Tanzania: Urgent Appeal for Protection of Human Rights Defenders
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership between the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), is appealing for urgent action to protect a team of staff from the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) in Tanzania. The LHRC, a member organization of FIDH, has been subjected to acts of harassment and intimidation by the police, which the Observatory strongly condemns.
On November 12, 2025, around 9 p.m., the White Sands Hotel in Dar-es-Salaam, where the LHRC staff were engaged in routine human rights activities, was surrounded by police officers. The team was specifically targeted and subjected to harassment and intimidation. Their equipment, including laptops, identification cards, and mobile phones, was confiscated, and they were instructed to report to the Zonal Crimes Office (ZCO) for interviews and further investigation the next morning.
Despite the informal nature of the interviews on November 13, 2025, all devices were returned without any conditions. However, the LHRC cannot confirm the security and integrity of the returned laptops and phones.
This incident occurred amidst a broader context of human rights violations in Tanzania. The Tanzania Police Force has been associated with the unnecessary and excessive use of force and intimidation against civilians during the general elections on October 29, 2025. According to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, hundreds of protesters were killed, and others were injured or arbitrarily detained, including human rights defenders.
In June 2025, Kenyan and Ugandan human rights defenders Boniface Mwangi and Agather Atuhaire were subjected to enforced disappearance and acts of torture at the Serena Hotel in Dar-es-Salaam, highlighting a pattern of transnational repression against activists in the region.
The Observatory calls on the Tanzanian authorities to guarantee the physical integrity and psychological well-being of LHRC staff and all human rights defenders in the country. They should create a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders to exercise their fundamental rights, such as freedom of association, in accordance with Article 20 of the Tanzanian Constitution, Article 10 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, and Article 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Human rights defenders should be able to carry out their activities effectively and independently without fear of reprisals, including judicial harassment.
The Observatory urges you to take action by writing to the Tanzanian authorities, requesting them to:
1. Guarantee the physical integrity and psychological well-being of LHRC staff and all human rights defenders.
2. Ensure that human rights defenders can carry out their activities without fear of reprisals and undue restrictions, including enforced disappearance, torture, or other arbitrary sanctions.
Addresses:
- President of Tanzania, Hon. Samia Suluhu Hassan (ikulu@ikulu.go.tz)
- Prime Minister of Tanzania, Dr. Mwigulu Lameck Nchemba (ps@pmo.go.tz)
- Embassy of Tanzania in Brussels, Belgium (tanzania@skynet.be)
- Permanent Representative of the United Republic of Tanzania to the United Nations, Geneva, and Vienna (mission.tanzania@ties.itu.int)
Please also reach out to the diplomatic representations of Tanzania in your respective countries.
Paris-Geneva, 18 November 2025
Please quote the code of this appeal in your response and inform us of any actions taken.
