DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania — President Samia Suluhu Hassan has ordered a formal inquiry into the Tanzania election violence after U.N. human rights experts estimated that at least 700 people were extrajudicially killed following the Oct. 29 general election. The unrest erupted after key opposition contenders were barred or disqualified, and U.N. officials say the government response included curfews, mass arrests and an internet blackout that made casualty verification difficult, Dec. 30, 2025.
In a statement, Dec. 4, U.N. human rights experts said the post-election death toll is estimated to be at least 700, with “other estimates pointing to thousands” of possible victims. The experts also cited reports of bodies disappearing from morgues and allegations that remains were burned or buried in unidentified mass graves.
The experts urged authorities to disclose the whereabouts of missing people and lift restrictions on media coverage. “The Government must provide information on the fate and whereabouts of all disappeared persons,” the experts said in their statement.
Tanzania election violence: What the U.N. says happened
According to the U.N. experts, protests spread nationwide after the vote — driven largely by young people — and were met by what they described as immediate and lethal force by security services. The experts said there were “shoot to kill” orders during an enforced curfew, and they warned that the blackout from Oct. 29 to Nov. 3 sharply limited documentation and independent checks of reported abuses.
Separate U.N. concerns were raised earlier in November by the U.N. Human Rights Office. Volker Türk said information gathered by the U.N. Human Rights Office suggested “hundreds” were killed and warned of “disturbing reports” that security forces were removing bodies from streets and hospitals in an apparent effort to conceal evidence.
Inquiry ordered as pressure grows at home and abroad
Hassan announced the inquiry after acknowledging deaths linked to the unrest and calling for reconciliation. “I extend my condolences to all families who lost their loved ones,” she told lawmakers, Reuters reported. The government has acknowledged fatalities but has not released an official death toll.
The Tanzania election violence has remained politically contested, with opposition figures accusing security forces of mass killings and the government blaming “criminal elements” for unrest and destruction. U.N. experts said more than 1,700 people faced serious charges — including treason — in connection with the protests.
Authorities have also tightened security around planned demonstrations, including Independence Day protests earlier this month. Police patrols and roadblocks expanded in major cities as officials warned against protests, Al Jazeera reported.
A longer pattern behind the Tanzania election violence
Rights groups say the current Tanzania election violence did not emerge in a vacuum. During the 2020 election period, Amnesty International reported arrests and intimidation against opposition figures in the immediate aftermath of disputed results. Weeks later, Human Rights Watch documented killings and broader abuses tied to the 2020 vote, urging investigations and an end to harassment of journalists and political opponents.
With the U.N. now estimating at least 700 deaths in the latest Tanzania election violence, human rights advocates and opposition leaders are pressing for an investigation that is not only fast, but independent — and for accountability that reaches beyond the street-level arrests.
