In the chaotic aftermath of Tanzania’s disputed presidential election last month, police and gun-wielding men on patrol shot at groups of protesters, many of whom appeared unarmed or were holding only rocks and sticks, a CNN investigation has found.
Geolocated videos from the scenes, audio forensic analysis of the shots fired and first-hand accounts from witnesses and victims document the brutality unleashed on young demonstrators following the re-election of President Samia Suluhu Hassan – who claimed she won with 98% of the vote on October 29 after barring her chief rivals from the presidential race.
Videos verified by CNN also support witness reports about the deadly toll of the post-election crackdown, showing morgues overflowing with scores of bodies.
Additionally, satellite images and videos show recently disturbed soil consistent with reports of mass graves in the Kondo cemetery, north of the East African country’s main city of Dar es Salaam. Two human rights groups and witnesses interviewed by CNN say the bodies of protesters killed in the past few weeks have been buried there.
After the election, authorities imposed a curfew and an internet blackout as people gathered in the streets to contest the exclusion of Hassan’s rivals from the polls. The main opposition party leader, Tundu Lissu, has been in custody since April, charged with treason.
When internet connectivity was partially restored a week later, police barred the sharing of photos and videos “that cause panic.” Government officials initially denied any killings of protesters had occurred. Last week, however, the president acknowledged there had been some casualties, but she did not release any figures.
Hassan on Thursday launched a commission to investigate the unrest, but also suggested that protesters were paid. Her government and the police did not respond to CNN’s requests for comment.
The crackdown on protesters has marred the reputation of Tanzania as a stable democracy that attracts millions of tourists every year.
The United Nations Human Rights Office, based on information from multiple sources in the country, suggested hundreds of protesters and other civilians were killed, with an unknown number injured or detained.
With the help of open-source investigator Benjamin Strick, CNN reviewed dozens of videos and images of civilians lying dead from gunshot wounds, as well as images of bodies overflowing morgues at the Sekou-Toure Regional Referral Hospital in Mwanza and the Mwananyamala Hospital in Dar es Salaam.
In Mwanza, photos and videos geolocated by CNN outside the hospital show at least 10 bodies piled up on a stretcher.
One doctor, who treated victims of gunshot wounds over the course of four days there and requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, said the dead were brought to the morgue by police “until it was full.” After that, he said, they “piled” the bodies outside the hospital.
CNN
