Tanzania stepping up crackdown on critics after recent polls, UN warns
Tanzania has stepped up its crackdown on opponents after contested elections in October that were marred by deadly violence, the United Nations warned Friday, AFP reported.
Rights groups say more than 1,000 people were shot dead during three days of protests over elections on October 29 that the opposition and foreign observers describe as fraudulent.
Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan retained the presidency with 98 percent of the vote, but the main opposition candidates were either jailed or disqualified.
"The government has intensified a crackdown against opponents since the vote," UN human rights office spokesman Seif Magango told a press briefing in Geneva.
"Reports indicate that since mid-November, dozens of individuals including academics, civil society actors and local political leaders have been detained, with several arrests allegedly carried out by unidentified armed personnel."
Surveillance expanded
He said surveillance of digital communications had been expanded and restrictions imposed on fuel sales - measures which "risk inflaming public tension" and significantly undermine freedoms.
Magango said hundreds were reportedly killed and more than 2,000 detained after demonstrations broke out following the elections.
Five weeks on, Tanzanian authorities have still not disclosed information on how many people died, the circumstances of their deaths, or on reports of enforced disappearances, said Magango.
"The continued absence of transparent information risks further eroding public trust and heightening tensions at a critical moment," he said, speaking from Nairobi.
He called for the "immediate and unconditional release" of all those "arbitrarily detained".
Major protests planned
Magango said that on Wednesday, police issued a blanket nationwide ban on all Independence Day protests planned for Tuesday.
"We call for the lifting of such an overbroad, disproportionate step," he said.
Ahead of the planned protests, he reminded the Tanzanian authorities of their duty to ensure the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association.
"Firearms should not be used to disperse any assembly and can only be used as a measure of last resort to counter an imminent threat of death or serious injury," said Magango.
The Tanzanian government has set up an investigation into post-election violence.
UN rights chief Volker Turk called for the probe to adhere to international standards of impartiality, thoroughness and transparency, and provide robust protection against reprisals for all who engage with its work, said Magango.
Calls for restraint
Last week, Tanzania asked foreign ambassadors residing in the country to remain silent regarding the election violence.
But the representations in Tanzania of Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the European Union, issued a joint statement saying they "deeply regret the tragic loss of lives".
They "underline the importance of security forces acting with maximum restraint", the statement said.
It urged the government to protect "fundamental freedoms and the constitutional rights to access information and freedom of expression for all Tanzanians".
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