Tanzania: Police linked to killings in gold mine

(Nairobi) – Police officers in Tanzania guarding the North Mara gold mine have been linked to the killing of at least six people and the injury of several others in clashes since February 2024, Human Rights Watch said today. Tanzanian authorities should immediately launch independent and impartial investigations into the killings and other abuses in Tarime district in northern Tanzania.

The police accuse those killed and injured of having “invaded the mine” and engaged in illegal small-scale mining. The police have not yet arrested anyone in connection with these attacks.

“The rising number of killings linked to the North Mara gold mine in Tanzania reflects a worrying pattern of impunity that must be addressed,” said Oryem Nyeko, Tanzania researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Tanzanian authorities should not sweep these deaths under the carpet, but ensure that those responsible are held accountable.”

In 2014, the Tanzanian government entered into an agreement with the North Mara Gold Mine Limited Company to permanently guard the mine with up to 110 police officers, referred to by community members as the “mine police.” Human rights groups and community members have reported that in the years since this agreement, police officers have been responsible for beating, shooting, torturing and detaining without charge residents of areas near the mines and waste dumps. Police accuse residents of theft from the mine and surrounding waste dumps.

Barrick Gold, a mining company based in Toronto, Canada, and the Tanzanian government have jointly owned the mine since 2019. The area is inhabited by the indigenous Kurya people, who have been engaged in small-scale local mining on the land for centuries. In 2022, 21 Tanzanians sued Barrick Gold in a Canadian court, accusing the company of complicity in extrajudicial killings and beatings of local residents by police assigned to the mine. They claimed the company had transformed the police operating in and around the mine “into a private and heavily armed security force.” A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for October.

Over the past four months, several deaths and injuries have been reported, but no arrests have been made. Police reported that Jackson Nyamonge, a 28-year-old resident of Nyamwaga village, was found dead on February 28 at the mine fence with injuries to his chest and abdomen. On April 7, local media reported that police shot Sylvester Sobhe Marwa Nyangige in the head during a security operation at the mine. A copy of a Police formseen by Human Rights Watch, the cause of death is listed as “unnatural death”. On 26 April allegedly shot and injured Pascal Malembara in the leg in the Murwambe area.

On May 6, police confirmed the death of Emmanuel Nyakorenga, a resident of Kewanja village, in a primary school near Nyabigena village, close to the mine. Police told the media that he was part of a group of people with “traditional weapons” who attacked the police officers who were preventing them from entering the mine illegally.

A witness describing Nyakorenga’s killing told Human Rights Watch that around midday, police chased several people from an area near the mine’s Gokona pits to the playground of Nyabigena Primary School, about 500 meters from the mine. Police reportedly fired tear gas, sound bombs, and live ammunition at the group, injuring some.

Shortly after Nyakorenga was shot, officers fled and residents began blocking the main road near the school to protest Nyakorenga’s killing. Police later returned and dispersed the crowd with tear gas. Nyakorenga’s relatives said an autopsy found what looked like a bullet in his head, but the officers who conducted the investigation did not give them any further information.”

Since May 6, residents have reported the deaths of at least three other people in the area. The day after Nyakorenga’s death, residents reported finding the body of an unidentified person at a mine loading yard outside the mine site. On May 22, media reported that Babu Christopher Iroga, a resident of Mjini Kati village, and July Mohali, a resident of Nyangoto village, were killed in an altercation with police. Police accused the men of stealing from the mine.

John Heche, a former member of parliament for Tarime district, told Human Rights Watch that police violence has increased in recent years: “There have been repeated deaths like this for several years, but never on this scale. People are shot almost every day.”

Barrick Gold stated in a June 11 response to a June 4 Human Rights Watch request that the company “does not and cannot have effective control over the police and their actions” and that “police are requested to enter the mine site to assist in maintaining law and order” when the lives of its employees are in danger. The company stated that it “has no involvement or knowledge of (Tanzanian police) activities in the community, nor can it be held responsible or liable for them simply because such activities occur in geographical proximity to the North Mara Gold Mine.”

Barrick Gold’s human rights policy states that the company “does not tolerate human rights abuses by our employees, affiliates or third parties acting on our behalf or in connection with any aspect of our business” and that the company “does its utmost to avoid complicity in adverse human rights impacts, including the opportunity to benefit from human rights abuses caused by others.”

According to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, companies have a responsibility to neither cause nor contribute to human rights abuses and to provide redress to victims of abuses they cause or contribute to.

The UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Police Officers require that police must use non-violent means before using force and firearms. While police officers have a duty to protect life and property, they should only use force when it is unavoidable and proportionate, and should only use lethal force when absolutely necessary to save lives.

“For years, residents of areas near the North Mara gold mine in Tanzania have complained about police brutality,” Nyeko said. “The Tanzanian government should ensure independent and impartial investigations into these attacks so that justice is done for the victims and their families.”