Clinical psychologist Nancy Papathanasiou has been empowering LGBTQIA+ communities in Greece for close to 20 years, bringing people together, ensuring their stories are heard and campaigning for important changes to legislation.  

In this story, Nancy shares their perspective on the importance of safety, support and why the LGBTQIA+ community should never settle for less than what they need… 

I am a clinical psychologist and my “official” relationship with LGBTQIA+ communities started in 2007 through OLKE (Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece), after I came out myself in 2002.  

While I said that I “officially” came out in 2002, the concept of coming out is multi-layered. People do many coming outs. Coming out to one’s parents is very significant even when one knows that their parents are generally accepting. I came out to my mother in 2002; however, I came out to myself and a group of close friends much earlier, in my adolescence, in 1993. Another coming out happened in 2007, another one in 2009 and potentially one a few days ago! Gender and sexuality can be a lifelong process, with lifelong coming outs. 

In 2018, along with fellow psychologist Elena Olga Christidi, we founded Orlando LGBT+ as a scientific body that brings scientific data on LGBTQIA+ topics into public attention in Greece and speaks radically about issues pertaining to sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, and sex characteristics.  

The team in Orlando LGBT+ consisted of psychologists and social workers who also openly identify as LGBTQIA+. What is radical about us is the communal and intersectional approaches we apply; we value knowledge as much as we value lived experience, with our main objective being the empowerment of communities.   

In fact, the most important coming out was the one I did— and we did as a team— in 2018 with Orlando LGBT+; we came out all together as mental health professionals and this was a public disclosure: we came out as queer and this was written on a website. 

Choosing a community 

At times, I have romanticised the idea of what community is. When thinking about a definition of community, it is important to first recognise that communities include different people with diverse backgrounds who are connected under a common umbrella— in this case LGBTQIA+.  

With that said, I believe that communities are formed when people choose to come together while fully acknowledging their common struggles but also the different privileges that differentiate them. 

In other words, one recognises that, despite what differentiates them, there is something that connects them with another individual, and actively chooses to “do something about it” while remaining conscious about the privileges they hold; to me, this is where communities are born.  

Sometimes, we cannot easily imagine something we have not seen before; this includes imagining a future where we are safe and can age well. It is often the case that transgender youth can hardly imagine themselves as of old age, so we have to create and maintain safe spaces within communities where people are accepted, respected and protected from all forms of violence and mistreatment. 

Queer joy 

It’s important to focus on the familial dimension of communities. We choose our people and become family with them. Families that are chosen function as protection and are something worth trying for; we aim to preserve them and, to do so, we work on these relationships to overcome arising difficulties.  

Often in LGBTQIA+ communities, we are all we have; and this is why bonding, connecting, preserving and developing are so valuable. Communities as chosen families can lead us to what is called “queer joy”. Happiness is truly understood, in my view, when one has come across what not being happy means.  

Communities as chosen families can lead us to what is called ‘queer joy’. Happiness is truly understood, in my view, when one has come across what not being happy means.  

Our present is what we have and what can offer us joy when we experience it together. In communities, our experiences are acknowledged, and they are something we can be vocal about and understood; in other words, there is space for us where we fit in. Our mental and physical health is improved when we can report and talk about (direct and indirect) discrimination; and it is easier to talk about them within our communities.  

When we know that I will be heard, we will be more willing to talk about these experiences.  

In communities, we can feel our feelings and care for each other.  

When we think about our current realities, it is important to remember the case of Zak Kostopoulos’s murder. Zak’s case was a critical point; a reminder that, despite the introduction of all pro-LGBTQIA+ laws until then (civil partnership, legal gender recognition and foster parenting), we are not yet safe. Zak’s case echoes the visceral fear of deviating from the accepted norm that many of us have and which says: if we are identified [as LGBTQIA+] we will be lynched!  

The cases of Nikos Sergianopoulos, a popular Greek actor, and well-known writer Kostas Tachtsis have also had a huge impact on me. In these murder cases, the society openly blamed the victims based on their real or perceived sexual and/or gender identities, and their sexual practices. In the case of Sergianopoulos, the media also outed him after his death. But what was more formative earlier in a way was Billy Bo’s death of HIV/AIDS in the 1980’s. He was a famous and charismatic young designer, and his death was the first public acknowledgement of HIV//AIDS -in an era that non straight sexualities were even more marginalised and stigmatized. 

