Incidences of Human Rights Violations: Lock-Out

The memorandum of understanding between EAWM and BLH said that the financial management of the CTC has to be done by BLH. Co-funding of the project by the Austrian government demanded regular financial accountability.

However, there was administrative chaos at the hospital and in the local Lutheran diocese. This made it necessary for EAWM to take over the management of the program finances in order to fulfil its fiduciary obligations to its own donors as well as to the Austrian government. Ultimately, this unbearable situation led the EAWM board to a decision to cease its direct funding relationship with SCD. This was communicated in early 2006 and came into effect on the 31st March, 2006. EAWM offered ongoing technical cooperation and requested talks about the future fate and direct outsourced support of the CTC. There was no response to this communication from the SCD.


12th April 2006

On April 12, 2006, in the afternoon, members of the experienced CTC team at the HAART Program at the BLH were denied access to the hospital. This was done with the use of force and without given reason, without any preceding talks, warnings or written statement.

To date there has been no official reason given to EAWM explaining the lock-out.

From that time to present, essential laboratory monitoring of HIV patients has not been done, the clinic has not been open on a daily basis and the service quality has gone down. There is still no medical doctor at BLH who is trained by NACP and who has the right to decide about prescriptions for ARVs or to lead a CTC according to Tanzanian national standards and regulations.

In the evening of the same day of April 12, 2006, about 20 heavily-armed police swooped into Bulongwa to “safeguard” the hospital for the next few days. The police commander asked if the EAWM staff felt safe. The reason for this over-reaction by hospital and police authorities remains unknown, though intimidation of PIUMA and its supporters seems the obvious explanation.
The project coordinator, a physician, was denied access to his personal effects (including medical text books and his personal laptop) in the hospital for hours. The next day, he left the district at request of his employer EAWM for Dar es Salaam and later for his home in Austria. At the time of his departure, the EAWM-HAART project had:

• Registered HIV patients: about 630 (with several children)
• HIV patients under ARVs: about 260
• VCT done: more than 1100

Equipment worth about 70.000 Euro had been seized by BLH and SCD authorities and was in danger of being mishandled and damaged by inexperienced staff.