A Tanzanian doctor has reported hundreds of corpses being taken from the hospital where he works, appearing to corroborate accusations from Western officials and the UN that the government removed the bodies of those killed during protests following the presidential election at the end of October.
Days of violent protests followed the election on 29 October as opponents claimed Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan had rigged the polls to win 98 percent of the vote, and had orchestrated a campaign of murders and abduction of critics.
The opposition says more than 1,000 people were killed as security forces cracked down on protests with an alleged "shoot-to-kill" policy.
The government has not given a death toll.
The UN human rights office, Ohchr, noted "chilling reports on the disappearance of victims’ bodies from morgues, and allegations that human remains are being incinerated or buried in unidentified mass graves", possibly to conceal evidence.
A senior doctor at one of the biggest hospitals in Dar es Salaam appeared to corroborate the accusation when he told the AFP news agency that during a shift on 1 November more than 200 patients were "taken away while receiving treatment" by men who were "not uniformed" and arrived in "green trucks resembling military vehicles".
"They even took dead bodies from the morgue," the doctor said.
"The morgue was at full capacity, with some bodies left lying on the floor," and a morgue attendant told him that "more than 300 bodies" were removed.
The doctor spoke on condition of anonymity, out of fear of reprisal. "We were told not to say anything," he said.
It was not clear where the patients and bodies were taken, but there are persistent reports of mass graves being used to hide the scale of the killings.
"Five weeks after the election, the authorities have still not disclosed information on the number of people killed and the circumstances of their deaths, and on reports of enforced disappearances," the UN rights experts said.
"Family members who identified remains were reportedly forced to sign false statements about the cause of death to receive the bodies."
Internet cut
A group of Western embassies, including France, issued a joint statement on Friday citing "credible reports from domestic and international organizations show evidence of extrajudicial killings, disappearances, arbitrary arrests, and concealment of dead bodies".
The representatives called for the Tanzanian authorities to "urgently release all the bodies of the dead to their families".
The doctor said that family members are still trying to claim their relatives’ bodies, weeks later, "but they are now being threatened with arrest if they do so".
Tanzanian authorities cut the internet for five days during the unrest to prevent images and reports of the violence from getting out, and threatening people who shared the information.
The crackdown has not stopped, with hundreds arrested over the last month and charged with treason, which carries the death penalty.
In a speech last week, President Hassan said the force used was not excessive and accused Westerners who criticised the crackdown of being "colonisers".
Anger over the crackdown has led to calls for more demonstrations on Tuesday, Tanzania's independence day. Police have banned any demonstrations.
(with AFP)
