About 700 people have been killed in anti-government protests in Tanzania, the main opposition party in the East African country said today after authorities cut off internet access, AFP reported, BTA reported.
The country of 68 million people was plunged into violence on Wednesday, the day of presidential and parliamentary elections, which were held without the participation of the opposition, as the two main opponents of the head of state, Samia Suluhu Hassan, are either in prison or were disqualified from the race.
On Wednesday, intense gunfire was heard in Tanzania's economic capital and largest city, Dar es Salaam, and hundreds of people protested and set fire to a police station. The protests then spread across the country.
"As we speak, the death toll in Dar (es Salaam) is around 350, and in Mwanza (in the north) the number of victims is over 200. If we add the figures from other parts of the country, we arrive at a total of around 700 deaths", said John Kitoka, a spokesman for the Party for Democracy and Progress. AFP notes that similar figures have also been reported by a security source.
An expert for "Amnesty International" said he had received information about at least 100 deaths in Tanzania in the past two days. "Security forces are in hospitals. They are trying to control the information" and prevent the spread of data on the number of victims so as not to put the government in a difficult position, he added. With the internet largely blocked, gathering this data is extremely difficult.
Despite a curfew in Dar es Salaam, hundreds of people protested on the streets of the city today, both John Kitoka and an AFP security source reported.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has urged Tanzanian security forces not to use "unnecessary or disproportionate" force against protesters, the agency notes. Security forces should "do everything possible to defuse tensions" and "demonstrators should protest peacefully", UNHCR spokesman Seif Magango told a news conference. He stressed that the High Commissioner was "concerned" of the number of dead and injured.
"We call on the authorities to ensure prompt, impartial and effective investigations into all cases of election-related violence and to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice," Magango stressed. He noted that the violence "is the result of an election campaign marked by allegations of arbitrary arrests and detentions of opposition figures, in particular the leader of the opposition Party for Democracy and Progress and his deputy, as well as the abduction of dissidents, including the former Tanzanian ambassador to Cuba."
"All those arbitrarily detained must be released immediately and unconditionally, and those who are lawfully detained must benefit from a fair trial and a fair trial," the High Commissioner's spokesman added.
The Party for Democracy and Progress was excluded from the elections because it refused to sign the electoral code, which it said did not include the reforms it demanded. The party called for a boycott of the elections. Its leader, Tundu Lisu, arrested in April, is on trial for treason, a charge punishable by death.
Another opposition party’s candidate was barred from running for procedural reasons.
Successor to John Magufuli after his death in 2021, Samia Suluhu Hassan is seeking re-election as the country’s president. Initially hailed for easing the country’s restrictions imposed by her predecessor, she is now accused of a harsh crackdown on her critics.