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Human Rights Watch
Tanzanian Opposition Leader’s Arrest Spells Trouble for Elections
Last week, the authorities in Tanzania arrested opposition presidential candidate Tundu Lissu on fabricated charges, then used his party’s calls for electoral reform to disqualify it from participating in upcoming elections. The government of President Samia Suluhu Hassan has previously repressed the political opposition and critical voices.
The authorities charged Lissu with treason and “publishing false information” online. They detained him for allegedly having “formed an intention” to instigate the public to obstruct the elections, based on his support for his party, Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema), urging a boycott of the elections slated for late this year. Chadema has been calling for the government to undertake “fundamental electoral reforms” as part of its campaign, “No Reforms, No Elections.”
Treason in Tanzania carries a potential sentence of death and people charged with this offense are not eligible for bail.
On April 12, 2025, Tanzania’s electoral body, the Independent National Elections Commission, disqualified Chadema from participating in the elections after party officials refused to sign the 2025 Election Code of Ethics. Chadema had said it would not sign the code until the government undertook electoral reforms. Gaston Garubindi, Chadema’s legal and human rights director, told Human Rights Watch that he believes the government was deliberately targeting Lissu to derail the party’s reform campaign.
Successive Tanzanian governments have repressed the political opposition in previous elections. Prior to the 2020 elections, the government of the late President John Magufuli arbitrarily arrested scores of opposition party leaders, officials, and supporters, including Lissu. It also suspended media outlets, censored mobile phone communications, and blocked social media.
Ahead of the November 2024 local elections, the government of President Suluhu, who took office after Magufuli’s death in 2021, arbitrarily arrested hundreds of Chadema supporters, imposed restrictions on social media access, and banned independent media. The authorities were implicated in the abduction and extrajudicial killing of at least eight government critics. Chadema said thousands of its candidates were disqualified from participating.
The situation looks similarly troubling for this year’s elections.
Concerned governments should be pressing President Suluhu to reverse these repressive actions and ensure that basic rights and freedoms are respected in Tanzania so that the population is able to have the free and fair election to which they are entitled.
German Coalition’s Troubling Plans on Social Security
The April 9 coalition agreement between Germany’s Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union and Social Democratic Party is unfortunately a return to a harsh social security system packaged as “reform” and “simplification.” Rather than addressing the growing number of people in the country at risk of poverty, the agreement strips back support for people receiving long-term unemployment assistance and punishes them by withholding benefits for “failure to cooperate.”
Human Rights Watch recently documented how social security support in Germany already falls short of what is needed to protect people’s rights to social security and an adequate standard of living, and likely also fails to meet the “minimum subsistence level” (Existenzminimum) required under German constitutional law. Women in particular, including single parents and older women living alone, are foregoing everyday essentials such as food or heating.
The agreement replaces the “Citizen’s Income,” introduced only in 2023, with the “New Basic Income for Jobseekers,” that relies on an older annual inflation-indexing method to calculate social security entitlements, which will result in real-terms cuts to benefits. The indexing method will also apply to other “basic” social security support for people over 65 or people considered permanently unable to work. This stark reality belies the coalition agreement’s stated aim “to maintain the level of social protection.”
Heike, from Cologne, who receives basic social security support because the state considers her permanently unable to work due to a health condition, told us: “One of the things that scares me the most is how social benefits will go back to the old calculation for inflation. When the adjustments are finally made, we will continue to vegetate below the Existenzminimum.”
The coalition plans some positive measures, including improving pension care credits for mothers of young children and improving tax relief for single parents and older people who continue working beyond state pension eligibility age. It also pledges increasing the basic pension supplement for older people on low incomes and adding €5 per month to existing educational support for qualifying families on low incomes.
But these proposed measures will be undermined by the increase in poverty that flows from tightening “basic” forms of social security support, which is the clear priority of the incoming government.
Rather than taking this punitive, restrictive path, Germany’s new government should commit to genuine reform, starting with examining the adequacy of social security support and reviewing its Existenzminimum calculation method, to ensure everyone in the country can enjoy their right to a decent living standard.
The EU Should Press Bhutan to Free Political Prisoners
(Brussels) – The European Union should press Bhutanese authorities to release dozens of political prisoners held for decades in dire conditions, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today. An EU human rights dialogue with Bhutan is scheduled later this month, just weeks after United Nations human rights experts issued a communication raising concerns over reports that the prisoners were “denied due process and fair trials, including access to lawyers,” and allegedly subjected to torture.
