Sawt Falasteen - Freed Tanzanian opposition leaders 'beaten' during mass arrests

Chadema chairman Freeman Mbowe and his deputy Tundu Lissu -- both former presidential candidates -- and other senior officials were freed on bail Tuesday following their arrests ahead of Monday's planned youth event in the southwestern city of Mbeya.

But Lissu, along with Chadema secretary general John Mnyika and the head of the party in the southern Nyasa region Joseph Mbilinyi, were "seriously beaten during the arrest", the party's deputy secretary general Benson Kigaila said.

Lissu, who survived an assassination bid in 2017 and had previously lived in exile for several years, "was dragged by the officers before he was thrown to the vehicle", Kigaila told reporters.

The detained opposition leaders had been escorted from Mbeya to Dar es Salaam where they were released on Tuesday, Kigaila said.

"After their release this morning, they individually went to hospital and we will give their health status in future," he added.

As many as 520 people were arrested across the country, according to a police statement, before the Chadema youth wing's rally that had been expected to draw thousands of young people.

Rights groups and government opponents have raised fears the arrests could signal a return to the authoritarian policies of Tanzania's late president John Magufuli, who died suddenly in March 2021.

His successor President Samia Suluhu Hassan had vowed a return to "competitive politics" and eased some restrictions on the opposition and the media, including lifting a six-year ban on opposition gatherings.

- 'Strict action' -

Awadh Haji, police chief of operations and training, confirmed the Chadema releases but warned that police would "take strict legal action against any individual or group involved in disrupting peace".

Officers will continue to closely monitor the situation, he said, and will "strengthen security in the city of Mbeya and all other regions of Tanzania to prevent any planned acts of violence".

Mbowe, 62, was detained on Monday at the airport in Mbeya, the day after several other leaders including Lissu were detained.

Hundreds of youth supporters were also rounded up by police as they travelled into the city, according to the party. About 10,000 had been expected to meet in Mbeya to mark International Youth Day.

But police accused Chadema of planning violent demonstrations and made reference to widespread anti-government protests in neighbouring Kenya, led largely by young activists.

- 'Deeply worrying sign' -

Rights groups and government opponents voiced alarm at the developments as Tanzania gears up for local and national elections.

"The mass arrests and arbitrary detention of figures from the Chadema party, as well as their supporters and journalists, is a deeply worrying sign in the run-up to local government elections in December 2024 and the 2025 general election," Amnesty International said in a statement.

"The Tanzanian authorities must urgently respect people's rights to freedom of expression and association."

Tanzania's Legal and Human Rights Centre also denounced the arrests, noting that the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and another opposition party ACT Wazalendo had been able to hold youth day rallies at the weekend without any issues.

Lissu, 56, a fierce critic of the CCM, has been arrested multiple times in the past and survived an assassination attempt in 2017.

He returned to Tanzania in 2023 after Hassan lifted the ban on opposition rallies. He had spent the previous five years largely in exile in Belgium, returning only briefly to run for the presidency in 2020.

Mbowe was also previously arrested in July 2021 ahead of a Chadema meeting to demand constitutional reforms but was freed the following March after prosecutors dropped terrorism charges against him.

L.Hussein--SF-PST