Dar-es-Salaam - Tanzanian police have arrested South African human rights lawyer Sibongile Ndashe along with twelve other colleagues on charges of “promoting homosexuality”.
They are currently facing prosecution by authorities.
According Amnesty International UCT, Ndashe was arrested on the 17th of October and granted bail, which was revoked on Friday and is currently detained, awaiting charges.
She entered the country to facilitate a workshop on strategic litigation relating to the provision of health services along with other human rights lawyers and activists but was subsequently arrested for ‘promoting homosexuality’.
The meeting, organised by the Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa, focused on the ban of HIV prevention tools in Tanzania by their government.
The law suit they were consulting for seeks to challenge the Tanzanian government’s obstruction of HIV/Aids prevention through the ban on Drop-in centres serving key populations at risk of HIV and the provision of other preventative methods.
This arrest shows the Tanzanian governments intolerance to protect its people by continuing to silence their voices through absurd disciplinary processes. They are trying to instil fear amongst anyone who seeks to challenge their rule to the detriment of the Tanzanian people.
source: Amnesty International UCT
