Latest news with #TunduLissu
The Star
a day ago
- Politics
- The Star
Kenyan rights activist charged with unlawful possession of ammunition
FILE PHOTO: Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi, who was detained upon arrival in Dar es Salaam to attend the first court appearance of Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu, and later released, reacts at a press conference in Nairobi, Kenya June 2, 2025. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya/File Photo
Daily Maverick
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Donors urged to suspend aid to Tanzanian government after ‘poisoning attempt' on detained opposition leader
Tundu Lissu, a lawyer and human rights advocate who survived a previous assassination attempt in 2017 when he was shot 16 times, was arrested in April 2025 and remains detained on 'politically motivated charges of treason'. Lawyers for Tanzania's imprisoned opposition leader, Tundu Lissu, have called on donor countries to suspend aid to the country's government because of 'credible reports' of an attempt to poison Lissu while in custody. The law firm Amsterdam & Partners LLP, international counsel for Chadema — the main opposition party, which Lissu leads — said it was alarmed by the reports of the attempted poisoning. 'The attempt, first brought to light by Chadema party officials, marks a chilling escalation in the systematic persecution of political opposition figures under the administration of President Samia Suluhu Hassan,' said the firm. Robert Amsterdam, founder and managing partner of the firm, said, 'The latest attack on my client is not an isolated act, but part of a broader campaign to silence and destroy the political opposition in Tanzania. 'From fabricated treason charges, unlawful detention and denial of legal access, to the targeting of opposition supporters and foreign activists, the Tanzanian government has crossed every red line of democratic legitimacy. 'Chadema has previously warned of deliberate repression, with numerous members abducted, detained, or harassed in recent months. The poisoning attempt is just the latest in a pattern of politically motivated abuses. 'In light of these developments, Amsterdam & Partners LLP is calling on all donor states and institutions providing budgetary support to the Tanzanian government to immediately suspend such aid pending independent investigations and demonstrable reform. 'President Hassan should hang her head in shame. We will be actively engaging with donor governments in the coming days to urge a suspension of support. No government should subsidise state violence against democratic opposition.' Lissu, a lawyer and human rights advocate who survived a previous assassination attempt in 2017 when he was shot 16 times, was arrested in April 2025 and remains detained on what Amsterdam called 'politically motivated charges of treason'. The firm said it had filed an application with the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in response to Lissu's arrest and detention. 'The apparent poisoning attempt adds a new and deeply disturbing dimension to his detention,' it said. Lissu was arrested and charged with treason — which can carry the death penalty — for calling on Tanzanians to disrupt the presidential and legislative elections scheduled for October, because, he said, they would not be free and fair. Chadema has been disqualified from the polls for demanding changes such as an independent electoral commission to ensure a fairer contest. Hassan's party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi, has been in power since the country's independence from British rule in 1961. Amsterdam & Partners LLP is an international law firm based in Washington, DC, and London, with a focus on political advocacy and human rights. DM
The Guardian
29-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘We won't let them get away with this': activists to sue Tanzania's government over ‘sexual torture'
Two east African activists say they plan to sue Tanzania's government for illegal detention and torture during a visit in support of an opposition politician in May. Boniface Mwangi, from Kenya, and Agather Atuhaire, a Ugandan, sent shock waves around the region earlier this month when they gave an emotional press conference in which they alleged they had been sexually assaulted and, in Atuhaire's case, smeared in excrement after their detention in Dar es Salaam. '[The authorities] take you through sexual torture,' Mwangi said at the time. Even in a region accustomed to recurrent rights abuses, the apparent targeting of foreigners by the Tanzanian authorities marked a new and worrying turn in a crackdown on critics and opponents of the president, Samia Suluhu Hassan. In interviews with the Guardian, Mwangi and Atuhaire said they planned to initiate cases in a Tanzanian court as well as through regional and international avenues, including the east African court of justice and the African court on human and peoples' rights. 'We're not going to let them get away with this,' said Mwangi, a well-known Kenyan photojournalist and activist. Atuhaire, a lawyer, journalist and critic of the government of the Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni, said: 'We need to hold these guys accountable to know that they cannot violate people unprovoked like that.' Mwangi and Atuhaire, who had travelled to Tanzania to attend a court hearing for a treason case against the opposition politician Tundu Lissu on 19 May, say they were taken from their hotel by people they described as security officials, illegally detained and verbally and physically abused. Mwangi said his beating started at an immigration office that afternoon when a security official slapped and punched him repeatedly in the presence of Atuhaire and three lawyers. He said he was assaulted again at a police station, where security personnel accused the activists of having travelled to Tanzania to disrupt peace and ruin the country. 