the impact of rape of which one is HIV infection

Reports from the isles indicate that the rate of HIV infection is multiplying fast with poverty, divorce and rape being key contributors to the problem. A spokesman with the Zanzibar AIDS Control programme, Ameir Khamis, said HIV infection rates have increased by five percent in two years. In 2002, the infection rate was at 2.2 percent and last year it was reported as being 7.4 per cent.

Commenting on the high rate of HIV infection in Zanzibar, Sihaba Saadat, Advocacy Officer with the AIDS Control Programme said it is estimated that that 9,000 of the total population of one million have contracted HIV. "The overwhelming majority, 92 percent are between 20-44 years old," she noted.

According to Saadat rape cases are on the increase in Zanzibar because rampant of drug abuse, divorce, growing poverty among men.

But other people are blaming the courts. During the June 2003, the Zanzibar House of Representative session, some representatives complained that corruption was contributing to the delay in giving judgment to rape cases in the Zanzibar courts.

However, Judge Mshibe said the high number of cases that the Vuga court handles causes delay in ruling. He said the court had only three magistrates and each is forced to handle an average of 480 cases per year. "The number is too big that is why magistrates are forced to adjourn a case for two months to allow other cases to be heard," said Judge Mshibe.

Activists say to combat rape effectively, Zanzibar government should sent aside a budget to facilitate implementation of programmes that will impart life skills to young women and men so as to equip them with HIV knowledge and empower them to respect their bodies and value the lives of each other. The programme should also target reduction of unemployment, divorce, school drop outs and drug trafficking and drug abuse.

In addition, the Zanzibar Government on its part need to improve legal systems to ensure that police play their role correctly and efficiently and courts rules on the cases without delay.

"Furthermore, donor communities need to add up their support and work hand in hand with the Zanzibar government, NGOs, private sector and communities to promote good governance through participatory democracy so as to improve the quality of life to the people in the Isles," one activist said. (ENDS/IPS/AF/EA/IP/CR/AN/SM/03)

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