ZANZIBAR: IDEAS FOR CONFIDENCE BUILDING MEASURES; LOOMING

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 DAR ES SALAAM 000128 SENSITIVE SIPDIS FOR AF/E JLIDDLE, INR/RAA FEHRENREICH E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KDEM PHUM PGOV PINR TZ SUBJECT: ZANZIBAR: IDEAS FOR CONFIDENCE BUILDING MEASURES; LOOMING LAND CRISIS REFS: (A) Dar es Salaam 75, (B) Dar es Salaam 54, (C) Nairobi 284, (D) 08 Dar es Salaam 444 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Professor Haroub Othman, Chairman of the Zanzibar Legal Service Center and one of the foremost observers of contemporary Zanzibar politics, holds the view that a power sharing deal between CCM and CUF needs to be in place before any referendum. The trick would be how to bring the parties together to even discuss what a deal might look like, given the bad and worsening political climate (Refs. A and B). One idea would be to sponsor a conference on "The Zanzibar We Want," taking an idea that seemed to work recently for Kenya and seeing if it would work locally. At the same time, Othman said the international community should be using a "carrot and stick" approach in the delivery of aid to get the Zanzibari government to act more responsibly. Over the long term, Othman thought that land confiscation issues dating back to the revolution were the most dangerous problems facing Zanzibar, not politics. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) In early February the Zanzibar Affairs Officer (ZAO) and Washington analysts met with Professor Haroub Othman, Chairman of the Zanzibar Legal Service Center, a pro-bono legal clinic. Prof. Othman lives in Dar es Salaam but comes to his Zanzibar Legal Center every Friday. He also Chairs the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam and heads the Tanzanian Legal and Human Rights Center. In the early 90's he was a key player in the "Nyalali Commission" that submitted recommendations and draft legislation to make Tanzania (including Zanzibar) a multi-party state. Known as the foremost observer of contemporary Zanzibar politics, he nonetheless claims no affiliation with any political party. ABOUT THE CENTER ¶3. (U) The Mission Statement of the Zanzibar Legal Service Center states "The Center is dedicated to raising people's awareness on their rights and responsibilities through the provision of legal and Human Rights education, research on legal issues and conducting seminars, workshops, conferences, counseling and legal aid. The goal is to ensure that Zanzibaris - especially the poor, women, children, the disabled and other marginalized members of society have access to legal assistance." The Center is a lobby platform for rule of law, good governance and the observance of human rights norms. In addition to pro bono legal work, the meat and potatoes of Othman's activities, the Center also has a newsletter, runs a weekly radio show and a weekly tv show, and provides classes for non-government organizations. It has an internship program for students and young lawyers and operates the law library in the Zanzibar archipelago. JUDICIARY REFORM ESSENTIAL, ESPECIALLY ELECTORAL OVERSIGHT ¶4. (SBU) To begin with, Professor Othman expressed concern about the Zanzibar judiciary system, which he said "collapsed after the 1964 revolution, revived in the 1980s, but became infected by the corruption syndrome ever since." Now there were regular miscarriages of justice, corruption and lack of basic ethics by people working in the judiciary, Professor Othman decried. These days were as bad as any he had seen. Of particular concern to him was the "complete disregard" of electoral- related cases by magistrates. The Professor said that not one single case related to voter fraud - and there were many during the previous general elections-- ever had a day in court, and most were thrown out in the first instance. According to Professor Othman, the birth of Zanzibar Legal Service Center, which he has led since its birth in 1992, was an attempt to remedy the situation. Ensuring a multi-party Zanzibar had been his life's work. Reforms needed now in the judiciary were to make it apolitical and responsible to the citizenry, within an ethically binding framework. ¶5. (SBU) The Judiciary and the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) needed reform. In terms of the judiciary there was a lack of capacity and competence. More specifically, there were no checks and balances in trial procedures. Judges and Prosecutors were all party appointees, cut from the same cloth and enjoying revolving seats. There were no provisions for a "right of defense." Accused citizens could bring an advocate if they wanted to, but if they could not afford one the only requirement was that they themselves attended the trial. There was no proviso for Public Defenders. DAR ES SAL 00000128 002 OF 003 Further, one's advocate need not be a lawyer; more often than not locals might bring an imam. Statistically, Othman said, if a Zanzibari was accused by the state, chances are he would be convicted of something. ¶6. (SBU) In terms of ZEC, most bothersome was that the system allowed for two representatives from each party (which in Zanzibar means only CCM and CUF) plus two from the State, plus a Chairman, also from the State. Since the CCM party controls the state, that meant, in practice, for the last three elections, every time there was a dispute, the ZEC board voted five-to-two. Hence, electoral disputes rarely made it to court since local courts would seldom accept a case that wasn't already determined to be an anomaly by the ZEC board. CONFIDENCE BUILDING MEASURES ¶7. (SBU) On the state of politics Professor Othman held the view that a power sharing deal between CCM and CUF