Tanzania’s main opposition party said on Friday that hundreds of people had been killed in protests over elections this week, as the UN secretary-general called for an investigation into allegations of excessive use of force.
The U.N. human rights office said credible reports show at least 10 people have been killed in protests in three cities, the first public estimate of fatalities by an international body since Wednesday’s vote.
The foreign ministers of Britain, Canada and Norway issued a joint statement expressing concern about the situation and urging Tanzanian authorities to act with maximum restraint and respect the rights to assembly and freedom of expression.
Foreign Minister Mahmoud Thabit Kombo told Reuters in some of the government’s first public comments on the unrest that the opposition death toll had been “vastly exaggerated” but that authorities had not yet tallied the number of victims. He denied that security officers had used excessive force.
But the main opposition party, Chadema, said the number of victims was very high.
“Currently, the number of deaths in Dar (es Salaam) is around 350, and in Mwanza more than 200. Added to figures from other places in the country, the total number is around 700,” Chadema spokesman John Kitoka told news agency Agence France-Presse.
“The death toll could be much higher,” he warned, saying killings could occur during the nighttime curfew.
Protesters have taken to the streets since Wednesday, angry over the exclusion of President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s two biggest challengers from the race and what they describe as widespread repression.
Witnesses say police fired tear gas and gunfire to disperse some demonstrations.
Police have imposed a nationwide curfew for the past two nights after government buildings and other buildings were set on fire. Internet access has been disrupted since Wednesday.
In a statement from his spokesman, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for “a thorough and impartial investigation into all allegations of excessive use of force” and lamented the loss of life.
Partial election results released on Thursday and Friday showed Hassan winning an impressive majority across the country, with full results expected in the coming hours.
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