NAIROBI — The U.S. is “comprehensively reviewing” its relationship with Tanzania after the State Department criticized what it called “repression” and “disturbing violence against civilians” during protests that followed the disputed Oct. 29 presidential election, which returned President Samia Suluhu Hassan to power.
U.S. officials said the government’s actions raise serious concerns about the bilateral relationship and Tanzania’s reliability as a partner. The review is Washington’s strongest rebuke to date after international and rights groups, as well as Tanzania’s main opposition, reported that security forces’ post-election crackdown may have killed hundreds of people. The government has not released an official death toll and independent verification is limited.
Last month the European Union suspended tens of millions of dollars in aid, citing the crackdown and lack of transparency. The moves come amid heightened tensions after Hassan publicly condemned Western nations, religious leaders and opposition figures, accusing them of interference and saying critics acted as if they were “our colonizers.”
Hassan defended security forces, calling the unrest an attempted coup and saying police were mandated to protect lives and property as demonstrators — she said — attacked government buildings and police stations. She claimed she won 98% of the vote in the election, despite the main opposition parties being blocked from participating and several opposition leaders being arrested on treason charges.
Opposition leaders deny plotting against the state and say the crackdown has killed more than 2,000 people. Dozens have been arrested, opposition offices raided, and prominent organizers forced into hiding. Hundreds of protesters remain missing and are feared dead.
Among the dead is John Oduor, a Kenyan teacher shot in Dar es Salaam on polling day; his body remains in a Tanzanian morgue more than a month later, and his family has been unable to repatriate him for a traditional burial. “We need closure as a family,” his sister told reporters.
Ahead of planned demonstrations on Dec. 9, U.N. human rights experts condemned widespread violations in Tanzania, citing alleged extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and mass detentions of protesters, opposition figures and civil society. They called on the government to provide information on the fate and whereabouts of disappeared persons and to lift restrictions on media coverage, saying current constraints are incompatible with Tanzania’s international obligations.
Amnesty International and other rights groups say the crisis marks a deepening regional deterioration in opposition and press freedoms across East Africa.
For families like Oduor’s, international rhetoric offers little solace. “Each day without answers is harder than the last,” his sister said, appealing for help to recover his body and achieve closure.