needed to be in place before any election. Given the divisions within CCM and the general dissatisfaction of the pubic with the Karume government, Othman thought that if there were to be a truly free and fair election, CUF would likely win. All the more reason, he thought, for some kind of understanding to be in place. In the absence of a transparent civil service system, the winner-take-all spoils system for government jobs meant that CCM rank and file, after 40-plus years in power, formed a de-facto civil service. It would be chaos if jobs down to the assistant librarian would be swapped out in the event of an Administration change, Othman observed. For technical and low-level jobs, even project manger positions and supervisory roles, having job security in place now would take a great deal of pressure off of certain segments of the electorate and alleviate the "win at all costs" mentality for many. Local government remains the largest employer in Zanzibar, he reminded. ¶8. (SBU) The trick would be how to bring the parties together to even discuss the outer parameters of what a power sharing deal might look like, given the bad and worsening political climate. ZAO returned to Othman's office several times in February to hash out this very point. One mechanism to bring the parties together might be to sketch out shared, broad-based values that eventually could form the basis of compromise. Professor Othman thought that one idea would be to sponsor a serious conference on "The Zanzibar We Want," taking an idea that seemed to work recently for Kenya and seeing if it would work locally (ref C). The conference would have participation from all areas of civil society, including academic and Zanzibari expatriate luminaries. Parties would be involved, but as minority participants so that they would not over shadow emerging views of everyone else. Since each party claimed to represent the people, or at least look out for their interest, at the conference these interests could be more clearly and transparently defined. At some point, but perhaps best done separately, Othman thought it might be useful to have a different conference on the Constitution, along the lines. ¶9. (SBU) Professor Othman concluded that the U.S. and international community may need to use a "carrot and stick" approach for delivery of aid to Zanzibar. "Development and Democracy go together," he said; "one without the other didn't make sense." What was happening now was that the international community, by taking over essential services of the government, was allowing that government to shirk its responsibilities to the public. He wondered if bench marks could be worked into aid for Zanzibar, or Millennium Challenge Account performance criteria be insisted upon for MCC projects here. "THE WORSE THING FACING ZANZIBAR: LAND DISPUTES NOT POLITICS" ¶10. (SBU) Professor Othman said that if ever Zanzibar were to erupt in civil war, the spark would not be CCM vs. CUF or Pemba vs. Unguja, but rather over land title disputes. He predicted widespread violence over this issue in the next 10-15 years if left unaddressed. As background he explained, "After the 1964 revolution, the Zanzibar government issued a Decree that provided for the confiscation of land with the aim that it would be redistributed to the needy African masses that had been deprived of this for years." The Revolutionary Government gave three-acre parcels without the issuance of title deeds, however. Meanwhile, in urban areas, some houses were abandoned and occupied by others, DAR ES SAL 00000128 003 OF 003 while some were confiscated by revolutionaries and re-allocated. Those properties that were gazetted by the revolutionary government can now be titled and re-sold under present laws. However, a significant portion of real estate of all kinds in Zanzibar is occupied but untitled. ¶11. (SBU) With passage of time and the increase in the value of land, land related disputes on Zanzibar have been on the rise. Professor Othman said that land dispute cases out-numbered all other legal cases handled by his Center. Cases from January and February 2009 are about double from what they were last year. The problems are most severe in north and south of the main island of Unguja, where tourism is on the rise - especially in the villages of Kendwa, Mangapwani and Muyuni. The number of cases that Zanzibar Legal Service Center receives from these regions has been disturbingly high, Othman said. In Kendwa village, currently where the hottest beach properties are, there are reports that "armed soldiers ordered villagers to vacate from their land." ¶12. (SBU) Meanwhile, according to the law, non-Zanzibaris cannot purchase land, they can only lease it. It is an open question under what circumstances the big hotels have been able to come in and build. Construction seems to be going on everywhere, yet the planning and approval process is opaque, coming through the office of Minister of Energy, Lands and Water Mansour Yusef Himid, President Karume's brother-in-law. Stories of out-and-out land piracy are the daily subject of tea-time chatter, while at the same time even prominent families and revolutionary veterans are becoming stuck in land squabbles as they try to pass parcels down to the next generation. COMMENT: ¶13. (SBU) The ideas of Professor Othman may have merit and are worth pursuing, and the projects of the Zanzibar Legal Service Center are the kind of activities the Embassy would like to support with such funding mechanisms as the Ambassador's Self-help Fund and the Democracy and Human Rights Fund. However, for 2009, no finding has been allocated for the Democracy Fund this year, and the Self-help fund has decreased every year for the last two years. Andre