Pressure on Samia to stop repression, account for torture

President Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania appears determined to frustrate opposition leaders through trumped-up charges, their arbitrary arrests and the torture of civil society activists.

Political analysts think her aim is to stifle chances of the opposition mounting a credible challenge to her and the ruling CCM party’s grasp on power, akin to what Kenya's former ruling party Kanu used to do during the single-party era.

On Friday, Tanzania's immigration authorities blocked opposition leader Godbless Lema of the Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) party from crossing into Kenya at the Namanga border after confiscating his passport.

Lema told journalists in Arusha that he arrived at the Namanga border post in the afternoon en route to Nairobi for a routine health check, only to be told by border officials that Chadema officials are not allowed to leave Tanzania.

Mama Samia’s government is also under intense pressure to take responsibility and account for the detention and torture of two activists from Kenya and Tanzania who visited the country to observe the trial of an opposition leader two weeks ago.

The clampdown spells doom for the persecuted opposition leaders, whose chances of participating in the presidential elections that are slated for October this year are growing even more slimmer.

The 2024 Human Rights Report made public chilling findings in Tanzania, saying four government critics were forcibly disappeared and one was killed by Mama Samia’s government.

The country's police prevented opposition members from holding meetings and other political gatherings, subjecting them to mass arrest, arbitrary detention and unlawful force. Journalists and other players were denied their right to freedom of expression.

The government continued to violate the rights of the Maasai indigenous people, including subjecting them to forced eviction, even after a court ruling suspended plans that would have denied the Maasai rights to political participation and representation.

Leading opposition presidential candidate Tundu Lissu was arrested in April and detained in police custody over what Human Rights Watch said were fabricated and politically instigated charges.

Authorities in Tanzania used his party, Chadema's calls for electoral reforms as an excuse to disqualify the opposition from participating in the upcoming elections.

President Samia’s government is now in sharp focus following the torture and forcible deportation of Kenyan and Ugandan activists Boniface Mwangi and Agather Atuhaire two weeks ago.

The government of Tanzania has received wide condemnation from human rights bodies, now demanding urgent investigations for the brutal attack and sexual abuse of the two crusaders.

The detention and alleged torture of the Kenyan and Ugandan activists has drawn the attention of the United States and The European Union, who have demanded an immediate investigation.

The US Bureau of African Affairs, which is under its Department of State, posted a terse message on X condemning the treatment of the two East African activists.

“The United States is deeply concerned by reports of the mistreatment in Tanzania of the two East African activists. We call for an immediate and full investigation into the allegations of human rights abuses,” said the terse statement.

The US urged all countries in the region to hold to account those responsible for violating human rights, including torture, and also revealed that Atuhaire, was recognised by the US State Department last year as an “International Women of Courage” awardee.

Mwangi and Atuhaire were detained in their hotel rooms after they travelled to Dar-es-Salaam where they intended to attend and observe the trial of Lissu, who is facing treason charges.

They were reportedly stripped naked, hand-cuffed, tortured, held incommunicado for four day before being dumped at the Kenya and Uganda borders, respectively.

The BBC reported Mwangi’s harrowing account with a warning: This article contains details that some readers may find distressing.

BBC covered Mwangi’s testimony, in which he told the reporter that he was "struggling to be alive" after allegedly being sexually tortured in detention in Tanzania.

Mwangi said he had decided to speak despite the "shame and guilt of being sodomised with all manner of things".

The police chief in Tanzania's main city of Dar es Salaam disputed Mwangi's account and told the BBC they were "opinions" and "hearsay" coming from activists.

"If they were here, I would engage them. I would ask them what are they saying, what do they mean? In law, those things are called hearsay or hearsay evidence," Jumanne Muliro told the BBC.

Mwangi claimed the officers told him they were filming everything and would leak the footage if he spoke about what he had gone through. He also told the BBC Newsday programme that the torture had left him in mental anguish.

"You have a lot of nightmares, you have a lot of thoughts, and you are alone in the dark, and you are thinking you are going to get killed. So that entire mental anguish lives with you," he said.

Mwangi said he wanted his medical records be made public so that "what happened to me should never happen to anyone else".