'The real torture,' Mwangi said, happened that evening when a group of about seven men – whom he described as having bloodshot eyes and smelling of alcohol – and a woman handcuffed and blindfolded him and Atuhaire and drove them to a compound. Both activists said that at the compound they were ordered to strip and were suspended upside down then hit with wooden planks on their soles. They said their attackers stifled their screams by stuffing Mwangi's underwear into his mouth and putting some cloth in Atuhaire's mouth. The activists said their attackers inserted what seemed to be their hands or other objects into their rectums and smeared excrement on Atuhaire's body, then photographed them and told them not to reveal what had happened. Two days later they were dumped at their countries' borders. 'I didn't see us coming out of there alive,' said Atuhaire. 'It was really, really painful.' Mwangi said: 'Nothing in my mind or in my life prepared me for this. I've been injured before, I've been beaten before, I've been shot before. My house has been bombed. I've seen all kind of extremities and cruelties, but I've never felt such kind of pain.' The Guardian has approached a Tanzanian police spokesperson for comment. Last week Tanzania's representative to the UN, Abdallah Possi, told a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva: 'Although these claims against the government are highly doubtful, we take the allegations of torture, sexual abuse and malpractices very seriously. That is why the government is currently investigating and, if established, those concerned will be held accountable.' A series of killings, kidnappings, arrests and tortures over the past year have prompted widespread condemnation locally and internationally. Among those killed was Mohamed Ali Kibao, a member of the secretariat of the main opposition party Chadema, who was found beaten and with his face doused with acid in September. In April, Father Charles Kitima, a Catholic priest who is vocal on democratic reforms and rights issues, was brutally attacked near his residence. Earlier this month, the government deregistered a church belonging to Josephat Gwajima, a politician from the ruling party, after he called out illegal detentions and enforced disappearances and announced a prayer campaign to seek divine intervention for Hassan and other national leaders. And last week two men who posted talkshows about democracy and governance on YouTube were arrested for 'improper use of social media'. There is no evidence of Hassan's personal involvement in the incidents, many of which the government has condemned. Nevertheless, opposition politicians and rights campaigners say her administration is overseeing a return to the fear-based tactics of her predecessor, John Magufuli. Earlier this month she warned activists from neighbouring countries against 'trying to destabilise' Tanzania. Maria Sarungi Tsehai, a Tanzanian rights activist, described the targeting of non-Tanzanians as unprecedented and a 'sign of huge panic' on the part of the Hassan administration in the run-up to her first presidential electoral test. 'What we're seeing is a very insecure presidential candidate,' said Tsehai, who lives in self-exile in Nairobi. 'She has to lean more heavily on that security apparatus. And she has decided that she doesn't want to have any free or fair election. She just wants to get her second term. And that decision comes at a very heavy price.' Last year, Tsehai was abducted from the streets of the Kenyan capital by armed men and feared she would become the latest victim of a spate of enforced deportations from Kenya. However, she was released a short time later without crossing the border after news of her kidnapping spread quickly on social media. In the months after Hassan took office following Magufuli's death in 2021, the president gained domestic and international approval for reconciling with the opposition and reversing some of Magufuli's repressive policies. But since then a wave of repression has wiped out hopes of lasting reform. Hassan's CCM party has ruled the country since independence. The opposition and civil society have long called for reform of the constitution, which critics say grants the president and the ruling party excessive powers. Earlier this year, Lissu was arrested and charged with treason and cybercrime offences, and his Chadema party – which had called for a boycott of this year's elections unless electoral reforms were enacted – was disqualified from participating. Mwangi said CCM was acting for self-preservation. 'What Suluhu is trying to do is win an election by any means necessary,' he said. 'She's reading from a dictator's manual [that says] 'brutalise and beat people into submission'.' The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know. If you have something to share on this subject you can contact us confidentially using the following methods. Secure Messaging in the Guardian app The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said. If you don't already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu. Select 'Secure Messaging'. SecureDrop, instant messengers, email, telephone and post See our guide at for alternative methods and the pros and cons of each. Atuhaire – whose work in exposing corruption won her an international women of courage award from the US last year – said her and Mwangi's experience showed the 'level of impunity' in Tanzania. The activists are still nursing injuries on their feet and other parts of their bodies, in addition to having psychological trauma. They said they had decided to speak about their alleged abuse to shine a light on the plight of Tanzanians who had gone through similar experiences. 'There's no level of shame or stigma that is more important than pursuing justice,' Atuhaire said. 'Justice is the driving factor – these people must be held accountable for what they did to us, for what they have done to Tanzanians.'