The communication by six UN human rights experts, published on April 4, raises concerns that “the broad and vague definitions [of “treason”], combined with the severity of the punishments, have a severe chilling effect on the enjoyment of human rights … and consequently on democratic life and civic space in the country.”
“Bhutan portrays itself as a land of ‘mindfulness’ and ‘gross national happiness,’ but UN reports paint quite a different picture,” said Smriti Singh, Regional Director for South Asia at Amnesty International. “Dozens are still detained, mistreated, and tortured solely for peacefully dissenting against the government’s policy, an ordeal Bhutan’s King could end at the stroke of a pen.”
Bhutan is seeking to enhance its international partnerships and economic cooperation, including with Australia, India, Thailand, and the EU. The relationship with the EU includes tariff and quota-free access for Bhutanese exports to the EU market under the Everything but Arms scheme, which is linked to international human rights obligations.
The EU is also providing assistance intended to promote human rights and civil society space, as well as investment in infrastructure development. The EU should insist that Bhutan shows its commitment and respect for human rights by immediately releasing all 32 political prisoners and others detained solely for the peaceful exercise of their human rights, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said. On April 14, Members of the European Parliament holding key positions on EU political and trade relations with Bhutan formulated similar calls in a letter to Bhutan’s prime minister.
The UN experts’ communication examines the cases of 19 named individuals, “among others,” expressing serious concern that their fair trial rights appear to have been violated, that they were “severely tortured, both to extract confessions and to punish them,” then convicted under “vague” laws, and jailed in inhumane conditions.
In 2023, Human Rights Watch documented the cases of 37 political prisoners in Bhutan. Since then, 5 have completed their sentences, leaving at least 32 still serving terms of between 32 years and life without parole.
In November 2024, another group of UN experts, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, adopted an opinion on three of the prisoners’ cases, finding that they met the definition of arbitrary detention, which would make their detention illegal under international human rights law. Both groups of experts asked the Bhutan government to respond to the allegations but have received no response.
Most of the cases relate to events in or around 1990, when about 90,000 Nepali-speaking Bhutanese were expelled from Bhutan amid widespread rights violations and became refugees in Nepal. Those who remained in or returned to Bhutan, who publicly opposed the arbitrary citizenship determination, were arrested, tortured, and convicted in unfair trials based on coerced confessions. The longest serving political prisoners have been in jail since 1990, while others were arrested in 2008 after they re-entered Bhutan to campaign for the right to return.
Tens of thousands of Bhutanese refugees eventually received refugee resettlement in third countries, including in the United States. However, the Trump administration has deported close to a dozen of these resettled refugees, stating that they have been accused or convicted of crimes in the US. This is a clear violation of international human rights law, including customary international law and the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which prohibits the transfer of any person to another state where the individual could be at risk of being subjected to torture.
The Bhutan government permitted the US government to deport them to Bhutan and then promptly expelled them to Nepal via India, suggesting that the Bhutanese authorities continue to discriminate against this community.
The new UN communication raises allegations that “[p]olitical prisoners are reportedly given inadequate food, water, heating, bedding and warm clothing” and that “detainees [also] suffer shortages of medicines and access to doctors. Those with physical illnesses – some as a result of alleged torture – do not receive necessary medical treatment, which may have contributed to the death of two detainees.” The detainees are prevented from communicating with their families, they said.
The UN experts noted that in 1999 the former King Jigme Singye Wangchuck granted amnesty to 40 political prisoners, including some serving life sentences.
In 2022, the present king granted amnesty to a political prisoner serving a life term. “We implore the King to exercise His Majesty’s power to pardon and release from prison the remaining political prisoners, so as to demonstrate Bhutan’s commitment to upholding human rights and its international legal obligations,” the UN experts wrote.
“Bhutan has adopted significant reforms since 2008, but the continued detention of political prisoners represents a major stain on its human rights record,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Bhutan’s international partners and investors, including the EU, should make it clear that they expect Bhutan to comply with its human rights obligations and release them without further delay.”
