Tanzania’s Catholic Bishops Condemn Election-Related “brutal, inhumane killings,” Demand Justice for Victims

They express their awareness of the election-related atrocities, saying, “These families are in deep pain – especially those who witnessed their relatives being killed and their bodies left outside and who were denied permission to collect them for proper care or burial.”

“We continue praying that the injured may recover quickly and return to their duties and families. We also pray for inner healing for all those affected spiritually, psychologically, and economically,” the Catholic Church leaders say.

In their nine-page collective statement, TEC members say they have reflected on and closely monitored the situation in the East African nation before, during, and after the election, noting that the country is now engulfed by “complaints and dissatisfaction.”

The citizens’ complaints and expressions of dissatisfaction, they lament, “have divided Tanzanians, who were once praised as an island of peace and stability.”

“Deliberate efforts are required to bring the nation back together and to heal the pain in the families that have lost loved ones—and in all of us,” the Catholic Church leaders in Tanzania say.

Emphasizing that “not every demonstration is a crime,” they lament the use of excessive force against demonstrators on election day. TEC members say, “It is saddening to see that all demonstrators who came out on election day were placed under the umbrella of criminality.”

“Demonstrating is a citizen’s right as a way of delivering a message or expressing grievances when dialogue has failed. What is important is that the demonstrations be peaceful. The Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania ‘recognizes the right to peaceful assembly,’” they state in their November 15 statement.

Demonstrations reportedly spread across Tanzania for several days from October 29, the day of the poll. Citizens took to the streets to protest an election that, according to foreign observers, fell short of democratic standards after key opposition figures were barred from participating.

At least 240 people were reportedly charged with treason in connection with the deadly protests, while human rights groups have alleged that thousands were killed in the election-related violence, and lamented that some victims may have been buried in secret mass graves.

In the November 15 collective statement, Tanzania’s Catholic Bishops link the poll-related demonstrations to the absence of adequate channels for citizens to express their grievances, rising insecurity, and a lack of genuine democracy in the process of choosing leaders.

They lament, “There have been clear incidents of killings, abductions, beatings, and injuries inflicted upon citizens without a firm intention to end these evils, which contradict Article 14 of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, ‘Every person has the right to live and to the protection of his life by the society in accordance with the law.’”

“Elections lack fair competition, truth, transparency, freedom, and credibility,” the Catholic Church leaders lament, and observe that the “lack of genuine democracy in the process of selecting leaders” has been “a long-standing cry of our Nation and has never been resolved since 2016.”

TEC members say that they have “discerned that citizens’ anger has also been fuelled by the absence of a place where citizens can submit complaints and have violations of their fundamental rights addressed, because some institutions are interfered with.”

In their statement, they recall a gap in unrestricted access to medical care for the injured, noting that “denying the injured the right to receive medical care is evil, as it violates the right to health services and contradicts medical ethics.”

“The purpose of medicine is to preserve life, which is a gift from God and a right of every human being,” the Catholic Church leaders say.

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They also express concern over the missing remains of some of those who were killed during the election-related demonstrations. TEC members say, “It is heartbreaking that some people who wanted to bury their loved ones could not find their bodies. We ask, as other stakeholders have already requested, that it would be wise and humane to return the bodies of loved ones to their families so they may be laid to rest with dignity according to their religious beliefs, customs, traditions, and culture.”

For TEC members, the beginning of healing for the East African nation would require the country’s leadership to own up to their mistakes and “acknowledge the truth that those who were killed are our brothers and sisters.”

“Citizens are angered by seeing no one taking responsibility for the evils committed against them,” they say, and call for accountability on the perpetrators of the reported extrajudicial killings.

“The heads of security organs and all those involved in the killings must take responsibility or be held accountable by their appointing authorities,” the Catholic Church leaders in Tanzania demand, and call for an independent investigation that includes both internal and external stakeholders as another important step in ensuring justice, truth, and healing.

TEC members want evidence-based input coming “from an independent commission not aligned with any side, such as international organizations, religious institutions, civil society organizations, human rights experts, and democracy specialists, and that the government be ready to receive and act upon the report they will provide.”

They also urge “unconditional” release of “all who were arrested unjustly before and after the election and detained or held in unknown locations” and emphasize the importance of leaders “to live lives of integrity, transparency, truthfulness, and accountability to build foundations of mutual trust.”

Following the disputed October 29 presidential election, the incumbent, President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who was declared the winner on November 1 with 97.66% of the vote, was sworn in for a second term on November 3 amid tight security.

A BBC report says the inauguration ceremony, which took place after “an election marred by violent protests and rejected by the opposition as a sham,” was “held at a military parade ground in the capital, Dodoma, instead of a stadium as it happened in previous years.”

According to the November 3 BBC report, authorities in the East African nation have sought to downplay the scale of the violence, and the nationwide internet shutdown, which made it difficult “to obtain information from the country or verify the death toll.”

In their November 15 statement, TEC members also weigh in on the calls for a new constitutional dispensation in the East African country, describing the issue as one that has been “a long-standing cry in our country.”

They demand for “the process of establishing a new constitution that respects human dignity, equality, justice, and truth for all should begin, involving all stakeholders—so that we do not return to conflict and so that the country may be governed by the rule of law.”

“Let us remember that bullets have never silenced people; deaths only inspire more deaths. Those entrusted with leading us must use wisdom and take time to so that we may have a new beginning,” TEC members say.

They call upon the people of God in Tanzania “to continue praying and placing all these matters in God’s hands. Let us continue praying for justice, truth, peace, and healing so that Tanzania may once again be united.”