The United States says it is undertaking a comprehensive review of its relationship with Tanzania after the State Department criticized what it called repression and disturbing violence during protests that followed the disputed Oct. 29 presidential election, which kept President Samia Suluhu Hassan in power.
U.S. officials said the government’s actions raise serious questions about the bilateral relationship and Tanzania’s reliability as a partner. Washington’s move is its strongest public rebuke so far, coming after reports from international and rights groups and Tanzania’s main opposition that security forces’ post-election crackdown may have killed hundreds of people. The Tanzanian government has not published an official death toll, and independent verification remains limited.
Last month the European Union froze tens of millions of dollars in aid, saying the crackdown and lack of transparency warranted the suspension. Tensions have risen after President Hassan publicly accused Western countries, religious leaders and opposition figures of interference, saying some critics behaved as if they were “our colonizers.”
Hassan defended security forces, describing the unrest as an attempted coup and saying police had a duty to protect lives and property as demonstrators, she said, attacked government buildings and police stations. She also asserted she won 98% of the vote, even though major opposition parties were blocked from participating and several opposition leaders were arrested on treason charges.
Opposition figures deny any plot against the state and contend the crackdown has killed more than 2,000 people. Dozens have been detained, opposition offices raided, prominent organizers driven into hiding, and hundreds of protesters are missing and feared dead, they say.
Among those killed, rights groups note, is John Oduor, a Kenyan teacher shot in Dar es Salaam on polling day. His body has remained in a Tanzanian morgue for more than a month because his family has been unable to repatriate him for a traditional burial. “We need closure as a family,” his sister told reporters.
United Nations human rights experts, ahead of planned demonstrations on Dec. 9, condemned what they described as widespread violations in Tanzania, citing alleged extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and mass detentions of protesters, opposition members and civil society actors. They urged the government to disclose information on disappeared persons and to lift restrictions on media coverage, saying current constraints are incompatible with Tanzania’s international obligations.
Amnesty International and other rights organizations warn the crisis reflects a broader decline in opposition and press freedoms across East Africa.
For families such as Oduor’s, international statements provide limited comfort. His sister pleaded for help recovering his body and for answers that would allow the family to grieve and bury him according to their traditions.