Tension remains high in Tanzania days after officials arrested eight prominent figures of the opposition, including leaders of the CHADEMA party on Monday, releasing them in the evening, The Associated Press reported.
The main opposition party, CHADEMA, earlier called for nationwide rallies against what they say is the state-orchestrated abduction of opposition members.
Among those arrested was former presidential candidate Tundu Lissu. Tanzania will be holding elections in October 2025.
Key party figure Ali Kibao was found dead September 7 after he was abducted from a bus in broad daylight by people suspected of being state security agents.
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu condemned his killing and ordered a thorough investigation while claiming she leads a democratic government that does not tolerate political assassinations.
The United States Embassy in Tanzania, along with the European ambassadors, called for an “independent, transparent and prompt investigation into the ongoing abductions and the murder of Ali Kibao.”
In response to criticism, Suluhu cited the assassination attempts in a “developed country,” which observers interpreted as a reference to the attempts on the life of former U.S. President Donald Trump, who is the Republican Party nominee for president in the November 5 election.
Suluhu went on to accuse Western envoys of interfering with Tanzanian domestic affairs by calling for investigations of human rights violations.
Tanzania has "never directed its ambassadors to interfere in other nations' internal affairs. ... The statements that have been made, instructing us to do one, two, three — we know what to do as Tanzanians and as a country,” she said.
That is misleading.
The Tanzanian president appealed to the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, arguing that it prohibits diplomats from making statements about the domestic politics in the countries of deployment. However, the convention does not prevent the envoys from advocating for the rights of the host country's citizens.
In fact, the international law drafted in 1948 calls for the protection of human rights regardless of the persons’ political parties and nationalities.
Suluhu claimed that “the statements made were not the directive of the heads of state from where they [envoys] came.”
That claim is also misleading: The convention specifies that one of the functions of the diplomats is “protecting in the receiving State the interests of the sending State and its nationals, within the limits permitted by international law.”
According to the U.S. State Department, an ambassador is the president's highest-ranking representative to a country or international organization abroad and issues statements on behalf of the United States government," and the main goal of U.S. foreign policy abroad is to “advance democracy, human rights, and other global interests.”
Responding to the accusations, U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania Michael Battle said on September 19 that the “U.S. is not immune to challenges and imperfections” but remains true to “an obligation for fundamental and paramount human dignity and human respect.”
The United States has been the single largest bilateral donor to Tanzania for the last six decades, contributing over $7.5 billion in aid. That aid will now depend on “respect for democracy and human rights,” Battle said earlier in an address to a democracy conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
“As long as we remain Tanzania’s partner, we will speak openly and honestly about these principles,” he said.
The September 23 arrest of the opposition leader Tundu Lissu and other members of the CHADEMA party is the second in the last month. Notably, protesting is a civil right guaranteed by Tanzanian constitution.
In August, the police arrested Lissu and 520 young men and women who had planned to protest bad governance on International Youth Day, accusing them of planning to cause violence.
The abduction and arrests taint Suluhu’s public image: She had been seen as a reformist after lifting a ban on opposition rallies put in place by her predecessor, the hardliner John Magufuli, who died in office in 2021.
Eyewitness accounts and investigations by international human rights organizations have detailed dozens of abductions and, in some cases, killings of innocent civilians allegedly by the Tanzanian security agencies.
The New York-based Human Rights Foundation said at least three opposition figures remain missing weeks after suspected security agents abducted them.