Tanzania: submission to the 53rd session of the Universal Periodic Review

Introduction

1. CSW UK (Christian Solidarity Worldwide, UK) is a human rights organisation specialising in the right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB). CSW Nigeria advocates for FoRB in Nigeria by documenting human rights violations, capacity building, and providing emergency assistance and psychosocial support for survivors.

2. This submission seeks to draw the Council’s attention to human rights violations in the United Republic of Tanzania ahead of the state’s fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR).

3.During its third UPR cycle, Tanzania received one recommendation pertaining to the protection of religious minorities. The recommendation, from Italy, called on the state to ensure that the right to freedom of expression is duly respected, and ‘intensify efforts to protect the rights of persons belonging to religious minorities.’[1] Tanzania noted this recommendation, but supported another from Montenegro to ‘adopt a national strategy and action plan for the prevention of radicalization and violent extremism.[2]

4. Regarding freedom of expression, Tanzaniasupported 11 recommendations. Several related to creating an enabling environment for political parties and civil society[3], including a recommendation from the Republic of Korea to ‘create and maintain a safe and conducive environment where all political parties and civil society organizations can exercise their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of political participation without fear of reprisal’.[4] Notably Tanzania also agreed to release ‘political activists, lawyers and journalists detained on abstract grounds’.[5] However, the state noted almost all recommendations calling for specific legislative changes aimed at upholding freedom of expression, with one recommendation from Czechia to ensure ‘full compliance of the Media Service Bill of 2015 with the right to freedom of expression and [implement] the necessary legislative changes’ being the sole exception.[6]

5. Tanzania supported recommendations pertaining to free and fair elections as well as ‘reforming election observation and voter education programmes and by preventing political violence’[7] and to take steps to promptly and effectively investigated and provide information on cases of arbitrary arrest and detention of political opponents, activists, protestors and dissenting journalists.[8]Despite these commitments made during the third UPR cycle, the country witnessed widespread repression leading up to, during and after the October 2025 elections, including worrying levels of enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, torture and extrajudicial killing of political actors, activists, journalists and unarmed protesters.

6. While Tanzania noted six recommendations to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (CED), and noted 21 recommendations to ratify the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) during the previous UPR, support was paradoxically given to broader recommendations calling on the state to combat impunity for forced disappearance[9], protect journalists and the media from enforced disappearances[10], and to take steps towards/strengthen efforts/consider the ratification of CAT and ‘strengthen the fight against torture and ill-treatment’[11]The lack of implementation of these supported recommendations, including progress towards the ratification of CAT and CED and protections for civilians and members of the political opposition, who have been so brutally targeted in recent years remains deeply concerning.

To read the full submission, you can download the pdf here.

[1] United Nations, ‘Report of the Working Group of the Universal Periodic Review: United Republic of Tanzania’, A/HRC/49/13, 29 December 2021, https://docs.un.org/en/A/HRC/49/13, Recommendation 147.90

[2] Ibid; United Nations, ‘Views on conclusions and/or recommendations, voluntary commitments and replies presented by the State under review’, , A/HRC/DEC/49/13/Add.1, 29 March 2022, https://docs.un.org/en/A/HRC/DEC/49/108, Recommendation 145.28

[3] Ibid, Recommendations 147.105; 147.101; 147.102

[4] Ibid, Recommendations 147.105; 147.101; 147.103;147.89

[5] Ibid, Recommendations 147.69; 147.86

[6] Ibid, Recommendation 147.85

[7] Ibid, Recommendations147.106; 147.107

[8] Ibid, Recommendation 147.69

[9] Ibid, Recommendation 147.67

[10] Ibid, Recommendation 147.83

[11] Ibid, Recommendations 147.68; 147.28; 147.21; 147.24; 147.20