UN CALL ON TANZANIA TO RATIFY PROTOCOL ON DEATH PENALTY

September 12, 2008: the United Nations advised Tanzania to ratify the International Covenant on civil and Political Right's Optional Protocol on Abolition of Death Penalty as a step in protecting and promoting human rights. The UN Resident Coordinator in Tanzania Oscar Fernandez Taranco made the call in Dar es Salaam during the launch of the declaration of human rights campaigns in the country prepared by the Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance. The envoy insisted that it was not enough to ratify international conventions, but to ensure that the instruments were domesticated and applied properly in the country. "This is of paramount importance to the objectives of truly achieving the status of compliance and upholding rights," Ambassador Taranco said. He said protecting and promoting Human Rights was first and foremost a national responsibility. (Sources: IPPMedia.com, 12/09/2008)