NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 11 — The United Nations Human Rights Office has called for an urgent, independent investigation into alleged killings and other serious violations committed during and after Tanzania’s October 29 General Election, amid reports that security forces may be concealing hundreds of bodies of slain civilians.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said his office had received credible reports from multiple sources indicating that hundreds of protesters and other civilians were killed, with many more injured or detained during a nationwide crackdown and internet blackout following the disputed polls.
“Reports of families desperately searching everywhere for their loved ones, visiting one police station after another and one hospital after another, are harrowing,” Türk said in a statement released in Geneva on Tuesday.
“I strongly urge the Tanzanian authorities to provide information about the fate and whereabouts of all those missing, and to hand over the bodies of those killed to their loved ones so that they can be given dignified burials.”
Türk expressed grave concern over accounts that police and soldiers have been seen removing bodies from hospitals and city streets and taking them to undisclosed locations, allegedly to conceal evidence of mass killings.
“There are also disturbing reports that security forces have been seen removing bodies from streets and hospitals and taking them to undisclosed locations in an apparent attempt to conceal evidence,” he said.
The UN rights chief urged Tanzanian authorities to “fully and transparently” investigate all allegations of killings, torture, and arbitrary detention, and to hold perpetrators accountable.
He also demanded the immediate release of opposition leaders and civilians detained in connection with the elections, including Chadema party leader Tundu Lissu, who remains in custody on treason charges.
Wave of arrests
More than 150 people — including minors — have reportedly been arrested since election day, with many charged under unclear legal provisions.
“It is essential that all those arrested or detained on criminal charges are promptly presented before a judicial officer and can effectively contest the lawfulness of their detention,” Türk added, calling for strict adherence to international due process standards.
Tanzania was placed under a nationwide curfew and internet shutdown following the October 29 vote, which saw President Samia Suluhu Hassan declared the winner with 98 per cent of the vote.
Opposition parties and international observers have denounced the polls as deeply flawed, citing widespread violence, censorship, and suppression of dissent.
The Chadema party claims that over 700 people were killed in post-election violence, while diplomatic sources in Dar es Salaam told the BBC that at least 500 deaths are “credibly documented.”
The UN Human Rights Office said it had verified at least 10 deaths in three cities but warned that the actual toll “may be far higher.”
Night raids
Witnesses in Dar es Salaam, Arusha, and Mwanza reported continued night raids in opposition strongholds, with bodies allegedly being collected and hospitals overwhelmed.
Families searching for missing relatives say authorities have refused to release information on those detained or killed.
Tanzania’s Foreign Minister Mahmoud Kombo Thabit dismissed the allegations as “gross exaggerations,” describing the unrest as “a few isolated incidents” and defending the internet shutdown as necessary “to prevent false information.”
He insisted the government remained committed to peace and accused foreign critics of “interfering in domestic affairs.”
However, diplomatic missions in Tanzania — including those of the European Union and United States — have expressed alarm over the violence and urged authorities to restore communications, allow independent investigations, and uphold human rights.
The African Union Election Observation Mission, led by former Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi, concluded that Tanzania’s polls failed to meet regional and international democratic standards.
In its preliminary report, the AU cited “excessive use of force,” opposition arrests, and a “restricted political environment” that compromised the credibility of the process.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Commonwealth issued similar statements, highlighting systemic repression and legal barriers preventing judicial review of presidential results.
Despite mounting international condemnation, President Samia Suluhu Hassan has maintained that the election was peaceful and legitimate.
During her closed-door inauguration at a military base in Dodoma on November 3 — a ceremony barred to the public and foreign press — she dismissed external criticism as “unwarranted interference.”