Tanzania’s main opposition party on Wednesday accused police of disposing of the bodies of hundreds of protesters killed in a crackdown after a chaotic election that incumbent President Samia Suluhu Hassan won in a landslide.
Protests erupted in the East African country during and after last Wednesday’s vote, with demonstrators voicing their anger at the removal of Hassan’s main rival.
Authorities imposed a curfew and internet blackout as security forces clashed with demonstrators.
The opposition Chadema Party was banned from running in last week’s parliamentary and presidential elections. Its leader, Tundu Lissu, has been accused by Hassan’s government of plotting to disrupt the October 29 election and is being held on treason charges.
Chadema told CNN on Wednesday that he had recorded 2,000 deaths and accused police of disposing of hundreds of unidentified bodies at undisclosed locations.
“As the days go by, we learn and discover that more people are dying in different regions,” Chadema communications director Brenda Lupia told CNN.
So far, “2,000 (deaths) have been recorded,” including more than 100 from Chadema, she said.
CNN has not been able to confirm the death toll, and a government spokesperson did not respond to questions about the response to the protests. The government has previously dismissed the opposition’s cost figures as “highly exaggerated.” But the African Union and the foreign ministries of Canada, Norway and the United Kingdom have expressed concern over reports of a large number of deaths.
Hassan, the country’s first female president, ran virtually unopposed but was sworn in for a second term on Monday in an election that regional observers said “did not meet” democratic requirements.
In her inaugural address, she acknowledged that people had died during the protests, but did not specify the death toll.
“Most of the bodies are still in the hospital and the police are stopping people from taking them away,” Rupiah said, adding: “The police have dumped more than 400 bodies. We don’t even know where they took them.”
A Tanzanian police spokesperson did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Police this week banned the sharing of photos and videos that “cause panic” after images and videos of bodies began circulating on social media while internet connectivity was restored.
Human Rights Watch accused the Tanzanian government of responding to the protests “with deadly force and other abuses.”
The African Union Commission said it was “deeply concerned” about election-related violence in Tanzania, following reports of “hundreds of people killed and hundreds injured in violence caused by clashes with security forces.”
“The nationwide internet shutdown has made it difficult to confirm the actual number of deaths,” the commission added.
A joint statement by the foreign ministers of Canada, Norway and the United Kingdom cited “credible reports of a large number of deaths and serious injuries.”
“We remain concerned by the high level of harassment, abductions, and intimidation of opposition forces, journalists, and civil society actors in the run-up to the elections,” it said.
Lupia said she feared for her safety.
“A lot has happened in the last three or four days since the election, and we know the worst is yet to come,” he told CNN by phone from an undisclosed location in Tanzania.
