{"id":31011,"date":"2026-09-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/csw-yeo.1wp.site\/reports\/general-briefing-tanzania-6916\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T21:45:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T20:45:10","slug":"general-briefing-tanzania-6916","status":"publish","type":"reports","link":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/reports\/general-briefing-tanzania-6916\/","title":{"rendered":"Informe general: Tanzania"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Legal framework<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Both the Tanzanian and Zanzibari constitutions stipulate equality regardless of religion, prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion, and specify freedom of conscience and choice in matters of religion, including the freedom to change one\u2019s faith. The country is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and has ratified the African Charter on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights (ACHPR).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shari\u2019a law applies to all Muslims in Tanzania, and courts can apply it to matters of succession in communities that generally follow shari\u2019a law. Zanzibar is subject to the Tanzanian constitution but has a judicial system that may apply shari\u2019a law in certain cases. Muslims in Zanzibar have the option of bringing cases before an Islamic court. All cases tried in Zanzibar\u2019s courts, apart from those involving shari\u2019a law and constitutional matters, may be appealed at the Union Court of Appeals on the mainland. Zanzibar also has its own president, court system, legislature and penal code. Both penal codes effectively contain blasphemy provisions in all but name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Article 125 of the Tanzanian Penal Code prohibits the intentional destruction, damage or defilement of any place or object of worship. Article 127 forbids the intentional wounding of religious sentiments or insulting of any person\u2019s religion, trespassing in any place of worship \u2018or in any place of sepulchre or in any place set apart for the performance of funeral rites or as a depository for the remains of the dead, or offers any indignity to any human corpse.\u2019 It also prohibits causing a disturbance to people assembled for funerals. These crimes are also articulated in Zanzibar\u2019s Penal Decree Act of 2004, which stipulates a punishment of up to two years imprisonment and\/or a fine (Articles 27 and 117-119).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Article 129 of the Tanzanian Penal Code punishes uttering words, writing words, making gestures or placing objects in front of others with the intention of wounding a person\u2019s religious sentiments with one year in prison. Zanzibar\u2019s code echoes both the stated crimes and the stipulated punishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the mainland all religious organisations are required to register with the Office of the Registrar of Societies, while those in Zanzibar must register with the Office of the Registrar General. Registration must be renewed every five years, and any organisation judged to have violated registration procedures can be fined or even closed down. For example, in July 2024 the Registrar of Societies de-registered the Christian Life Church in Dar es Salaam for allegedly charging members TZS 500,000 (around USD 183) for spiritual services, and for sermons that were deemed contrary to the values, traditions, customs and culture of Tanzania. The church\u2019s Congolese leader left the country soon thereafter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Terrorism-related violations<\/b><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

In 2013 a progressive rise in violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) and religion-related violence came into sharp focus when the beheading of a pastor in the north-west of the country was followed by the bombing of Arusha\u2019s Catholic cathedral. Later that year alleged al Qaeda sympathisers were arrested while undergoing military training in a remote area on the Tanzanian mainland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 15 October 2020 Islamic State (IS) affiliated insurgents based in Mozambique attacked\u202fKitaya and Michenjele villages near the port of Mtwara, killing 25 people, looting, and destroying property.\u202fIn a video released by IS, the attackers were heard speaking in Swahili, Makua \u2013 a dialect spoken in Mozambique and southern border areas of Tanzania \u2013 and Mwani, a Swahili dialect spoken in the Cabo Delgado province of Mozambique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 20 August 2021 Hamza Mohamed, a 33-year-old Dar es Salaam resident, killed three police officers and a security guard in a shootout in which he was also killed. Tanzania\u2019s Director of Criminal Investigations later described the incident as a terrorist attack, adding that the assailant was influenced by online material about al Shabaab (a term which is now also used to refer to the IS insurgency in Mozambique) and IS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September 2021 around 15 IS-Mozambique fighters attacked Mahurunga village in the Mtwara Region, where they looted and burned shops and homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A September 2022 investigation by the Chanzo Initiative<\/a> exposed clandestine efforts to radicalise young Zanzibari men, several of whom subsequently \u2018disappeared\u2019, leaving behind anxious families. One left a letter for his mother stating he had become a jihadi. Others, who had not left, spoke of recruiters frequenting areas where youth gathered to pass the time, attempting to persuade them to join terrorist factions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 16 December 2022, six men accused of being members of a group linked to al Shabaab were each sentenced to 50 years\u2019 imprisonment for terrorism. Three were from the same family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In May 2026, three men from Kenya suspected of attempting to travel to Mozambique to join IS were arrested in Tanzania<\/a> and handed over to Kenya\u2019s Anti-Terrorism Police Unit in Kwale County.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Religion-related violations on the mainland<\/b><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