Change is possible 

It’s clear that when we work together as a community, change is possible.  

For me, it starts from when same-sex marriage became a topic of public discourse; this was back in 2008 with the well-known “Tilos marriages” which was an intracommunity action.  

In addition, the civil partnership law was a result of the legal action that members of the communities started against the government on the grounds of discrimination. On the day when the bill would be voted, two main articles that equated the parties of the civil partnership with those of civil marriage regarding insurance and inheritance rights disappeared; members of the LGBTQIA+ communities who had access to the draft bill had to apply immense pressure to bring them back on the negotiation table.  

It’s clear that when we work together as a community, change is possible.  

Nancy Papathanasiou, PhD Clinical Psychologist
Scientific Director & Co-founder Orlando LGBT+

It was the same regarding legal gender recognition; for example, Colour Youth (LGBTQIA+ youth organization) pushed back against pathologizing views expressed by the Child Psychiatric Society of Greece; and it was the Greek Transgender Association that pushed for the law. Nothing would happen without constant community pressure. 

All these pro- LGBTQIA+ laws were products of communities’ pressure. We should not settle for less than what we need and the rights we are entitled to; if laws are not providing for all our needs, we should keep demanding that our full rights are guaranteed. We should remember all the harshness we have survived through and reclaim our power. We need to tap into our already-proven resilience. This is particularly pertinent for young people today. When I was young, there was no going back in terms of LGBTQIA+ gains. Today, though, we see that laws and policies might be retracted, and we cannot take them for granted.  

We’re grateful to organizations like Amnesty International who have continually supported us. What I truly appreciate is the uninterrupted and uninfluenced support it provides on trans rights; the organisation remains radical in its approaches on trans rights without being influenced by major backlash that follows today’s political developments worldwide. 

Amnesty continues to be the umbrella that helps smaller organisations and activists to be heard more widely; in this way, it can continue to empower our communities. We need international organisations like Amnesty that can speak out unapologetically in turbulent times.  

The post “Often in LGBTQIA+ communities, we are all we have” appeared first on Amnesty International.

Silence and Repression:
The new face of the Sahel

In the Sahel, repression is intensifying. Human rights defenders and journalists are being silenced under the pretext of national security.

READ OUR BROCHURE

© Amnesty International

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A region of hope and resilience

The Sahel, a vast region connecting West and Central Africa, is a land of hope and solidarity. Its committed youth, resilient communities, and human rights defenders embody a force for change and inspiration.

But since 2020, the region has been plunged into an authoritarian spiral. Under the guise of “national security” and the fight against terrorism, the authorities of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have stepped up attacks on fundamental freedoms.

Human rights defenders, journalists and citizens who speak out peacefully are now treated as enemies of the state.

40

+

cases of journalists, activists, human rights defenders, influencers and citizens arrested, threatened or forcibly disappeared simply for daring to speak out.

An increasingly repressive climate

Coups d’état that have taken place in different countries have led to the establishment of military regimes in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, accompanied by a shrinking of civic space.

Authorities cite the “protection of national sovereignty” to justify censorship, the criminalisation of dissent and the closure of independent media.

Yet, despite the arrests, disappearances and threats, some voices continue to be raised.

Some emblematic cases

In recent years, there have been dozens of cases of arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, and targeted military conscription in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. Journalists, activists, and human rights defenders risk their freedom, and sometimes their lives, as soon as they dare to speak out.

The cases presented below are an illustration of this.

© Getty Images

The case of Moussa Tchangari illustrates the abusive use of anti-terrorism laws to muzzle civil society in Niger.

Ousmane Diallo, Researcher at Amnesty International

Niger — Moussa Tchangari

Human rights defender prosecuted as a criminal

Moussa Tchangari, secretary general of the organisation Alternative Espace Citoyen, is one of the major figures in Nigerien civil society.

He has campaigned for more than twenty years for fundamental freedoms, social justice and democratic governance.

Arrest for “apology for terrorism” and “attack on national defence”

On 12 November 2024, he criticised the decision of the Minister of the Interior to withdraw the accreditations of two humanitarian NGOs and to place several organizations on the national list of persons and entities involved in terrorism (FPGE).

This administrative measure results in the freezing of assets, travel restrictions and can lead to the loss of nationality, without prior judicial conviction.

On 3 December 2024, he was arrested and charged with:

• apology for terrorism (article 399 of the Penal Code),
• criminal association linked to terrorism,
• attack on national defence,
• intelligence with foreign powers.

Since 3 January 2025, he has been in pre-trial detention at Filingué prison, without having been heard by a judge on the merits.

tell the Nigerien authorities to release Tchangari

Burkina Faso — Idrissa Barry

Journalist disappeared for denouncing abuses

Idrissa Barry, journalist and national secretary of the Servir et Non se Servir (SENS) movement, regularly denounced the atrocities committed against civilian populations in the context of the armed conflict.

Forced disappearance after critical publications

On 18 March 2025, his movement denounced “deadly attacks” attributed to Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP) against civilians in Solenzo.

The next day, Idrissa Barry was arrested by individuals presenting themselves as gendarmes and taken into an unregistered vehicle.

Since then, no authority has acknowledged his detention or provided any information on his fate.

© Amnesty International

Enforced disappearance, prohibited by the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, ratified by Burkina Faso in 2009, is a continuing crime as long as the victim remains not found.

Khadidiatou Diaw, Campaigner at Amnesty International

Sign the petition to ask the Burkinabe authorities where IS Idrissa Barry

© Amnesty International Mexico EDH – © Amnesty International

Le cas de Tantie Rose illustre la criminalisation croissante des opinions sur les réseaux sociaux au Mali.

Un défenseur des droits humains malien

Mali — Rokiatou Doumbia (« Tantie Rose »)

Influencer sentenced for talking about the cost of living

Known as Tantie Rose, Rokiatou Doumbia is a Malian trader and influencer followed for her TikTok videos denouncing the high cost of living and insecurity.

Convicted for “inciting revolt” and “discrediting the State”

On 13 March 2023, she was arrested in her shop after posting a video criticising living conditions under the military regime.

The prosecution is suing her for:

• Incitement to revolt (Article 95 of the Criminal Code),
• Damage to the credit of the State (article 57),
• Criminal association.

The Bamako court sentenced her to one year in prison in August 2023.

Although she has served her sentence, she remains in detention to this day.

DEMAND FREEDOM for Auntie Rose

Mali — Clément Dembélé

Anti-corruption activist jailed despite charges being dropped

President of the Platform Against Corruption and Unemployment (PCC), Clément Dembélé is one of the most respected voices in Malian civil society.

Accused of “threatening the president” based on a voice recording

On 17 November 2023, he was arrested by the Judicial Investigation Brigade after publicly criticising the management of power cuts.

Authorities accuse him of sending a voice message containing “threats against the transitional president and his family.”

An independent forensic examination establishes that the voice in the recording is not his own.

On 17 April 2025, the judge of the National Cybercrime Unit closed the case due to lack of evidence.

Despite this, he remains detained at the Bamako Central Prison.

© Amnesty International

Continued detention despite a dismissal of the case constitutes a violation of the right to a fair trial guaranteed by the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, to which Mali is a signatory.

Marceau Sivieude, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa

Tell the Malian authorities to respect national and international laws and release Clément Dembélé

Read our campaign brochure and join the fight to protect freedoms in the Sahel

Acting together for freedom

These cases are only the visible part of a systematic repression.

Behind them, dozens of other activists, journalists and citizens are facing intimidation and censorship.

We cannot remain silent.

Share these stories on your networks

Sign the petition to demand change

act now

Together, let’s make our voices heard for those we try to silence.

© Amnesty International

The post Silence and Repression: The new face of the Sahel appeared first on Amnesty International.

The report contains sensitive content including references to self-harm and suicide    

New Amnesty International research has found that TikTok’s ‘For You’ feed is pushing French children and young people engaging with mental health content into a cycle of depression, self-harm and suicide content. 

The research, ‘Dragged into the Rabbit Hole‘, highlights TikTok’s ongoing failure to address its systemic design risks affecting children and young people. 

“Our technical research shows how quickly teenagers who express an interest in mental health-related content can be drawn into toxic rabbit holes. Within just three to four hours of engaging with TikTok’s ‘For You’ feed, teenage test accounts were exposed to videos that romanticized suicide or showed young people expressing intentions to end their lives, including information on suicide methods,” said Lisa Dittmer, Amnesty International’s Researcher on Children and Young People’s Digital Rights.  

The testimonies of young people and bereaved parents in France reveal how TikTok normalized and exacerbated self-harm and suicidal ideation up to the point of recommending content on ‘suicide challenges’.

Lisa Dittmer, Amnesty International’s Researcher on Children and Young People’s Digital Rights

“The testimonies of young people and bereaved parents in France reveal how TikTok normalized and exacerbated self-harm and suicidal ideation up to the point of recommending content on ‘suicide challenges’.”

TikTok’s ‘For You’ feed is a personalized stream of short videos that recommends content based on viewing.    

Amnesty International researchers set up three teen accounts, two female, one male, registered as 13-year-olds based in France to manually examine the algorithmic amplification of content in TikTok’s ‘For You’ feed. Within five minutes of scrolling and before signaling any preferences, the accounts encountered videos about sadness or disillusionment. 

Watching these videos rapidly increased the amount of content related to sadness and mental health. Within 15 to 20 minutes of starting the experiment, all three feeds were almost exclusively filled with videos related to mental health, with up to half containing depressive content. Two accounts had videos expressing suicidal thoughts within 45 minutes. 

Additional experiments were conducted with the Algorithmic Transparency Institute using automated test accounts of 13-year-olds in France. They found TikTok’s recommender system more than doubled the share of recommended sad or depressive content when watch histories included different levels of such videos.      

The research was conducted in France where TikTok is regulated under the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which since 2023 required platforms to identify and mitigate systemic risks to children’s rights.   

French lawmakers are currently debating gaps in social media regulation, and this research adds to Amnesty International’s prior evidence that TikTok has not addressed systemic risks tied to its engagement‑based business model. 

Impact on young people  

Despite risk mitigation measures announced by TikTok since 2024, the platform continues to expose vulnerable users to content that normalizes self-harm, despair and suicidal ideation.  

Testimonies from young people with depression and from affected or bereaved parents reveal the extent of the risks and harms of TikTok’s business model for the mental and physical health of already struggling youth.   

“There are videos that are still burnt into my retina,” said Maëlle, 18, describing how she was drawn to depressive and self-harm content in TikTok’s ‘For You’ feed in 2021. Over the next three years, her mental health struggles with self-harm continued to decline while she became consumed by harmful online content.  

“Seeing people who cut themselves, people who say what medication to take to end it, it influences and encourages you to harm yourself.” 

While the report focuses on the amplification of harmful content, the collected testimonies also point to TikTok’s failures in content moderation. Despite repeated reports from young people and their families, content inciting self-harm or suicide has not been removed from the platform according to the research participants.    

For example, Amnesty researchers found two videos of the “lip balm challenge” in the feed of a manually managed test account in the summer of 2025. The social trend supposedly began as a challenge to guess the scent of a lip balm on another person. The idea evolved into a different version encouraging people to remove a piece of their lip balm every time they felt sad and self-harm or attempt death by suicide when the lip balm was finished. 

“For these platforms, our children become products rather than human beings. They use our children as products with an algorithm and a filter bubble, using their emotions to captivate them. The algorithm captures your interests, which is not normal. They intrude into the child’s private life. But children have rights,” said Stéphanie Mistre, mother to 15-year-old Marie Le Tiec, a French child who fell into TikTok’s spiral of depressive content and ended her life in 2021.        

Urgent and binding measures to make TikTok safe     

This research demonstrates TikTok’s failure to address the systemic risks caused by the addictive design of its platform on young people. The company is failing to live up to its responsibility to respect human rights in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and is not fulfilling all of its DSA obligations.   

This new evidence of clear DSA violations by TikTok must be urgently factored into the European Commission’s ongoing investigation. Binding and effective measures must be taken to force TikTok to finally make its application safe for young people in the European Union and around the world. 

Katia Roux, Advocacy Officer at Amnesty France.      

“This new evidence of clear DSA violations by TikTok must be urgently factored into the European Commission’s ongoing investigation. Binding and effective measures must be taken to force TikTok to finally make its application safe for young people in the European Union and around the world”, says Katia Roux, Advocacy Officer at Amnesty France.

TikTok’s disregard for systemic harms linked to its engagement‑driven model raises serious DSA compliance concerns and underscores the need for stronger regulatory and platform accountability measures to protect children and vulnerable users. 

Amnesty International shared its key findings with TikTok. The company did not respond.   

Background  

In 2023, Amnesty International published two complementary reports  Driven into the Darkness: How TikTok Encourages Self‑harm and Suicidal Ideation and “I feel exposed”: Caught in TikTok’s surveillance web, highlighting abuses suffered by children and young people using TikTok.    

Further help on issues covered in this report can be found Amnesty International’s guide on Staying Resilient While Trying to Save the World (Volume 2): A Well-being Workbook for Youth Activists.

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Reacting to a new wave of arrests in Georgia, where police have detained over a dozen protesters after new restrictions on public gatherings were enforced, Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said:

“These arrests underscore an ever-deepening pattern of repression in Georgia. While states may impose certain restrictions on protests to maintain public order, the new amendments go far beyond what is permissible under international human rights law. Peaceful gatherings may temporarily disrupt traffic or cause inconvenience – this does not justify dispersal or arrest, which must be the last resort for non-violent protest activity.”

“The Georgian authorities appear determined to silence peaceful protesters through intimidation and punishment. The authorities must release all those detained solely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.”

Background

On 17 October, new amendments to Georgia’s Administrative and Criminal Codes entered into force, introducing harsher penalties. Among other protest actions further restricted, covering one’s face, or setting up temporary structures is now punishable by up to 15 days of administrative detention, or 20 days for organizers, while  participation in protests “subject to termination at the demand of the Ministry of Internal Affairs” would be punishable by up to 60 days of administrative detention.

Repeated offenses would trigger criminal liability, with penalties of up to one year in prison for a second offense and up to two years for subsequent ones. Similarly, individuals who insult or disobey police orders three or more times would face criminal charges carrying up to one year of imprisonment.

According to the Ministry of Interior, on 19 October the police identified 27 “offenders” who on 18 October took part in blocking part of Rustaveli Avenue, Tbilisi’s main street. Fourteen were taken into custody, while administrative proceedings are ongoing against the remaining 13. Prominent journalist and television anchor Vakho Sanaia was sentenced to six-days in detention, and activist Lara Nachkebia was dealt a four-day detention for “covering her face.” Another journalist, Keti Tsitskishvili, has also been detained but has not yet been tried.

The post Georgia: Police round up protesters as new restrictions on public rallies take effect appeared first on Amnesty International.

Tanzanian authorities have intensified their repression of dissent against the opposition, journalists, civil society and human rights defenders in a deliberate strategy to instil fear, suppress civic engagement and entrench power, Amnesty International said today in a briefing released ahead of the country’s general elections on 29 October.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s government has dashed hopes for reform. Instead, under her watch, authorities have continued and intensified repressive practices targeting opposition leaders, civil society, journalists, and dissenting voices, including through assaults, arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, with nobody held accountable.

Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa

The general election is expected to be dominated by the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) Party, with the two main opposition presidential candidates locked out from contesting. Last month Luhaga Mpina was disqualified for a second time from running, while Tundu Lissu of the Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema), the biggest opposition party, is on trial for treason.

“President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s government has dashed hopes for reform. Instead, under her watch, authorities have continued and intensified repressive practices targeting opposition leaders, civil society, journalists, and dissenting voices, including through assaults, arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, with nobody held accountable,” said Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s regional director for East and Southern Africa.

“Political opponents have faced politically motivated charges and in some cases their right to contest the vote has been denied.”

Authorities must end their unacceptable campaign of repression against dissent, which has escalated since the last elections five years ago. They must immediately and unconditionally drop trumped up and politically motivated charges against all those detained solely for expressing political and religious views or other beliefs, including opposition leader Tundu Lissu.

Political opponents have faced politically motivated charges and in some cases their right to contest the vote has been denied.

Tigere Chagutah

For the briefing, “Unopposed, unchecked, unjust:  The disquiet beneath the 2025 Tanzania vote” Amnesty interviewed 43 victims, witnesses, family members of victims, legal representatives, and members of civil society organizations, and collated reports of attacks from media sources. All documented cases were verified through multiple independent sources where possible.

The Tanzanian authorities did not respond to Amnesty’s request for comment.