The EU Should Press Bhutan to Free Political Prisoners
(Brussels) – The European Union should press Bhutanese authorities to release dozens of political prisoners held for decades in dire conditions, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today. An EU human rights dialogue with Bhutan is scheduled later this month, just weeks after United Nations human rights experts issued a communication raising concerns over reports that the prisoners were “denied due process and fair trials, including access to lawyers,” and allegedly subjected to torture.
The communication by six UN human rights experts, published on April 4, raises concerns that “the broad and vague definitions [of “treason”], combined with the severity of the punishments, have a severe chilling effect on the enjoyment of human rights … and consequently on democratic life and civic space in the country.”
“Bhutan portrays itself as a land of ‘mindfulness’ and ‘gross national happiness,’ but UN reports paint quite a different picture,” said Smriti Singh, Regional Director for South Asia at Amnesty International. “Dozens are still detained, mistreated, and tortured solely for peacefully dissenting against the government’s policy, an ordeal Bhutan’s King could end at the stroke of a pen.”
Bhutan is seeking to enhance its international partnerships and economic cooperation, including with Australia, India, Thailand, and the EU. The relationship with the EU includes tariff and quota-free access for Bhutanese exports to the EU market under the Everything but Arms scheme, which is linked to international human rights obligations.
The EU is also providing assistance intended to promote human rights and civil society space, as well as investment in infrastructure development. The EU should insist that Bhutan shows its commitment and respect for human rights by immediately releasing all 32 political prisoners and others detained solely for the peaceful exercise of their human rights, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said. On April 14, Members of the European Parliament holding key positions on EU political and trade relations with Bhutan formulated similar calls in a letter to Bhutan’s prime minister.
The UN experts’ communication examines the cases of 19 named individuals, “among others,” expressing serious concern that their fair trial rights appear to have been violated, that they were “severely tortured, both to extract confessions and to punish them,” then convicted under “vague” laws, and jailed in inhumane conditions.
In 2023, Human Rights Watch documented the cases of 37 political prisoners in Bhutan. Since then, 5 have completed their sentences, leaving at least 32 still serving terms of between 32 years and life without parole.
In November 2024, another group of UN experts, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, adopted an opinion on three of the prisoners’ cases, finding that they met the definition of arbitrary detention, which would make their detention illegal under international human rights law. Both groups of experts asked the Bhutan government to respond to the allegations but have received no response.
Most of the cases relate to events in or around 1990, when about 90,000 Nepali-speaking Bhutanese were expelled from Bhutan amid widespread rights violations and became refugees in Nepal. Those who remained in or returned to Bhutan, who publicly opposed the arbitrary citizenship determination, were arrested, tortured, and convicted in unfair trials based on coerced confessions. The longest serving political prisoners have been in jail since 1990, while others were arrested in 2008 after they re-entered Bhutan to campaign for the right to return.
Tens of thousands of Bhutanese refugees eventually received refugee resettlement in third countries, including in the United States. However, the Trump administration has deported close to a dozen of these resettled refugees, stating that they have been accused or convicted of crimes in the US. This is a clear violation of international human rights law, including customary international law and the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which prohibits the transfer of any person to another state where the individual could be at risk of being subjected to torture.
The Bhutan government permitted the US government to deport them to Bhutan and then promptly expelled them to Nepal via India, suggesting that the Bhutanese authorities continue to discriminate against this community.
The new UN communication raises allegations that “[p]olitical prisoners are reportedly given inadequate food, water, heating, bedding and warm clothing” and that “detainees [also] suffer shortages of medicines and access to doctors. Those with physical illnesses – some as a result of alleged torture – do not receive necessary medical treatment, which may have contributed to the death of two detainees.” The detainees are prevented from communicating with their families, they said.
The UN experts noted that in 1999 the former King Jigme Singye Wangchuck granted amnesty to 40 political prisoners, including some serving life sentences.
In 2022, the present king granted amnesty to a political prisoner serving a life term. “We implore the King to exercise His Majesty’s power to pardon and release from prison the remaining political prisoners, so as to demonstrate Bhutan’s commitment to upholding human rights and its international legal obligations,” the UN experts wrote.
“Bhutan has adopted significant reforms since 2008, but the continued detention of political prisoners represents a major stain on its human rights record,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Bhutan’s international partners and investors, including the EU, should make it clear that they expect Bhutan to comply with its human rights obligations and release them without further delay.”