Tanzania election protests led to ‘brazen’ state crackdown and should be investigated, HRW says News
Felix-Mittermeier / Pixabay
Tanzania election protests led to ‘brazen’ state crackdown and should be investigated, HRW says

Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on Thursday for a Tanzanian government commission to investigate the crackdowns on protests surrounding the 2025 elections where security forces reportedly killed or injured both protestors and bystanders.

HRW urged the established Commission of Inquiry to investigate the atrocities to “deliver justice for the victims and accountability and ensure that such violations do not happen again.”

The established commission is responsible for determining accountability in the atrocities related to the election. However, the Commission itself is facing criticism. Established by President Samia Suluhu Hassan, the Commission is composed of individuals with close ties to the state, which may compromise its impartiality. Additionally, the Commission’s overly broad mandate and lack of enforceability measures leave experts questioning its efficacy. The Commission is set to conclude its work on April 3, 2026.

Tanzania’s recent election, for both the presidency and parliament, was held on October 29, 2025. Reports indicate that the day was marked by protests in the capital city of Dar es Salaam and other cities around the country in response to an intensifying trend of political prevention that preceded election day. Tanzanian security forces responded to the protests with roadblocks, gunfire, and beatings that are believed to have left at least a hundred people dead.

Witnesses described police officers shooting bullets indiscriminately into neighbourhoods and public markets, hitting and injuring individuals who were not participating in the protests. Others have shared stories with HRW about arbitrary arrests wherein they were severely beaten by law enforcement. These acts are accused of violating Tanzania’s international legal obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which precludes arbitrary detention and arrest, as well as under the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials.

The protests came in the midst of an increasingly repressive political environment, with experts indicating that the upcoming elections were at risk. An Africa researcher at HRW called on authorities “to stop muzzling dissenting voices and the media, and instead engage in meaningful reforms to ensure free, fair and credible elections.” Authorities have been accused of spearheading forced disappearances, assaults, and abductions involving dissenting voices before the election. The government is also accused of manipulating internet access to impede the flow of information on election day and of instituting arbitrary curfews, which is discouraged under international law.

Well-known opposition activist Mpaluka Said Nyagali was severely beaten and kidnapped several months before the election, with his attackers claiming to be involved with the local police force. He remains missing. Similarly, opposition party leader Tundu Lissu was arrested on treason charges. His party Chadema, was subsequently barred from participation in the election due to a refusal to sign a controversial government-mandated code of conduct.

THIS DAY @ LAW

March from Selma begins

On March 21, 1965, Martin Luther King, Jr. began his third march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama to protest racial discrimination in the Jim Crow South. By March 25, over 25,000 people led by Dr. King reached Montgomery, Alabama. Specifically, the march called attention to the suppression of African-American voting rights and a police assault on a civil rights demonstration three weeks prior. Five months later, in August 1965, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act. Read a history of the march from Selma to Montgomery.