Human rights reports due in Parliament soon

THE government is set to table in Parliament, for open discussion, the country’s state of human rights reports soon, the House has assured.

On behalf of the Minister for Legal and Constitutional Affairs, Prof Palamagamba Kabudi, a deputy minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (Policy, Parliamentary Affairs, Labour, Employment, Youth and Disabled), Mr Antony Mavunde, made the pledge in Parliament yesterday.

Mr Mavunde observed that the Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance was now finalising the reports and that the government would table them soon - the last such reports were presented during FY 2013/14.

In his basic question, Mr Ussi Salum Pondeza (CCM – Chumbuni) wondered why the government wasn’t releasing the human rights reports in time as the constitution directs and demanded response on when the last report was presented, in the first place. Mr Mavunde stated that the Constitution directs the Commission to submit the reports to the minister responsible for human rights; the minister is, in turn, required to present the findings to Parliament ‘as soon as possible.’

However, Mr Mavunde admitted that it was true that past reports were not tabled in the Parliament in good time. Last December, the Commission managed to submit the reports for 2014/15 to the minister responsible, for him to table them in Parliament. He dismissed claims that the performance of the Commission was poor, noting that it had consistently continued to conduct its activities as highlighted within the Constitution.

Among other things, the Commission had made ‘incredible efforts every year’ … in inspecting the police stations, prisons, making follow-ups to land conflicts and implementation of the human rights principles.

The inspections, he added, were aimed at evaluating the state of the human rights and the principles of good governance in the country and providing recommendations for improvement