THE Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG) is finalising arrangements to institute an investigation into cases of abductions and disappearances in upwards of 15 regions.

Judge Mathew Mwaimu, the CHRAGG chairman, said at a press conference here yesterday that the commission has received numerous reports of disappearances from different sources, asking those with helpful information to make it available to the commission.

The wide ranging investigation will involve some 80 reported cases in 30 districts, with preparations more or less finalised for investigations to start, whereby investigators will be on the ground for three to four weeks and then work on its report.

Investigations will focus on Dar es Salaam, Singida, Mara, Shinyanga, Mwanza, Kagera, Geita, Kigoma, Tanga, Mbeya, Iringa, Kilimanjaro, Arusha, Ruvuma and Rukwa regions with noticeable reports of abductions and disappearances, he said.

Sometimes these incidents are alleged to have been conducted by agencies in the hands of those in authority, raising the core problem of violation of human rights by law enforcement agencies, he stated.

“CHRAGG has realised the need to conduct special investigations on the matter following several reports by different stakeholders,” he said, affirming that the commission has so far identified the plausibility of such incidents as notified or detailed by different sources.

The commission analysed them in terms of where they happened and the alleged people behind them, he stated, explaining that CHRAGG prepared a work plan on how to follow up on the cases on the basis of its mandate and it is now ready to carry out investigations.

CHRAGG investigations will be based on its mandate as provided under Article 130(5) of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania (1977) and Section 6(1) (a-o) of the CHRAGG Act (Cap. 391 of the laws of Tanzania), he stated.

Allegations related to lawful authorities including the police and other law enforcers constitute a great violation of human rights and are not acceptable in any society, he declared, an intervention coming at a time when there are a number of cases of abductions, torture and killing across the country.

Other cases involve abduction of children which constitute an offence of wrongfully retaining, detaining or concealing a child or baby. Abduction is defined as taking away a person by persuasion, by fraud, by open force or violence, the jurist added.