In the past Tanzania witnessed several instances of religion-related violence targeting both Christians and Muslims. Churches experienced arson attacks, and a Christian teacher was killed by unknown assailants during a prayer meeting in October 2014. On 19 May 2016, three people, including an imam, were killed in an attack on the Masjid Rahmani Mosque in Mwanza carried out by 15 individuals using improvised explosives, machetes and axes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 14 August 2026 the Court of Appeal freed two men<\/a> who had been serving life sentences for the burning down of a church in Bukoba District. The men were accused of setting alight the Tanzanian Assemblies of God Church in Bujugo village on 30 October 2015. The church was destroyed in the fire, and the men were found guilty of conspiracy, arson and malicious damage of property and were sentenced to life imprisonment by the High Court in Bukoba on 13 August 2020. The convictions were quashed by the Court of Appeal, which found \u2018serious flaws\u2019 in the evidence used to convict them. At the time the conviction was seen as a positive step forward for accountability after several serious attacks on religious leaders and places of worship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Religion-related violations in Zanzibar<\/b><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

In Zanzibar members of the Christian community are expected to follow Islamic practices, including Christian schoolgirls, who are obliged to wear the hijab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 16 June 2017, three Christians were arrested for cooking food in a private home in the middle of the day during Ramadan. In March 2024 the Zanzibar Tourism Commission fined the company Organisateur Francophone around USD 500 for allowing tourists to eat in public during Ramadan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christians face restrictions in establishing places of worship, and, in an extra-legal practice, the erection of a church building can be dependent upon permission from the local community, which is rarely granted. Several churches, including some that had obtained all necessary permissions, have faced court cases, with hearings repeatedly postponed. Consequently, meagre church resources are depleted through the continual retention of lawyers from the mainland, since local practitioners refuse to take on such cases due to partisanship or fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In some instances, church buildings have been demolished without notice, as occurred on 7 January 2018 when a bulldozer destroyed a building belonging to the Zanzibar Pentecostal Church of Jesus in Zanzibar Town to make way for a state university to use the land. Churches have also been attacked by mobs, with at least 24 destroyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 24 February 2020 the Calvary Mission Church in Mwamboni was attacked by extremists armed with machetes, hammers and petrol who physically assaulted the wife of the pastor, Philemon Mafilili, before escaping when church members intervened. The assailants returned on 29 February armed with machetes, hammers and knives, and attacked the pastor, injuring him so severely he required hospital treatment. Prior to the assaults, Pastor Mafilili had reportedly been warned by a local official to leave the area as quickly as possible because the Muslim community did not want a church there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deteriorating human rights climate<\/b><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

