IX. Full Recommendations

To President Kikwete and the Government of Tanzania

• Publicly call for an end to police abuse against sex workers, people who use drugs, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex people.
• Establish an independent civilian policing oversight authority, mandated to receive complaints regarding police misconduct, carry out investigations, and refer such complaints to prosecutors.
• Ensure that organizations representing marginalized groups, including LGBTI people and sex workers, are able to register in accordance with Tanzanian law.
• Ratify the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
• Devote sufficient resources to the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to strengthen Tanzania’s child protection system, including through implementation of the National Costed Plan of Action for Most Vulnerable Children.

To the Parliaments of Tanzania and Zanzibar

• Begin the process of decriminalizing consensual same-sex conduct by drafting amendments that would remove articles 154 and 157 from the Tanzania Penal Code, and articles 150 and 153 from the Zanzibar Penal Code. Revision to the Zanzibar Penal Code should also remove article 158, prohibiting the “union” of same-sex couples, which violates freedom of association.
• Begin the process of decriminalizing consensual adult sex work by drafting a bill to modify or remove article 176(a) of the Tanzania Penal Code and 181(a) of the Zanzibar Penal Code, which criminalize sex work, as well as other laws related to sex work that may infringe on human rights, including laws on “harbouring prostitutes” and “living off the earnings of prostitution.”
• Exercise the oversight functions of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security (Tanzania) and the Constitution, Justice and Governance Committee (Zanzibar) by investigating police abuse of marginalized groups.
• Through the Standing Committee on HIV/AIDS (Tanzania), conduct an investigation into instances of refusal of services and discrimination against key populations in accessing HIV/AIDS services.
• Review and reform existing laws that criminalize personal drug consumption and possession of drugs for personal use to ensure that the human rights of people who use drugs are protected and that drug laws do not increase vulnerability to HIV infection or impede access to HIV prevention, care or treatment. Introduce revisions to both penal codes that would criminalize rape of men and boys in order to ensure that all non-consensual sexual conduct is prohibited.

To the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare of the Republic of Tanzania, the Ministry of Health of Zanzibar, all Government Institutions Working on HIV/AIDS

• In line with the recommendations set forth by Tanzania’s Second National Multi-sectoral Strategic Framework on HIV/AIDS, publicly call for the decriminalization of same-sex conduct and consensual adult sex work.

• Issue orders to health workers that discrimination against members of marginalized groups, including sex workers, people who use drugs, and LGBTI people, will not be tolerated.
• Conduct inspections of health facilities to ensure that members of marginalized groups are not denied services or discriminated against.
• Develop a complaints mechanism through which members of marginalized groups can report cases of denial of service or discrimination.
• Conduct training for all health workers on key populations, including human rights training as well as training on specific health needs of these groups. Trainings should be carried out in partnership with civil society organizations representing key populations.
• Ensure that the new Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS includes provisions specifying that all health centers and Voluntary Counseling and Testing centers should be accessible to key populations, and provides concrete plans for training health workers. 
• Ensure that the new Strategic Framework on HIV/AIDS includes provisions on protection of the human rights of key populations.
• Ensure that condoms and water-based lubricant are made available and affordable for key populations, either through direct provision by the Ministry for Health, or though facilitating the work of NGOs in supplying them.
• Expand the availability of humane, effective treatment for drug addiction.
• Eliminate the requirement that victims of violence bring in a PF3 form signed by the police before receiving medical treatment.
• Implement the new National Costed Plan of Action for Most Vulnerable Children, which includes child victims of sexual exploitation in its target group. The plan aims to strengthen the capacity of communities and local government actors to protect most vulnerable children, and ensure their access to health, education, and other child protection services.
• Conduct training for Tanzanian media to improve their knowledge and understanding of key populations and their ability to report objectively and sensitively on issues concerning them.

To the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs of the Republic of Tanzania and the Commission on Constitutional Reform

• Ensure that the draft revision of the Constitution includes comprehensive provisions on equality and non-discrimination.
• Ensure the participation of marginalized groups in constitutional debates.

To the Ministry of Community Development, Gender and Children of the Republic of Tanzania and the Ministry of Social Welfare, Youth, Women and Children Development in Zanzibar

• Take specific steps to protect the rights of adult sex workers, including by establishing partnerships with organizations representing them.
• Take action to end commercial sexual exploitation and assist the victims, as part of your efforts to develop and implement the National Plan of Action to Prevent and Respond to Violence against Children. In particular, activities should include legal assistance, appropriate health and counseling services, and access to education, vocational training, or other social reintegration measures for victims. Activities should also include training for the police.

