Tanzania president promises probe into election protest deaths

BBC:

Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan has announced an official investigation the unrest that broke out during election week, following accusations that her government was responsible for violently crushing historic protests.

She was declared the winner of last month’s presidential poll with 98% of the vote – a result the opposition has denounced as a “mockery of democracy.” At least 240 people were charged with treason after the protests.

As well as the commission of inquiry, President Samia has also asked prosecutors to “show leniency” towards those arrested in connection with the violence.

Quoting the Bible, she said: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Her remarks come just days after the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, urged Tanzanian authorities to conduct a full and transparent investigation into reports of killings and other serious human rights violations during and after the 29 October elections.

Hundreds may have died in post-election unrest, according to the opposition. The authorities are yet to release an official death toll.

The violence was shocking for a nation that had cultivated an image of calm, consensus and order for nearly six decades.