President Samia Suluhu Hassan took power in March 2021 following the death of President John Magufuli, and initially appeared more progressive than her predecessor. However, her tenure will ultimately be defined by unprecedented repression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In July 2021 senior members of the main opposition Chama Cha Demokrasia Na Maendeleo (Chadema) party, including party chairperson Freeman Mbowe, were arrested in night raids ahead of a public rally for constitutional reforms. The leaders were remanded in custody on terrorism charges. Mr Mbowe and three co-defendants were detained until March 2022, when charges were dropped without explanation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June 2022, 83-year-old Baraka Mohamed Shamte, a veteran party cadre from the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, was abducted and tortured by masked men referred to locally as \u2018zombies\u2019 or \u2018Janjaweed\u2019, days after criticising the president of Zanzibar and being charged with sedition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2023 President Hassan lifted a ban on opposition party rallies imposed by her late predecessor; however, she proceeded to stall on initiating the broader reforms that would underpin democracy, including a new constitution and amendments to the electoral law and media regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2024 over 500 Chadema leaders and supporters were arrested and briefly detained ahead of a 12 August demonstration, inspired by events in neighbouring Kenya in June and July, calling for independent oversight of the country\u2019s local government and general elections. The event was subsequently banned by the police, who claimed it was intended to \u2018breach the peace.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The months leading up to the October 2025 elections saw increasing repression. On 9 April 2025 Tundu Lissu, the Chadema presidential candidate, was arrested after calling for electoral reform, charged with incitement and treason – which carries a death sentence – and held on remand. Days after his arrest, on 12 April 2025, the Elections Director at the Independent National Elections Commission, Ramadhani Kailima, announced that the Chadema Party was barred from participating in elections after failing to sign up to a code of conduct. Later, the second largest opposition party was also barred, ensuring there was no credible opposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reports increased of enforced disappearances, torture and arbitrary arrests and detentions of journalists, activists, opposition leaders and their supporters. Foreign human rights defenders were not exempt: Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi and Ugandan journalist Agather Atuhaire travelled to Tanzania to observe Mr Lissu\u2019s court hearing on 19 May 2025 but were abducted from their hotel rooms<\/a> the day before the hearing took place, subjected to physical and psychological torture and sexual assault, and deposited at the borders of their respective countries on 22 May with transportation money.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The activists were among several abductees to be released with severe injuries. Many remain missing, with some presumed dead. Ally Kibao, 69, a member of the Chadema Party Secretariat who was seized from a bus travelling from Dar es Salaam to Tanga in the north-east by two armed men, was found dead on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam a day later with acid poured on his face to obscure his identity and signs of a severe assault on the rest of his body. The Tanganyika Law Society confirmed 83 abductions since President Hassan came to power in 2021. Fifty-two occurred in October 2025 alone, including the enforced disappearance of former ambassador to Cuba Humphrey Polepole on 6 October, who had resigned from the ruling party and criticised it. The doors of his house had been broken down, and a large pool of blood was found on the floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elections marred by extreme violence<\/b><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Election day on 29 October 2025 saw the largest protests since independence led primarily by Gen Z, to which the government responded with a six-day internet shutdown \u2013 which was later condemned by the African Commission<\/a> as a violation of Article 9 of the ACHPR \u2013 and extraordinary brutality. Police and masked agents attacked protesters on the streets, in house-to-house raids on homes, and even in bars, as videos and pictures emerged of bodies on the streets of towns and cities amid reports of bodies being dumped in secret mass graves to obscure the death toll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 3 November 2025 the president was sworn in at an army base amid tight security, having been declared to have received 97.66% of the vote. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) observation team concluded in its preliminary report that Tanzanians had not been able to \u2018express their democratic will\u2019<\/i>and that the elections \u2018<\/i>fell short\u2019<\/i>of the organisation\u2019s<\/i>\u2018Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections.\u2019 Similar sentiments were eventually expressed by the African Union, whose observers concluded<\/a> that the polls \u2018did not comply with AU principles, normative frameworks, and international obligations and standards for democratic elections.\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crackdown continued with at least 641 individuals charged with treason<\/a> and hundreds more held on charges of armed robbery, arson and destruction of property. Many reportedly showed signs of having been tortured at their respective arraignments. According to local reports, a small cabal surrounding the president oversaw this repression<\/a>, including her son, Abdul Halim Hafidh Ameir, who is implicated<\/a> in enforced disappearances and torture; her private secretary Waziri Salum; Suleiman Abubakar Mombo, head of the intelligence service; and Angela Kizigha, a Member of the East African Legislative Assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investigations into the election violence<\/b><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