Globe and Mail
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Globe and Mail
Leader of Tanzania's main opposition party could face death penalty
The security at the court building was extraordinary: a rooftop sniper, police with dogs and tear-gas launchers, vans with darkened windows, and a small army of black-masked guards with armoured jackets and submachine guns. But the defendant in the courtroom is not a dangerous terrorist. He is a politician, a leader of Tanzania's main opposition party who faces a highly organized operation to prevent him from running in this year's election. Tundu Lissu, chairman of the Chadema party, is on trial for treason − a charge that carries the death penalty. His prosecution, protested by human-rights groups around the world, exposes the sharp decline of democracy in a country that Western donors have long favoured with billions of dollars in aid. Mr. Lissu has endured countless arrests and attacks over the past decade. In 2017, gunmen with assault rifles sprayed dozens of bullets at his vehicle, nearly killing him. After three years in exile and a long recovery in hospital from 16 bullet wounds, he returned fearlessly to politics, contesting Tanzania's 2020 election as an opposition candidate and finishing second in official results. This year, Tanzania's authoritarian government seems determined to prevent him from running again. His party has been banned from the October election after authorities accused it of failing to accept an electoral code of conduct. Many of its top officials, along with other activists, have been arrested or harassed in recent weeks. And now, Mr. Lissu faces a potential death sentence. He was arrested in April after he called for reforms in Tanzania's electoral system. 'This is not a normal trial,' the 57-year-old politician told the judge at his latest hearing on Monday. 'I have not been sentenced, yet I am held in the death-row block. I am watched night and day. I cannot speak to my lawyers in private. Not a single private conversation has been allowed.' From 2020: Gunshots and tear gas fail to deter Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu He described how two guards keep him under constant watch, day and night. He is even barred from joining other detainees in the prison's exercise yard. Instead, he is required to walk alone in a dirty drainage-ditch area. Because his conversations with his lawyers are closely monitored, Mr. Lissu told the court that it is impossible for him to discuss strategy with them and he will be obliged to defend himself without any lawyers. Wearing a shirt emblazoned with the opposition slogan – 'No reforms, no election' – he smiled and flashed a victory sign at local reporters. Outside the court, his supporters chanted his name and waved placards demanding justice, but their voices were nearly drowned out by police sirens. Most of his supporters were denied permission to enter the crowded courtroom. A senior Tanzanian official told The Globe and Mail that the government's goal is to keep Mr. Lissu in prison until after the October election, to prevent him from running. After the vote, he will be quietly released, the official said. The Globe is not identifying the official because he could face retribution from the authorities for speaking out. Tanzania has been governed by a single party since its independence in 1961. The ruling party, today known as Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM, the Revolutionary Party), has dominated all aspects of Tanzanian life and rarely tolerates much dissent. Its opponents have accused it of rigging recent elections to deliver huge majorities to CCM. Freedom House, a U.S.-based democracy and rights group, recently announced that it had downgraded Tanzania's status from 'partly free' to 'not free' because of the government's repressive measures. Despite this, Tanzania has remained a Western aid darling, and one of the largest recipients of Canadian foreign aid. Canada has provided $3.4-billion in international assistance to Tanzania since its independence, including $141-million in 2023-24, according to data from Global Affairs Canada. As the election approaches, a growing number of opposition politicians and activists have been kidnapped in what amount to 'enforced disappearances,' according to a report by United Nations human-rights experts. They described it as 'a flagrant tactic to suppress dissent.' In one of the most shocking cases, two activists from Kenya and Uganda who tried to attend Mr. Lissu's treason trial were arrested and disappeared for days. They were later dumped in remote border towns. Both gave detailed accounts of how they were tortured and sexually assaulted by Tanzanian security agents. Even churches have fallen victim to the crackdown. This month, authorities ordered the shutdown of a prominent church and arrested a dozen of its worshippers after its bishop criticized the disappearance of opposition activists. The bishop, Josephat Gwajima, is an outspoken MP who has complained of 'creeping authoritarianism' in the country. Witnesses described how police raided the church, even arresting a disabled woman in a wheelchair, dragging her away and throwing her into a police vehicle. Mr. Gwajima has fled into hiding, leaving a prerecorded sermon in which he says: 'They can shut down the church, but they cannot shut down the people's spirit.' Last Sunday, hundreds of his followers held a defiant outdoor service. 'We are not criminals,' said Rehema Moses, a long-time congregant. 'We are citizens exercising our right to believe.'
Al Arabiya
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Tanzanian Opposition Leader to Represent Himself in Treason Trial
The main opposition leader in Tanzania was granted permission on Monday to represent himself in his treason trial after being denied the right to meet his lawyers in private by prison authorities. Tundu Lissu was arrested on April 9 and charged with treason after addressing a public rally calling for electoral reforms ahead of planned general elections in October. Lissu's Chadema party has been critical of the absence of an independent electoral commission and laws that favor the ruling CCM party, which has been in power since Tanzania's independence in 1961. Lissu survived an assassination attempt after being shot 16 times in 2017, three years before the last election. The opposition leader told the court on Monday that he was being forced to speak to his lawyers through a phone in a small room and was worried that anyone could be listening to or recording the conversations. 'I have more than 30 lawyers who I trust very much. Today is the 68th day since I was arraigned and charged with treason, but my lawyers have been repeatedly denied the right to see me in private,' Lissu said. The chief magistrate at the Kisutu court in Dar es Salaam, Franco Kiswaga, said Lissu would be allowed to engage directly with the prosecution unless he later decides otherwise. He urged the prosecution to speed up investigations and set a hearing date for July 1. Lissu also protested what he called a denial of basic rights, including the right to worship. He said he was being held in a section of the prison designated for inmates sentenced to death, even though he has not been convicted. Human rights activists have accused Tanzania's government, led by President Samia Suluhu Hassan, of heavy-handed tactics against the opposition. The government denies the claims.
