Following the call given by Lawyers' Environmental Action Team (leat) for an independent investigation into alleged killings in 1996 of artisanal miners at Bulyanhulu gold mine in Kahama, the Tanzanian police recently raided the offices of leat in Dar es Salaam and searched the homes of two leat attorneys, seizing materials that supported leat's call for an independent investigation.

It is alleged that during the forced relocation of small scale miners in 1996 from the Bulyanhulu mine, many Tanzanians were either shot or buried alive in mining shafts. A number of local and international organisations have called for an impartial and international investigation into the 1996 deaths.