Launching the 2016 Civil & Political Rights Index in Tanzania -

Launching the 2016 Civil & Political Rights Index in Tanzania

In December 2016, Integrity, in partnership with Triple Line and Development Pioneer Consultants (DPC), supported the Legal and Human Rights Centre and the Zanzibar Legal Service Centre to develop and launch the first Tanzania Civil and Political Rights Perceptions Index. The Index was created with the intention of tracking and comparing expert perceptions of civil and political rights in Tanzania annually – both regionally and by Right in the whole country.

The civil and political rights situation in Tanzania has been graded a ‘C’ in 2016, with regions’ scores ranging from ‘failing’ to ‘good’. The index scorecard below outlines the scoring key and breakdown of scores for various Rights in the country overall. Among local experts across the country, extrajudicial killings are considered a key issue affecting right to life, and the protection of citizens’ freedom of assembly and right to vote is perceived to be poor. The report provides useful analysis on key indicators and highlights key regions and rights to watch in 2017.

The Index Card (click the image to view a larger version)

Inspired by international indexes and informed by local expert perceptions, the Index will generate an annual report card on six civil and political rights issues in Tanzania. Grades are compared regionally and trends identified across years, to analyse whether the protection of civil and political rights is perceived to be improving or deteriorating over time. The Index results in 2016 set an important baseline for future comparison and trend analysis.

Integrity’s support to the Index design and implementation is part of the DFID-funded UHAKIKI project, led by Triple Line in partnership with Integrity and DPC. UHAKIKI is a three-year project which aims to support improved debate and dialogue on civil and political rights in Tanzania, through the support of LHRC and its partners.