To the Tanzania Police and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions

• Issue orders to all police that no crime victim should be denied assistance, arrested, or harassed on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity, or their status as a sex worker or drug user. Publicly announce that members of at-risk populations can report crimes without facing the risk of arrest.
• Establish police liaisons to each of the at-risk communities discussed in this report. Liaisons should be police officers that have a track record of integrity and are trusted by these populations. They should be mandated to engage with key populations on building trust between the police and these communities, without using any information they gather in the course of their mandates against members of these communities.
• Investigate the police stations and police officers mentioned in this report in relation to human rights violations, and where necessary, undertake prosecutions or disciplinary measures.
• Issue orders to police that no one should be arrested for possession of materials related to harm reduction, such as clean needles or syringes and bleach to disinfect needles.
• Train officers responsible for “Gender Desks” at police stations on sexual orientation, gender identity, and the human rights of sex workers and children engaged in sex work. 
• Arrest and prosecute members of the “police jamii,” Sungu Sungu, and other community-based security groups who violate the law.
• Strengthen oversight of community-based security groups, including by ensuring that they do not carry arms and do not use force.
• Ensure that anyone who uses, offers, obtains, procures or provides a child for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation be prosecuted, including when the perpetrator is a police officer or other state agent.
• Ensure that children who are commercially sexually exploited or engaged in sex work are not prosecuted or penalized for having been party to illegal sex work.
• Ensure that police training on human rights is carried out regularly and rigorously, and that it includes training on the rights under international law of LGBTI people, sex workers, and people who use drugs.

To the Commission on Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG)

• Publicly encourage LGBTI people, sex workers, and people who use drugs to report any cases of discrimination or violence to CHRAGG, and take appropriate actions in response to any such reports.
• Train all staff on tolerance, non-discrimination, and sensitivity to the needs of marginalized groups. Trainings should be carried out in collaboration with members of marginalized groups.
• Designate one commissioner to take responsibility for handling cases of human rights violations against members of key populations.
• Conduct a nationwide study on discrimination against key populations, in partnership with civil society organizations representing them.

To the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (TAKUKURU)

• Mandate outreach officers to liaise with sex workers, people who use drugs, and LGBTI people in order to collect information about extortion, including extortion of sex, affecting these communities.
• Initiate prosecutions against police officers found to be involved in extorting money and sex from members of marginalized groups.

To the Drug Control Commissions of Tanzania and Zanzibar

• Review existing laws that criminalize personal drug consumption and possession of drugs for personal use, in consultation with UNAIDS and other experts, to ensure that drug laws are consistent with the goals of reducing the spread of HIV and protecting human rights.

To United Nations Agencies Operating in Tanzania, including UNAIDS, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, and UN Women

• Engage in public and private advocacy with the Tanzanian government about the rights of persons of marginalized groups under international law.
• Organize discussions with government officials on recent literature, including UN-backed research, demonstrating that criminalization of sex work and same-sex conduct imposes obstacles to preventing and treating HIV.
• Document human rights violations against sex workers, LGBTI people, and people who use drugs. Report on these violations to the government of Tanzania and in other appropriate settings, such as the Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council.
• Conduct training for Tanzanian media to improve their knowledge and understanding of key populations and ability to report objectively and sensitively on issues concerning them.
• Ensure that UN-funded training of police, justice officials, and health officials includes training on the human rights of marginalized groups.

To Donor Governments and Institutions Supporting HIV/AIDS Programs or Human Rights Programs in Tanzania

• Support the development of membership organizations among sex workers, LGBTI people, and people who use drugs, such that these persons can have collective institutional voices.
• Ensure that funding directed to HIV/AIDS in Tanzania includes funds specifically aimed at the health needs of key populations, and closely monitor how such funding is used.
• Ensure that mainstream human rights organizations and lawyer’s associations that receive donor funding are attentive to the human rights of sex workers, LGBTI people, and people who use drugs.
• Provide funding to initiatives in support of children who are victims of commercial sexual exploitation, including the National Costed Plan of Action for Most Vulnerable Children and the National Plan of Action to Prevent and Respond to Violence against Children.
• Engage in public and private advocacy with the Tanzanian government about the rights of persons of marginalized groups under international law.
• Ensure that donor-funded training of police, justice officials, and health officials includes training on the human rights of marginalized groups.