Human rights organisation, Amnesty International, has condemned the widespread arrests, torture, killings, and disqualification of opposition candidates ahead of Tanzania’s general elections scheduled for October 29.

The report comes amid incumbent President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s bid for re-election, while her major challengers have been disqualified from the contest.

Amnesty International, in a report published on October 19, said an “unopposed, unchecked, unjust ‘wave of terror’ sweeps” through the country ahead of the elections.

Lamenting a “deepening human rights crisis ahead of its October 2025 general elections,” Amnesty International said, “Authorities have intensified the use of repressive laws to silence dissent, targeting journalists, civil society, human rights defenders, and opposition voices.”

The human rights organisation said that although Tanzania’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had initially confirmed 17 presidential candidates, including Mrs Hassan, the subsequent disqualification of other strong opposition candidates gives the ruling party an edge in the forthcoming election.

“Chadema (Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo, in English, Party for Democracy and Progress), the main opposition party, was disqualified from the elections for refusing to sign the Electoral Code of Conduct,” Amnesty International said.

It added, “ACT Wazalendo’s presidential candidate, Luhaga Mpina, who had defected from the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, was nominated by ACT-Wazalendo as their presidential candidate but was also disqualified by INEC despite court rulings in his favour, paving the way for minimal electoral challenge for the ruling party CCM candidate at the 2025 elections, with the two major contenders disqualified.”

The human rights organisation lamented widespread enforced disappearances, citing cases of opposition party members like Dioniz Kipanya, Deusdedith Soka, and Jacob Mlay, who went missing in the run-up to the general elections.

“Between January 2024 and October 2025, it has documented widespread and systematic violations, including enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, torture, unlawful killings, and severe restrictions on freedoms of movement, expression, and peaceful assembly,” Amnesty International said.

The organisation also urged the African Union and international community to “publicly condemn the increasing repression and human rights violations and abuses in Tanzania, including threats, intimidation, harassment, and attacks against opposition politicians, religious leaders, human rights defenders, activists, non-governmental organisations, media outlets, journalists, and online users.”