Khamis Kagasheki says radical shoot-to-kill policy would curb the slaughter of elephants for illicit ivory trade
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| Tanzania, with 70,000-80,000 elephants in 2009, is thought to have nearly one-quarter of all African elephants. Photograph: Joe McDonald/Corbis |
A government minister in Tanzania has called for a
"shoot-to-kill" policy against poachers in a radical measure to curb the
mass slaughter of elephants.
Khamis Kagasheki's proposal for
perpetrators of the illicit ivory trade to be executed "on the spot"
divided opinion, with some conservationists backing it as a necessary
deterrent but others warning that it would lead to an escalation of
violence.
There are already signs of an increasing militarisation of Africa's wildlife parks with more than 1,000 rangers having been killed while protecting animals over the past decade, according to the Thin Green Line Foundation. Tanzania is said to have lost half its elephants in the past three years.
"Poachers
must be harshly punished because they are merciless people who wantonly
kill our wildlife and sometimes wardens," said Kagasheki at the end of an International March for Elephants,
which took place in 15 countries to raise awareness of the poaching
scourge. "The only way to solve this problem is to execute the killers
on the spot."
Anticipating criticism, the natural resources and
tourism minister added: "I am very aware that some alleged human rights
activists will make an uproar, claiming that poachers have as much
rights to be tried in courts as the next person, but let's face it,
poachers not only kill wildlife but also usually never hesitate to shoot
dead any innocent person standing in their way."
Ivory has been dubbed the "white gold of jihad" by activists who say it is funding armed rebel groups including al-Shabaab, the militia behind the siege of the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi that left at least 67 people dead. The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust,
a Kenyan conservation charity that organised last week's protest march,
says one elephant is killed every 15 minutes for its tusks and they
could disappear from the wild by 2025.
On Tuesday the trust
declined to condemn Kagasheki's remarks. Rob Brandford, its director,
said: "Rangers are in the middle of a poaching war against well-armed
poachers and many have lost their lives in the battle to protect
elephants. Tens of thousands of elephants are being killed annually for
their tusks and poachers need to know that they are risking their lives
if they choose to target elephants.
"Soft measures, which we
witness today, especially with sentencing for those caught poaching,
will not deter poachers. Our own teams in Kenya can arrest a poacher one
day and then the next week come up against the same poacher, who having
paid a small fine was released by the courts – where's the deterrent?"
But
within the conservation movement there are a range of attitudes, with
some taking a less militant approach to poachers, who are often from
impoverished backgrounds. Bell'Aube Houinato, WWF's country director in
Tanzania, said he attended the march there and "could feel in the room
people were very agitated and concerned that as a country we need to do
more. Many solutions have been proposed."
"It is very true that
poaching has taken such an alarming route and it's obvious the
government is getting worried. It's important the punishment for
poaching is a deterrent, but killing poachers is not part of the
measures we have been advocating. It would lead to an escalation of
violence; it's very difficult to control who is actually killing. There
are law enforcement and judicial systems and they should be made more
effective."
It is also important to combat the demand for ivory
from far east countries such as China and Thailand, Houinato added. "I
do see there is commitment from ministers but in terms of resource
allocation we need to see more investments. People do not have the
resources to do what it takes."
Tanzania, with 70,000-80,000
elephants in 2009, is thought to be home to nearly a quarter of all
African elephants. Media reports have alleged that some MPs and other officials are involved in and benefiting from the lucrative ivory trade.
Human
rights defenders warned that Kagasheki's demand for lethal force was
unconstitutional and would result in extra-judicial killings. Rodrick
Maro, of the Legal and Human Rights Centre of Tanzania, said: "Poaching
is a problem but the minister's statement is also problematic. It is not
only against the law but against human rights."
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