Daily News From ISSA YUSSUF in Zanzibar, 2nd February 2011
OVERSIGHT bodies are important mechanism in the checks and balances in administration at all levels in public and private organization, Ms Mary Massay, Executive Secretary of the Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG) has said.
Ms Massay said that as a national human rights institution with overall mandate in the promotion and protection of human rights in Tanzania, CHRAGG needs specialised courses to equip its staff with modern skills of handling cases of human rights violation.
”It therefore needs collective commitment by both development partners and oversight institutions to work together to ensure effective protection of human rights,” said Ms Massay when closing a week-long training on investigative skills in policing.
The training which attracted participants from police, prisons and human rights activists from Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar was co-organised by African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum (APCOF) and CHRAGG and funded by Germany Technical Agency (GTZ).
According to APCOF coordinator Mr Sean Tait, this was the first ever investigative skills training which intended to improve police skills in handling human rights violations.
”We had 26 participants in this training in Zanzibar; these are trainers of training who are supposed to transfer the knowledge to others in their respective areas of work.
“The aim is to ensure that Human Rights are respected,” said Mr Tait.
He observed that violation of human rights in many countries was still high and joint efforts including having better investigative skills, were required to control the problem.
Consolation in East Africa 