One year after Tanzania’s contested 2025 elections, authorities have yet to make any arrests for human rights violations committed before and during the vote.

In the months leading up to the elections, the government intensified its repression of the political opposition, government critics, and the media. Authorities also failed to account for a spate of apparent enforced disappearances, including that of former Tanzanian ambassador to Cuba Humphrey Polepole , who was reported missing just weeks before the elections. Polepole had publicly criticized the ruling party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi, for not being “aligned with safeguarding human rights, peace, and respect for people.” His whereabouts remain unknown.

On and after election day, police and people in plainclothes killed hundreds of protesters and bystanders in response to widespread protests and while enforcing a five-day nationwide lockdown.…