UN 'alarmed' by deadly Tanzania election violence

GENEVA - The United Nations on Friday urged Tanzania's security forces to refrain from using unnecessary force against demonstrators and demanded investigations into election-related violence, after polls descended into deadly chaos.

The main opposition Chadema party told AFP on Friday that "around 700" people had been killed in three days of election protests.

The UN human rights office also said it had received credible reports of deaths in the economic capital Dar es Salaam, in Shinyanga in the northwest, and Morogoro in the east, with security forces firing live ammunition and tear gas to disperse protesters.

"We are alarmed by the deaths and injuries that have occurred in the ongoing election-related protests in Tanzania," office spokesman Seif Magango told reporters in Geneva, speaking from Nairobi.

"We call on the security forces to refrain from using unnecessary or disproportionate force, including lethal weapons, against protesters, and to make every effort to deescalate tensions. Protesters should demonstrate peacefully."

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, whose government is accused of a campaign of repression, had sought to cement her position and silence critics in her party in the virtually uncontested polls, with the main challengers either jailed or barred from standing.

Wednesday's election descended into chaos as huge crowds took to the streets of Dar es Salaam and other cities, attacking police and polling stations, leading to an internet shutdown and curfew.

Magango said the internet appeared to have been widely restricted since Wednesday, without any official reasons being given.

He said the Tanzanian authorities should promptly reinstate access "and facilitate citizens' full enjoyment of their rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly".

"Curtailment of communication will only further undermine public trust in the electoral process," he added.

The spokesman said the electoral campaigns had been "marred" by allegations of arbitrary arrests and detentions of opposition figures, including the opposition Chadema party leader Tundu Lissu, and reported enforced disappearances of people expressing dissenting views.

"All those in arbitrary detention must be immediately and unconditionally released and those held legally must be accorded full due process and fair trial rights," said Magango

"We urge the authorities to ensure prompt, impartial and effective investigations into all cases of election-related violence, and to ensure those responsible are brought to justice."