In April 2026 the Presidential Commission to Investigate the Events of Violence and Breach of Peace that Occurred During and After the 2025 General Election presented its findings and recommendations during a ceremony with the president in attendance. The commission submitted its full report to the presidential office, which has yet to make the full report public. The commission, which was chaired by former Chief Justice Mohamed Chande Othman, stated<\/a> that a total of 518 people died from \u2018unnatural causes\u2019 during the protests, including 197 who were shot dead. Chairman Othman stated that 21 children were among those killed, acknowledging that the death toll could be higher as some victims had been buried without the authorities being informed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conversely, on 5 November 2025 the main opposition party Chadema claimed to have documented 2,000 deaths, including those of more than 100 party members. The commission alleged that it had documented evidence of a coordinated effort to provoke violence on election day, and called on the government to further create a commission to investigate those matters. The commission also called for the president to heed calls for constitutional reform and pass a new constitution ahead of the 2029 general elections.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A second commission of inquiry, tasked with identifying individuals for accountability, was formally inaugurated on 7 August 2026 and has 150 days to complete its report. The Presidential Commission of Inquiry to Investigate the Perpetrators of Violence and Breach of the Law During and After the October 2025 General Election is chaired by Justice Shaban Ali Lila, a retired Court of Appeal judge, and five other commissioners including two judges from Uganda and Namibia. Part of its work<\/a> is to identify individuals and demonstrate how each participated in planning, financing, coordinating or executing the unrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both commissions of inquiry are mandated by the presidential office and therefore fail on a prima facia assessment to meet independence from state officials who would have had operational decision-making power ahead of and during the election violence. These investigations fall short of an international independent investigation that has been called for by human rights organisations and international observers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Action towards accountability has also been taken at the international level. On 13 November 2025 a petition was filed before the International Criminal Court (ICC) accusing Tanzanian security forces<\/a> of having \u2018murdered thousands of civilians, subjected hundreds to enforced disappearance, tortured thousands in detention facilities, committed sexual violence against detainees, forcibly displaced tens of thousands of indigenous Maasais, and employed cyber-enabled repression affecting millions.\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 17 June 2026 the United States (US) Senate Foreign Relations Committee advanced a bipartisan bill by consensus requiring a comprehensive review of the US\u2019 security, economic and diplomatic engagement with Tanzania, and authorising visa bans and asset-blocking sanctions against individuals responsible for gross human rights violations. The US also imposed a travel ban on Senior Assistant Commissioner Faustine Mafwele over his alleged role in the detention, torture and sexual assault of Agather Atuhaire and Boniface Mwangi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) placed Tanzania on its formal watch list and probation and, during its 73rd <\/sup>extraordinary session<\/a> on 10 July 2026, directed the government resolve the detention of Tundu Lissu and release all individuals held for peacefully exercising their rights within 30 days, to restore access to digital platforms and end the harassment of media free-expression advocates within 60 days, and to convene an inclusive, credible inter-party forum \u2018with neutral facilitation, with a mandate covering electoral-framework reform, political competition, detainees and accountability\u2019 within 90 days. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Catholic Bishops call for truth and reconciliation<\/b><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

