A year on, Tanzanians mourn election massacres in ‘state of terror’

The Catholic Church held Masses Thursday to honor the victims, while the main opposition party, Chadema, announced a seven-day mourning period.(AFP) — A year after Tanzania’s bloody election, many remain traumatized by the violence, while government critics live in fear of abduction, arbitrary arrest or prosecution on treason and terrorism charges.The Oct. 29 election, in which President Samia Suluhu Hassan won with 98% of the vote after most of the opposition was excluded, triggered days of protests that security forces brutally suppressed.Rights groups and the opposition say thousands were killed, while a government-appointed commission put the death toll at 518.For Twaha Bomeza, 61, life changed on Election Day when shrapnel lodged in his eye during gunfire to disperse protesters, leaving him in need of surgery he cannot afford.“I tried to save myself, but I was shot. I fell down here and lost four front teeth,” Bomeza told AFP on the streets of the economic capital, Dar es Salaam, displaying his dentures.“I am still nursing an internal wound in my eyes,” he said, adding that he now experiences shortness of breath and constant headaches.“My blood was spilled here, but a year has passed, and there is no more blood here,” he added.The Catholic Church held Masses Thursday to honor the victims, while the main opposition party, Chadema, announced a seven-day mourning period.“Tanzania has become a dictatorship — an authoritarian state that neither upholds the rule of law nor guarantees human rights,” Chadema said in a statement.The streets of Dar es Salaam were quiet, with a heavy police presence.“I feel sad today … As a nation, we need to learn that dialogue and negotiations are better than using massive force,” churchgoer Noela Kigosi told AFP at one of the religious services.Asma, 22, vividly remembers the “horrifying” day when she witnessed someone being shot in front of her.“I was telling him to run, but as he tried to flee, he was shot in the neck and died,” she told AFP.“The situation was terrible. Many people died.”Tanzania has faced criticism from its Western partners over the killings, and the U.S. ambassador warned Thursday in a post on X that they “will not be swept under the rug.”Hassan, who was represented by her prime minister in Moscow this week for a Russia-Africa summit, has responded by trying to build closer ties with Moscow.‘State of terror’Tanzania is “tense,” multiple analysts told AFP, with arbitrary arrests on the rise.Another potential flashpoint is the treason trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu, whose verdict is due Nov. 6.Lissu, who began a hunger strike this week to demand access to his lawyer, was arrested ahead of the election for championing a “no reform, no election” campaign.“The country is not only in a mourning mood but also in a state of terror. We live in paranoia,” rights activist Tito Magoti said.Over the past week, another opposition official, John Pambalu, was charged with treason, while a Tanzanian dissident, Twaha Mwaipaya, was abducted in Kenya and remains missing.“The state is very nervous and they’re ready to use a heavy-handed approach,” Anna Bwana, director of the civil society group Twaweza East Africa, told AFP.“If you commemorate, then you’re acknowledging what happened and you’re acknowledging the numbers of those who lost their lives. And how can you commemorate when you’re still kidnapping others,” she said, adding that many had still not been able to bury their loved ones.Fulgence Massawe, of the Legal and Human Rights Centre, said the organization was representing about 56 people facing terrorism-related charges as the state was trying to “silence all critics.”‘Deny and delete’Tanzania formed a presidential commission to investigate the election violence.But critics say it was established in “bad faith” to help the government “clean Tanzania’s image” internationally.“The state is trying to deny and delete the history of their complicity in the massacre that they conducted last year,” Magoti said.Amnesty International has criticized Tanzania for failing to hold those responsible to account, saying it was “weaponising counterterrorism laws to silence critics and instil fear” instead.Even as the state suppresses commemorations, many carry visible reminders.Joseph Zakayo, 37, displays a large scar on his thigh where he was shot during the unrest. He can no longer operate his motorcycle taxi business.“My life has taken a major step backwards,” he said.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads