Pallade Veneta - A year on, Tanzanians mourn election massacres in 'state of terror'

The October 29 election, in which President Samia Suluhu Hassan won with 98 percent of the vote after most of the opposition was excluded, triggered days of protests that security forces brutally suppressed.

Rights groups and the opposition say thousands were killed, while a government-appointed commission put the death toll at 518.

For 61-year-old Twaha Bomeza, life changed on election day when shrapnel lodged in his eye during a shootout to disperse protesters, leaving him in need of surgery he cannot afford.

"I tried to save myself, but I was shot. I fell down here and lost four front teeth," Bomeza told AFP on the streets of the economic capital, Dar es Salaam, displaying his dentures.

"I am still nursing an internal wound in my eyes," he said, adding that he now experiences shortness of breath and constant headaches.

"My blood was spilled here, but a year has passed, and there is no more blood here," he added.

The Catholic Church held masses on Thursday to honour the victims, while the main opposition party, Chadema, announced a seven-day mourning period.

"Tanzania has become a dictatorship -- an authoritarian state that neither upholds the rule of law nor guarantees human rights," Chadema said in a statement.

The streets of Dar es Salaam were quiet with a heavy police presence.

"I feel sad today... As a nation, we need to learn that dialogue and negotiations are better than using massive force," churchgoer Noela Kigosi told AFP at one of the religious services.

Tanzania has faced criticism from its Western partners over the killings, and the US ambassador warned on Thursday that they "will not be swept under the rug" in a post on X.

President Hassan, who was in Moscow this week for a Russia-Africa summit, has responded by trying to build closer ties with Moscow.

- 'State of terror' -

Tanzania is "tense", multiple analysts told AFP, with arbitrary arrests on the rise.

Another potential flashpoint is the treason trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu, whose verdict is due on November 6.

Lissu, who began a hunger strike this week to demand access to his lawyer, was arrested ahead of the election for championing a "no reform, no election" campaign.

"The country is not only in a mourning mood but also in a state of terror. We live in paranoia," rights activist Tito Magoti said.

Over the past week, another opposition official, John Pambalu, was charged with treason, while a Tanzanian dissident, Twaha Mwaipaya, was abducted in Kenya and remains missing.

"The state is very nervous and they're ready to use a heavy-handed approach," Anna Bwana, director of civil society group Twaweza East Africa, told AFP.

"If you commemorate, then you're acknowledging what happened and you're acknowledging the numbers of those who lost their lives. And how can you commemorate when you're still kidnapping others," she said, adding that many had still not been able to bury their loved ones.

Fulgence Massawe, of the Legal and Human Rights Centre, said it was representing around 56 people facing terrorism-related charges as the state was trying to "silence all critics".

- 'Deny and delete' -

Tanzania formed a presidential commission to investigate the election violence.

But critics say it was established in "bad faith" to help the government "clean Tanzania's image" internationally.

"The state is trying to deny and delete the history of their complicity in the massacre that they conducted last year," Magoti said.

Amnesty International has criticised Tanzania for failing to hold those responsible to account, saying it was "weaponising counterterrorism laws to silence critics and instil fear" instead.

Even if the state is suppressing the commemorations, many carry visible reminders.

Joseph Zakayo, 37, shows off a huge scar in his thigh where he was shot during the unrest. He can no longer operate his motorcycle taxi business.

"My life has taken a major step backwards," he said.

E.M.Filippelli--PV