Abductions and unlawful killings

Amnesty International also documented widespread and systematic human rights violations—including enforced disappearances and torture and other ill-treatment, and extrajudicial killings of opposition figures and activists.

The Tanganyika Law Society documented 83 cases of people going missing under mysterious circumstances as of August 9, 2024.

On 7 September 2024, the body of Ali Mohammed Kibao, a senior strategist for Chadema, was found dumped near the shores of the Indian Ocean a day after being abducted from a bus in Dar es Salaam.

On 26 July 2024, Dioniz Kipanya, a Chadema party official, disappeared when he left home following a telephone conversation with an unidentified person. He is yet to be found. More than a year since Chadema youth activists Deusdedith Soka and Jacob Mlay, and Frank Mbise, a motorcycle taxi driver, were abducted by a group of men suspected to be police officers, their whereabouts remain unknown.

Amnesty International is calling for prompt and rigorous investigations into all reported abductions, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and attacks, and for those responsible to be brought to justice.

Use of the criminal justice system and laws to repress the opposition

The authorities have also weaponized the criminal justice system against political opponents.

Opposition leader Tundu Lissu remains in detention facing charges for the non bailable offence of treason and publishing false statements, following comments he made on social media and on YouTube on 3 April 2025.On 24 April 2025, police arrested dozens of supporters outside the Kisutu Resident Magistrate Court, where Lissu was appearing. Many later reported being harassed, beaten, and subjected to treatment that may amount to torture or other ill-treatment, before being abandoned in remote areas such as Ununio and Pande Forest, about 43 km from central Dar es Salaam.

“Out of nowhere, a man who was wielding a long, pointed object jammed it through the inner ankle of my left leg, which left a gaping wound that was squirting blood. Through my bloodied eyes, I noticed that several of my captors were filming the ordeal, while laughing at and taunting us,” said one survivor.

In the run up to the elections, authorities have passed flawed laws and regulations that have further suppressed civic space, most notably amendments to the Political Parties Affairs Laws Act 2024 and the Independent National Electoral Commission Act 2024.

“Sadly, authorities have spent the last five years ripping apart the constitution. They have ramped up their clampdown on the civic space and the right to participate freely in elections through the passing of deeply flawed legislation that not only create room for violation of human rights but also attest to their zero tolerance of any opposing views both offline and online,” said Tigere Chagutah. of any opposing views both offline and online,” said Tigere Chagutah.

Restrictions on freedom of peaceful assembly, movement, association, expression and the media

Tanzanian authorities have systematically banned, disrupted, or violently dispersed peaceful gatherings, particularly those organized by opposition parties. Opposition leaders and activists have faced severe restrictions on their freedom of movement that have effectively prevented them from conducting normal political activities.

On 13 May 2025, Chadema deputy secretary general Amani Golugwa was arrested at Julius Nyerere International Airport as he was preparing to travel to Brussels to attend the International Democracy Union Forum. He said the police questioned him about allegedly sending information to individuals in the European Parliament. “They claimed that the information I shared dishonoured the country and may have contributed to the European Parliament issuing sanctions against Tanzania,” he added.“Without sustained pressure from Tanzania’s regional and international partners to reverse the clampdown on freedom of expression and human rights generally, the 2025 elections risk becoming a procedural exercise devoid of legitimacy, conducted in an environment where fear, violence, and exclusion have replaced open political participation,” said Tigere Chagutah.

Background

In a 2020 report, “Lawfare: Repression by Law ahead of Tanzania’s General Elections”,  Amnesty International highlighted worrying human rights situation in the lead up to the polls and called on the Tanzanian authorities to respect and uphold human rights throughout the vote and after.

On 19 March 2021, Samia Suluhu Hassan was sworn in as the President of Tanzania, becoming the country’s first female head of state following the death of President John Pombe Magufuli. Her initial months in office were marked by a series of policy shifts that signalled a departure from the repressive governance style of her predecessor. These included lifting bans on certain media outlets and allowing opposition political parties to resume public rallies which had been arbitrarily restricted under President Magufuli’s administration. President Hassan also publicly committed to constitutional reforms and fostering a more inclusive political environment.

Despite these initial reforms, repression has intensified under President Hassan, particularly as the country approaches general elections on 29 October.

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