The United Nations Human Rights Office said it believes hundreds of people were killed in Tanzania in protests that erupted during last month’s elections, adding it has received reports that security forces are hiding bodies.
Tanzania government spokesperson Gerson Msigwa did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
The main opposition party, Chadema, and some human rights activists have said security forces killed more than 1,000 people in the unrest surrounding the October 29th vote, which plunged the East African country into its biggest political crisis in decades.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s government has said the opposition’s death toll is exaggerated but has not put forward its own figure for the number of dead.
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Ms Hassan was declared winner of last month’s election, garnering nearly 98 per cent of the vote. Her two leading challengers had been disqualified from the race.
The UN had previously said on October 31st that it had reports that at least 10 people were killed in three cities.
The UN Human Rights Office said in a statement it had been unable to independently verify casualty figures because of volatile security and an internet shutdown in the days after the election.
However, it said: “Information obtained by the UN Human Rights Office from different sources in Tanzania suggests hundreds of protesters and other people were killed and an unknown number injured or detained.”
The statement also quoted UN human rights chief Volker Turk as saying there were reports security forces had removed bodies from streets and hospitals and taken them to undisclosed locations “in an apparent attempt to conceal evidence”.
The government has previously denied that security agents used excessive force and has said they were responding to violence by criminal elements.
On Monday, police released on bail four senior opposition leaders, including the vice-chairman of Chadema. More than 300 other people have been charged in connection with the protests, including at least 145 with treason.
Chadema’s leader, Tundu Lissu, was charged with treason in April. His exclusion from the presidential ballot was one major trigger of the protests.
Ms Hassan’s opponents have accused her government of suppressing dissent and carrying out widespread abductions of critics. Observers from the African Union said last week that the election was not in line with democratic standards.
Ms Hassan, in office since 2021, has rejected criticism of her human rights record and defended the fairness of the election. Last year, she ordered an investigation into the reported abductions, but no findings have been unveiled.
Opponents say Hassan’s government rigged last month’s election, which triggered unrest over the exclusion of her main challengers.
Tanzania’s leader, meanwhile, chose a long-time loyalist as prime minister on Thursday.
The parliament backed the appointment of former finance minister Mwigulu Nchemba in a near-unanimous vote, as expected given that Ms Hassan was declared the landslide winner of the October 29th vote.
Mr Nchemba, who also served in the cabinet of Hassan’s predecessor John Magufuli, said he would work diligently in his new post.
Tanzania has predicted that the economy will grow 6 per cent this year, partly driven by infrastructure projects such as roads, railways and power generation. Budget spending is expected to rise about 12 per cent this fiscal year to fund the projects amid cuts in aid from international partners including the United States.
Mr Nchemba has been a member of parliament since 2010 and also previously held the post of deputy secretary general of Hassan’s Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party.
Richard Mbunda, a political analyst from the University of Dar es Salaam, said Ms Hassan’s trust in Mr Nchemba was demonstrated by the fact he had never lost his job in the cabinet reshuffles since she came to power. – Reuters
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