Systematic crackdown on civic space continues in the aftermath of post election protests

GENERAL UPDATE

Following the Tanzanian authorities’ brutal response to the protests that took place in the aftermath of the 29th October 2025 presidential and legislative elections, which saw Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan re-elected with close to 98% of the votes, the crackdown on opposition voices and citizens expressing dissent continued.

In parallel, the legitimacy of a state-led inquiry process has been contested. The Commission of Inquiry into Incidents of Breach of Peace (COI) established by presidential decree to “investigate events that led to ‘breaches of peace’ during and after the general elections held on 29th October 2025.” The commission, which lacks broad consensus and has been rejected by opposition political parties and civil society organisations, does not appear to have a mandate to address the root causes of the human rights crisis. Its composition also excludes representatives of civil society, international observers, religious leaders, survivors and victims’ families, while including former state officials and retired civil servants, among them a former Inspector General of Police and the defence minister who was in office at the time of the violence. Moreover, on 20th November 2025, President Hassan made remarks that appeared to undermine the Commission’s independence, calling on it to investigate allegations that protesters and NGOs had been “paid” to participate in protests. On 4th April 2026, an additional 21-day extension for the Commission was approved. The commission was originally expected to conclude its work within 90 days of its 20th November 2025 establishment (that is, on 20th February 2026) but was granted an extension. As reported by The Chanzo, successive extensions have been met with mixed feelings.

In light of the mass casualties that followed the elections related mass protests, and concerns over the COI’s ability to deliver accountability, civil society called on the international community to act. In a letter released on 5th December 2025, 30 NGOs drew the UN Human Rights Council’s attention to Tanzania’s situation and suggested steps to address the crisis, including a public briefing by the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the convening of a special (emergency) session of the Council. Their call remained unheeded.

On 4th December, UN experts also condemned “widespread and systematic human rights violations” in Tanzania, including allegations of hundreds of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and mass arbitrary detentions. In the past few years, hundreds of people have disappeared across the country. The victims include Humphrey Polepole, a government critic and a former ambassador to Cuba, who has not been seen since his 6th October 2025 abduction.

Association

On 23rd February 2026, the Law Society of Kenya and Amnesty International Kenya commended the swift, coordinated action by police officers and other national and county security and government agencies, which led to the rescue of Tanzanian human rights defender Mshabaha Mshabaha Hamza just a few kilometres outside of Nairobi, Kenya. The operation also led to the arrest of three suspects involved in what appears to have been a violent, premeditated abduction from Nairobi and forceful rendition to Tanzania, as previously documented on the Monitor.

The move was also welcomed by the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR), which raised concern about “transnational repression, including cross-border abductions, unlawful renditions, or intimidation of political dissidents and human rights defenders from other countries.”

Following the crackdown on post-29th October 2025 election protests, concerns have been mounting about illegal renditions and abductions in Tanzania’s neighbouring countries, in a context in which East African states, including Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, are cooperating to “trade dissidents [including activists, critics and opposition figures] back and forth to help arrest them.”

In separate developments, as previously reported on the Monitor, several Chadema leaders were arrested in the pre-2025 election period, as well as in the aftermath of elections. In April 2025, Chadema’s national chairperson Tundu Lissu was arrested, his party disqualified from participating in the 2025 elections, and its assets frozen. In June 2025, a controversial High Court injunction resulted in the party being barred from conducting any political activities.

In late March 2026, a Court of Appeal began hearing an application from Chadema, which sought to overturn the High Court injunction. On 15th April 2026, the Court overturned the injunction due to procedural flaws. The ruling effectively released the party from a 309-day political freeze and enabled it to immediately resume all political activities and utilise its assets, which party leaders immediately pledged to do, while shifting their focus to securing the release of Tundu Lissu, who remains in detention on treason charges.

In a report released in April 2026, the American Bar Association’s Center for Human Rights produced a preliminary analysis of the case against Tundu Lissu. It found that proceedings are marked by deep fair trial concerns and that the issues identified “point to systemic fair trial deficiencies rather than isolated procedural concerns.” Lissu’s continued detention and ongoing procedural delays, the Center concluded, reinforce the findings of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which concluded that his deprivation of liberty violates international law.

Peaceful Assembly

As of April 2026, prosecutors continued to charge dozens of citizens with “treason” and “conspiracy” over their alleged roles in the protests.

Since human rights organisations and the media reported on the killings of post-election protesters, new light was shed on patterns of repression. Human Rights Watch reported that security forces killed and injured people who were not participating in demonstrations, in addition to killing possibly “hundreds of people across the country.” Based on witness reports, Reuters also claimed that police targeted civilians far from protests.

Following the announcement by Chadema (Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo), Tanzania’s opposition party, that major demonstrations would take place on 9th December 2025 (Independence Day for mainland Tanganyika), authorities deterred citizens from taking to the streets. On 3rd December, they issued a blanket ban on all Independence Day protests in the country, a measure described as “overbroad, disproportionate” by the UN Human Rights Office.

In March 2026, the Tanzania Police Force in Mara Region ordered leaders of the Women’s Council of Chadema (Bawacha) to halt their planned International Women’s Day celebrations scheduled for 8th March 2026 in Musoma Municipality. The police alleged that the decision was made in compliance with a court order that barred Chadema from conducting political activities.

Expression

On 24th January 2026, The Citizen reported that journalists had been barred from accessing hearings of the COI, which heard victims of the post-election repression behind closed doors. Some hearings have been public, however, with victims recounting “chilling accounts of injury, loss and abandonment.”

In early April 2026, the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) suspended Jambo TV for 90 days for querying the post-election killings. The TCRA said that the digital broadcaster had published “unverified” and “misleading” content about the findings of the COI, which were due to be released at the end of April 2026. The regulator stated that Jambo TV’s posts violated the amended Electronic and Postal Communications (Online Content) Regulations (2020). The move was largely condemned, including by the Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition (THRDC), which raised concerns about fairness, proportionality, and freedom of expression.