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