Rights groups say 3,000 killed in Tanzania, demand resignation, prosecution of President Suluhu
Rights groups say 3,000 killed in Tanzania, demand resignation, prosecution of President Suluhu
A coalition of African civil society organisations has accused Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan of presiding over what it calls a “state-engineered massacre,” alleging that more than 3,000 people have been killed and thousands remain missing following violent crackdowns on protesters and dissenters across the country.
In a strongly worded statement issued under the banner of the Jumuiya Ni Yetu movement and the Pan-African Solidarity Collective, the groups demanded that President Suluhu “step down immediately” and face prosecution for crimes against humanity.
The statement, endorsed by more than 40 civil society organisations from across Africa, including groups from Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Uganda, and Senegal, paints a grim picture of ongoing killings, abductions, and mass graves allegedly linked to state security forces.
“President Samia Suluhu must step down immediately. She lacks legitimacy, has lost the moral mandate to govern, and now presides over mass atrocities,” the statement reads.
“She must resign and be immediately prosecuted to the full extent of the law for her crimes against humanity.”
According to the organisations, security personnel have been “storming homes, dragging citizens out, and shooting them on their doorsteps for daring to protest the sham election of October 29 or simply for rejecting the tightening authoritarian rule under Samia Suluhu.”
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The document further alleged that Tanzanian authorities have been secretly digging mass graves in several regions, including Arusha, Mwanza, Dar es Salaam, Mbeya, and Songwe, in what it calls an “attempted cover-up.”
“Witnesses report security personnel smashing down doors in nighttime raids, hunting men and boys over the age of 15. Some have been brutally beaten on their doorsteps and then dragged away by police, whereas others were murdered in their very own homes. The youngest, who was shot and murdered, was a one-year-old,” the statement claims.
“We have received information that mass graves are being dug in major towns across Tanzania… Many bore head and chest gunshot wounds, leaving no doubt these were targeted killings, not crowd-control actions.”
The Jumuiya Ni Yetu movement also accused the government of a deliberate campaign to erase evidence of the killings. It said that hospitals were placed under heavy security, with families of the dead and missing being “harassed, intimidated, and arrested” for seeking information.
“Doctors and nurses were being given orders to ‘maliza’ (kill) those who were in critical care from gunshot wounds. We believe that at least 2,000 missing bodies reported by families are among those being buried in these mass graves,” added the groups.
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