"I have wounds all over my body, I have wounds on my private parts. I have wounds on my feet, I have two broken toes, I have fractures. So I am still struggling," Mwangi said.

Amnesty International has also demanded that Tanzanian authorities investigate the arbitrary arrest, torture, incommunicado detention, and forcible deportation of the human rights defenders, immediately.

Tundu Lissu is charged with the capital and non-bailable offence of treason, alongside two other offences under the country’s cybercrime laws for social media posts urging Tanzanians to boycott the forthcoming elections, citing the possibility of rigging.

He had previously refused to appear in court on April 24, 2025 after the state, on that morning, changed the hearing from an in-person to an online session.

 On that day, Tanzanian police beat up more than 50 of Tundu Lissu’s supporters who were attempting to gain access to the court. Twenty-three were arbitrarily arrested and beaten by police who later dumped in a Bagamoyo, forest north of Dar-es-Salaam.

It was reported that they suffered cuts and bruises on various parts of their bodies, including head, hands legs, back and shoulders. A woman and a man reported to Amnesty International that they had been sexually assaulted by the police.

Human rights bodies have urged progressive countries around the world to not only condemn Tanzania abut also take more

punitive measures including sanctions and travel restrictions against the country’s leaders including Mama Samia.

“Concerned governments should be pressing President Suluhu to reverse these repressive actions and ensure that basic rights and freedoms are respected in Tanzania so that the population is able to have the free and fair election to which they are entitled,” said Human Rights Watch. 

 The government of Mama Samia as she is known in Tanzania, has previously used anti-riot police to harass the opposition political party leaders and other critical voices. 

Gaston Garubindi, Chadema’s legal and human rights director, told Human Rights Watch that he believes the government of Mama Samia is deliberately targeting Lissu to derail the party’s reform campaign.

Prior to the 2020 elections, the government of the late President John Magufuli arbitrarily rounded up and detained scores of opposition party leaders, officials, and supporters, including Lissu. It also suspended media outlets, censored mobile phone communications, and blocked social media.

Ahead of the November 2024 local elections, the government of President Suluhu, who took office after Magufuli’s death in 2021, arbitrarily arrested hundreds of Chadema supporters, imposed restrictions on social media access, and banned independent media.

The authorities were cited in the abduction and extrajudicial killing of at least eight government critics. Chadema reported that thousands of its candidates were disqualified from participating.

Amnesty International has also raised concern over President Suluhu Hassan’s call for a crackdown on East African human rights defenders who enter Tanzania, after labelling them foreign agents.  

They cautioned that such statements provide state authorities with an unlawful and spurious pretext to impose restrictions flouting international human rights obligations.

“Trial observation is central to the transparency of court processes and guarantees of fair trials and is not a threat to security. President Suluhu’s remarks and actions by authorities in Tanzania sends a chilling message aimed at further stifling freedom of expression and association,” said Chagutah.

Successive Tanzanian governments have repressed the political opposition in previous elections. Prior to the 2020 elections, the government of the late President John Magufuli put scores of opposition party leaders, officials, and supporters, including Lissu behind bars.

It also suspended media outlets, censored mobile phone communications, and blocked social media.

The re-emerging trend of repression of political opposition has followed a now familiar script. Before the official election campaign period, opposition politicians face intimidation, harassment, arbitrary arrest and detention, as police apply public assembly laws in a selective and partisan manner.

The authorities the restrict opposition activities while allowing CCM politicians to meet unhindered. CCM politicians and public officials are currently carrying out political activities as Lissu remains detained and grounded in court.

Lissu returned from exile in July 2020 to stand as presidential candidate for the opposition party, Chadema and emerged second behind Magufuli. He had previously fled the country after surviving an assassination attempt when he was shot by unidentified assailants in September 2017.

Opposition politicians continue to report physical attacks, including abductions and beatings, which have not been thoroughly, impartially and effectively investigated.

Ahead of the November 2024 local elections, the government of President Suluhu, who took office after Magufuli’s death in 2021, arbitrarily arrested hundreds of Chadema supporters, imposed restrictions on social media access, and banned independent media.