United Nations rights office alarmed by killings in Tanzania protests

The United Nations rights office said on Friday it was alarmed by the deaths and injuries that have occurred in the ongoing election-related protests in Tanzania.

They began on Wednesday as voting took place, with demonstrators angry at the exclusion of the two main challengers to President Samia Suluhu Hassan.

The main opposition party claims that about 700 people were killed in protests across the country, which the government has referred to as “isolated incidents”.

Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Seif Magango, said it has received reports from “credible sources” that at least 10 people have died.

“We call on the security forces to refrain from using unnecessary or disproportionate force, including lethal weapons, against protesters, and to make every effort to de-escalate tensions,” he said, adding that protesters should demonstrate peacefully.

Amnesty International, meanwhile, said it had received information that at least 100 people had been killed.

An overnight curfew imposed on Wednesday remains in place in the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, and internet access has been disrupted.

Magango urged the authorities in Tanzania to uphold its “obligations under international human rights law.

“They must promptly reinstate access to the internet and facilitate citizens’ full enjoyment of their rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly,” he said.

He added that curtailing communication would only further undermine public trust in the electoral process.

The UN also said that people who have been “arbitrarily detained, must be released immediately and unconditionally”.

The violent post-election protests come in the aftermath of an electoral campaign marred by allegations of arbitrary arrests and the detention of opposition figures.

Hassan has denied allegations of widespread rights abuses.