Tanzania charges hundreds of people with treason after protests over disputed election

A Tanzanian court charged more than 200 people with treason Friday following election protests that turned violent, as rights groups condemned what they said was the killing of civilians.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan won the October 29 poll with over 97 percent of the vote, according to the electoral commission, but the opposition, which was barred from participating, has branded the election a "sham".

Violent protests broke out across the east African country on election day, with sources indicating hundreds – if not thousands – may have been killed. At the same time, a six-day internet shutdown hampered the release of verified information.

On Friday, hundreds of people appeared in court in the economic capital Dar es Salaam.

"All of these ladies and gentlemen, numbering more than 250 in total, were arraigned in three separate cases... and they're all charged with two sets of offences," lawyer Peter Kibatala said on Friday.

"The first set of a sense of offence is a conspiracy to commit treason. And the second set of offences is treason itself," he said.

Judicial sources in the court said they knew of at least 240 people charged.

Watch moreHRW fears over 1,000 people killed in Tanzania post-election crackdown

A charge sheet seen by AFP accused them of having "the intention to obstruct" the election and intimidate the executive by causing serious damage to government property.

"Some of them they have been beaten, they are sick, they have not received any medical treatment," Paul Kisabo, a lawyer with the Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition, said after seeing the accused in court.

He said that because treason was a non-bailable offence, they would remain in detention until their next hearing.

Opposition party Chadema has said that at least 800 people were killed in election violence. Diplomatic and security sources backed that estimate, adding there were reports the numbers could reach thousands.

The authorities have so far declined to release any toll for dead or injured.

Police said late Friday that they were looking for opposition party leaders – including secretary general John Mnyika, his deputy Amani Golugwa, and spokesperson Brenda Rupia – in connection with the violence.

"Following our investigations and evidence we gathered, we are looking for these 10 people to arrest them. We call on them to surrender to the police immediately," Tanzania police spokesperson David Misime said in a statement.

'So many bodies'

In a joint statement with six other NGOs on Friday, the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) said there was "excessive use of force" against unarmed demonstrators, including reprisal killings of civilians, some in their own homes.

"Families have been left traumatised, and children have witnessed violence against their parents," it added.

Young people in particular had been targeted, "often caught unaware", said the statement.

Hundreds of people had been arrested and some were still being held without bail, it added.

The "extent of human rights abuses is yet to be fully uncovered", the LHRC statement warned, criticising the internet shutdown and media restrictions.

Read moreHow Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan went from reform to repression

Amos Ntobi, secretary with the opposition Chadema party, said he estimated hundreds had died in his northern Mwanza region alone.

"We saw people being shot in broad daylight. There were bodies all over the streets – some people were killed instantly, others left badly wounded," he said.

"There are so many bodies in the hospitals."

Ntobi said he had attended at least nine funerals, two for children aged nine and 11 – one shot near his home, the other while returning from a shop.

Most of the adult victims had either died of gunshot wounds, or had been "beaten to death".

He also said some local party leaders remained unaccounted for.

'Compromised' poll

In the run-up to the election, authorities swept the board of any opposition either by jailing them or barring them from running.

In an initial report African election observers said Tanzanians had been unable to "express their democratic will" thanks to the barring of opposition candidates, censorship and intimidation, as well as signs of rigging on election day.

African Union election observers also said the poll was "compromised".

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP)