CNN has uncovered evidence of police firing on unarmed demonstrators and indications of mass graves in Tanzania following last month’s disputed presidential election, raising serious questions about the scale of post-election violence in one of East Africa’s most stable democracies.
A CNN investigation drawing on geolocated video analysis, audio forensic review, satellite imagery, and eyewitness testimony shows security forces and armed men patrolling the streets and shooting protesters, many of whom appeared to be holding nothing more than sticks and stones. President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who claimed a 98 percent victory in the 29 October poll after blocking rival candidates from running, faced immediate unrest as crowds poured into the streets calling the election illegitimate.
Authorities introduced a nationwide curfew and triggered an internet blackout, and even after partial connectivity returned, police warned citizens not to share images that could “cause panic.” Government officials initially denied any killings had taken place. Last week the president acknowledged fatalities but did not provide figures, and neither the government nor the police responded to CNN’s requests for comment.
Human rights bodies, including the United Nations Human Rights Office, say hundreds of civilians may have been killed, although the true number remains unclear. Witnesses and medical staff interviewed by CNN described morgues overwhelmed with bodies as casualties mounted in multiple regions.
At Mwananyamala Hospital in Dar es Salaam, a video verified by CNN shows dozens of bodies covering the morgue floor. Tanzania’s Ministry of Health dismissed the footage as fake on social media but did not reply to detailed questions from CNN. In Mwanza, images and videos show at least ten bodies piled on a stretcher outside the Sekou Toure Regional Referral Hospital after the morgue was filled.
One doctor in Mwanza who treated victims over four days said security forces delivered the bodies until there was no more space, after which corpses were “piled” outdoors. Many of the victims were young men with severe gunshot wounds to the head, chest, abdomen, and limbs.
CNN also interviewed a woman who said she recognised the body of her brother in the morgue footage. She told CNN the family had searched every mortuary in the city since 1 November without success until seeing the video circulate online.
Multiple videos reviewed by CNN document shootings in Arusha, including the killing of a pregnant woman who was running away and a young man who was shot in the head. Forensic audio specialist Professor Rob Maher of Montana State University analysed the sound profile in footage of the pregnant woman being hit. He calculated that the shooter was approximately 112 metres from the person filming, consistent with the position of police visible at the top of the road.
Another video shows the young man wearing a red shirt collapsing from a bullet wound while unarmed, having previously been seen holding a stone. A witness to both killings said the protest had been peaceful until police began firing. The witness told CNN, “Someone’s mother died while I and others watched.”
In Dar es Salaam, further footage shows men in plain clothing believed by locals to be police, disembarking from white pick up trucks and opening fire in residential streets. Drone videos from the Segerea area show demonstrators fleeing into yards as armed men pursue them.
The violence is alleged to have followed protesters home. Viral Scout Management, a Tanzanian sports consultancy, reported seven young football players under contract were shot and killed in their houses. Families say the bodies of some of the victims remain missing.
Allegations of secret burials have intensified. Chadema, the main opposition party, accuses officers of disposing of hundreds of bodies in undisclosed sites. CNN obtained satellite imagery from Planet Labs and Vantor showing recently disturbed ground consistent with mass graves at Kondo cemetery in Kunduchi, north of Dar es Salaam. Sentinel 2 data indicates the digging occurred between 2 and 5 November.
A video filmed at the site shows patches of freshly overturned soil weaving through vegetation, with what appear to be tree roots and pieces of fabric visible on the surface. Human rights organisations and witnesses told CNN that protesters killed in the crackdown were buried there.
The post-election violence has damaged Tanzania’s longstanding reputation as a peaceful democracy and major tourist destination. As the government launches a commission of inquiry, human rights groups and families of victims are demanding accountability and the release of accurate casualty figures.
The original article was posted here by Gianluca Mezzofiore, Larry Madowo, and Florence Davey-Attlee.
