Protesters use different materials to build barricades and block a road as clashes erupt in Dar es Salaam during Tanzania's presidential elections on October 29, 2025.
One year after Tanzania’s contested 2025 elections, authorities have yet to make any arrests for human rights violations committed before and during the vote.
In the months leading up to the elections, the government intensified its repression of the political opposition, government critics, and the media. Authorities also failed to account for a spate of apparent enforced disappearances, including that of former Tanzanian ambassador to Cuba Humphrey Polepole, who was reported missing just weeks before the elections. Polepole had publicly criticized the ruling party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi, for not being “aligned with safeguarding human rights, peace, and respect for people.” His whereabouts remain unknown.
On and after election day, police and people in plainclothes killed hundreds of protesters and bystanders in response to widespread protests and while enforcing a five-day nationwide lockdown. A year on, the fate of many remains unknown as families have reported burying their relatives with no body.
Authorities also arrested over 2,000 people they accused of destroying government property and of treason during this period, but later released some. Some, including those interviewed by Human Rights Watch, said police beat them while falsely accusing them of participating in the protests.
In November 2025, President Samia Suluhu Hassan established a commission of inquiry to investigate the violence. It concluded that at least 518 people were killed but failed to meaningfully scrutinize the role of security forces. The president has since established another commission that will reportedly investigate the planning of the unrest and excessive and unlawful use of force during the elections. How
