Bodies Disappear After Tanzania Protest Crackdown – Amnesty

Bodies have disappeared from mortuaries in several Tanzanian cities after being taken by security forces in the aftermath of anti-government protests that were violently suppressed.

This was stated by Amnesty International on Friday after weeks of investigation.

Tanzania descended into violence on the day of legislative and presidential elections, which international observers described as fraudulent.

According to the main opposition party, Chadema, more than 2,000 people were killed, and over 5,000 were injured within a week as security forces cracked down on protests.

Amnesty stated that during the internet shutdown, security forces arrested wounded demonstrators and removed bodies of victims from mortuaries, taking them to unknown locations.

The organisation said it interviewed 35 witnesses, victims, and lawyers, including relatives of eight people killed in Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, Moshi, Arusha, Mbeya, and Tunduma, who reported they were unable to find their loved ones’ bodies, even after searching in various mortuaries.

Speaking to AFP, Sikula Oniala, an Amnesty researcher, said, “Some of them shared with us pictures of empty coffins with photos of the deceased and their clothing. We spoke to doctors who actually also spoke to mortuary attendants and confirmed the security officers actually took away the bodies.”

A doctor in Dar es Salaam also told AFP he had seen on November 1 more than 200 of his patients taken away while receiving care to an unknown destination.

“They even took bodies from the mortuary, which was full,” the doctor said.

He added that the act was carried out by men who were not in uniform, driving in “green trucks resembling military vehicles.”

Healthcare workers in Arusha and Dar es Salaam also told Amnesty International that hundreds of bodies were brought to their hospitals, with some left outside due to a lack of space in mortuaries.

“I had never seen something like this…so many people shot like this, and so many dead bodies piled up and crows eating their flesh.”

In early December, over 15 Western embassies called on the Tanzanian authorities to release all the bodies of the dead to their families.

The Tanzanian government has not provided an official death toll from the crackdown.