Tanzanian police have detained leading opposition figures including Chadema party leader Freeman Mbowe and his deputy Tundu Lissu and rounded up several hundred youth supporters on the eve of a planned rally, a move condemned by rights activists on Monday as "troubling".
Mbowe was arrested on Monday in the southwestern city of Mbeya, the day after other leaders were detained ahead of the event that was to mark International Youth Day, Chadema director of communication and foreign affairs John Mrema posted on X, formerly Twitter.
He also told AFP that around 500 youth supporters had been arrested by police as they were making their way to the Mbeya gathering and were being escorted back home.
Tanzanian police on Sunday declared a ban on the rally, accusing the party of planning violent demonstrations.
The arrests came despite President Samia Suluhu Hassan in January 2023 overturning a ban on opposition gatherings.
The youth wing had said about 10,000 youngsters were expected to meet in Mbeya to mark International Youth Day on Monday under the slogan "Take charge of your future".
Tanzania is due to hold presidential and parliamentary elections late next year, the first since the 2021 death of Hassan's predecessor John Magufuli, who was nicknamed the "Bulldozer" for his authoritarian policies.
"It's troubling because it's very similar to the mass opposition arrests we saw when Magufuli was president," Oryem Nyeko, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, told AFP.
"Tanzania shouldn't be going back in that direction, especially in the period leading up to elections."
- Reports of beatings -
Mbowe, who has previously been held behind bars, had on Sunday condemned the arrests of Lissu, secretary general John Mnyika, zonal chair Joseph Mbilinyi and leaders of the youth council.
"We demand the immediate and unconditional release of all our leaders, members, and supporters who were arrested in various parts of the country," he said on X.
The Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition, which represents a network of over 250 organisations, called for the unconditional release of all those detained.
"Unconfirmed reports indicate that there was use of force during the arrests and that some of the arrested were beaten. If this is true, we strongly condemn the action as it goes against the constitution, the laws and all the procedures of arrest," the coalition said.
Chadema officials on Sunday denounced the police ban and called on Hassan to intervene.
- 'Let's raise our voices' -
Since taking the helm in March 2021 after Magufuli's sudden death, Hassan has moved away from her predecessor's repressive policies and embarked on political reforms, including relaxing some restrictions on the media and the opposition.
In January 2023, she lifted a ban on opposition rallies imposed in 2016 by Magufuli, in an overture to political rivals seeking the restoration of democratic traditions.
Lissu, a fierce critic of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party who has been arrested multiple times, returned to Tanzania soon after Hassan lifted the ban.
The 56-year-old had spent the previous five years largely in exile in Belgium following a 2017 assassination bid which saw him shot 16 times.
In July 2021, Mbowe was arrested along with several other Chadema leaders just hours before the party was to hold a public forum to demand constitutional reforms.
He was freed the following March after prosecutors dropped terrorism charges against him.
Announcing the ban on Sunday, Awadh Haji, Tanzania's police chief in charge of operations and training, said the force had "clear indications that their aim is not to celebrate the International Youth Day but to initiate and engage in violence".
Lissu on Sunday vowed that the youth event would go ahead as planned.
"President Samia, don't bring Magufuli's strange ways," he said on X.
"This is not a time to stay silent, be afraid, or just talk. It's a time to stand up and be counted. Let's raise our voices with all our strength!"