On 15 November 2025 a statement<\/a> was released by 41 Catholic Bishops of the Tanzanian Episcopal Conference (TEC) condemning the electoral violence and calling for an independent unbiased investigation, while Catholic networks began gathering documentation for submission to the ICC\u2019s preliminary inquiry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 10 August 2026 the TEC met with President Samia Suluhu Hassan, presented a document and called for the institution of a truth and reconciliation process that was not an exercise based on political agreement but to restore fundamental breaches in the nation during the elections. In the video statement, TEC Secretary General Father Charles Kitima reaffirmed the conference\u2019s calls for truth and reconciliation<\/a> and stated: \u2018By acknowledging the truth, asking for forgiveness, and committing to justice, Tanzania can heal and move forward as a united nation. Tanzanians are peaceful, patient, and understanding people who deserve truth, justice, and lasting peace.\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Penalising church involvement in national affairs<\/b><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Christian religious leaders were targeted specifically in the lead up to the elections, as the government attempted to prevent clergy from speaking on significant national concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 15 February 2021 Bishop Emmaus Mwamakula of the Moravian Renewal Church was arrested and held for seven days. The bishop, who was part of Tundu Lissu\u2019s presidential campaign team in 2020, was detained the day before the commencement of demonstrations he had organised to call for an independent electoral commission and new constitution. He was interrogated over social media postsm his home was searched, and he was eventually released on police bond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 30 April 2025 Father Charles Kitima, the TEC\u2019s secretary general and a vocal critic of the deteriorating human rights climate, was brutally attacked and hospitalised with serious head injuries. The authorities falsely claimed he had been drunk, a claim which the church refuted<\/a>. In December 2025, amid the growing post-electoral repression, Fr Kitima expressed that he was in fear for his life<\/a> and was being hunted, highlighting that \u2018they had already come\u2019 to his residence to kill him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 2 June 2025 the Registrar of Societies revoked the registration of the Glory of Christ Tanzania Church less than 24 hours after its founder and leader, Bishop Josephat Gwajima, Member of Parliament for Kawe who belongs to the ruling party, announced a seven-day prayer campaign for justice and peace, repeating earlier condemnations of the abductions and enforced disappearances plaguing the country that had elicited a warning from the president about the \u2018Gwajimanisation\u2019 of the party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pastor Elias Samweli Domisiani of the Highway of Holiness Church in Morogoro was reportedly abducted on 4 October 2025 after being lured to a meeting by a person posing as a solar panel supplier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Father Camillus Aroni Nikata of the Archdiocese of Songea, a lecturer in the Department of Public Communication at St. Augustine University of Tanzania (SAUT) in Mwanza and founder of Radio Maria Tanzania, went missing during a retreat on 7 October 2025. Ten days later, police announced that he had been found alive but extremely weak and needing a wheelchair. Earlier, Father Nikata had described the electoral process as unfair and condemned abductions and enforced disappearances. However, the police claimed his disappearance was due to financial strain and a relationship breakdown \u2013 a narrative that was disputed, given his poor physical condition upon being found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pastor Eleth Mtaita of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT) in Babati District was arrested on 24 October 2025, allegedly for telling church members not to take part in the elections, which was deemed \u2018incitement\u2019. Eyewitnesses said that armed men had stormed his house and taken him away in a vehicle without licence plates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Press freedom<\/b><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

In August 2026 the Information Services Department suspended the publishing licence<\/a> of a weekly paper for six months, accusing it of breaching the country\u2019s media law. The Mwanahalisi Newspaper published a story alleging the vice president Emmanuel Nchimbi and the ruling party was resisting pressure to resign. The paper, which is critical of the government, was notified of its suspension, which affects both its online and print publications, on 19 August. Less than a week later, on 25 August, the vice-president issued a public notice notifying the president of his decision to resign<\/a> effective from 4 September. However, despite expressing thanks to the president and ruling party for the trust they had placed in him, the party\u2019s National Executive Committee later voted unanimously to expel him<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Violations of indigenous rights<\/b><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

On 6 June 2022, and without consultation, the government announced it was designating 1,500km2<\/sup> of land in Liliondo, Ngorongoro District as a game reserve. The authorities subsequently set about preventing the primarily pastoral Maasai residents from living on, grazing cattle on, or seeking water in the demarcated area, comprehensively violating their rights and using such tactics as sexual and physical assault, extrajudicial killing, forcible eviction and cattle theft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the next two years the government also suspended all social services in Ngorongoro, including healthcare and education, to pressure the Maasai to leave their land. As local and general elections loomed, the authorities effectively disenfranchised the community by removing the Maasai area from the list of polling centres used in voter registration updates. The government eventually conceded following five days of protest by the Maasai in August 2024, restoring their water, education, healthcare services, freedom of movement and their ability to vote in upcoming elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recommendations<\/b><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

To the government of Tanzania:<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n