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Tanzanian activists have urged the government to take strong measures against Iringa Regional Police Commander Michael Kamuhanda and others implicated in the killing of Channel Ten journalist Daudi Mwangosi after three investigatory bodies determined that police used excessive force.

An investigation committee formed by Minister of Home Affairs Emmanuel Nchimbi, a joint committee formed by the Media Council of Tanzania (MCT) and the Tanzania Editors Forum (TEF), as well as the Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG) announced last week that police used excessive force during a political rally held by opposition party Chadema in Iringa on September 2nd.

"Police infringed on the right to life, the right not to be tortured and beaten, the right to equality before the law and the right to assemble and give opinion," CHRAGG chairman Judge Amiri Manento told the press on Wednesday (October 10th). "This is a misuse of authority; it is a violation of the principles of good governance."

"Mwangosi was killed in cold blood in the hands of the police," MCT Secretary General Kajubi Mukajanga said according to Tanzania's The Citizen.

Officer Pasificus Cleophase Simon, 23, was charged on September 12th in connection with the killing. He is the only person charged so far. The MCT/TEF report criticised the government's arrest of only the junior police officer when it said at least six other officers under Kamuhanda's direct command were closely associated with the journalist's killing.

Nchimbi's commission, however, headed by retired High Court Justice Stephen Ihema, said police were not responsible for Mwangosi's death.

Holding those accountable

Deus Kibamba, a lawyer and executive director of the Tanzania Citizens' Information Bureau, told Sabahi that decisive action should be taken to hold accountable those who were involved now that the investigation has been completed.

"The three reports have indicated clearly that Kamuhanda was in charge of the operation. Therefore, Kamuhanda and those six police officers should be arrested immediately," he said.

Hellen Kijo Bisimba, a lawyer and director of the Legal and Human Rights Centre, said the centre has filed a case against the government at the International Criminal Court (ICC) since the committees' reports implicated police officers.

"Apart from filling a case at the ICC, we have submitted a petition to the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions," Bisimba told Sabahi. "We have also submitted a similar petition to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights to resist continued killings by state instruments in the country."

Bisimba said the petitions seek interventions to hold the Tanzanian government accountable and prevent future killings.

TEF Chairman Absalom Kibanda said his organisation will call an editors' meeting to deliberate the way forward after the reports. "The Ministry of Home Affairs tried as much as it could to spin the report, but the mountain was too high. They had to tell the truth and it clearly implicates police officers in the killing. Now that we are sure they killed our colleague, we want them to face legal consequences," he told Sabahi.

Vincent Nyerere, a member of parliament in the Chadema party, said leaders should resign immediately to shoulder the responsibility. He told Sabahi that police officers had a duty to protect Mwangosi's life, and Home Affairs Minister Emmanuel Nchimbi, Inspector General of Police Said Mwema and Director of Criminal Investigations Robert Manumba should resign immediately to restore public confidence in the government.

Kamuhanda has denied any wrongdoing, saying he acted according to the law and per instructions from top officials, Tanzania's Mwananchi reported. The newspaper said Nchimbi declined to comment.

Advera Senso, spokesperson for the Tanzania police force, also declined to comment. "This matter is before the court of law, and I am legally bound not to comment on anything that is before the court of law," she told Sabahi.