The European Parliament has taken a firm and united stand on Tanzania’s post-election crisis, adopting a resolution that freezes the Tanzania Annual Action Plan 2025 and calls for urgent accountability over killings, disappearances and the detention of opposition figures.

Earlier, individual Members of Parliament had raised various concerns and warned about repression, threats to activists and the silencing of critics, but Thursday’s vote shifts the Parliament from simply expressing concern to taking concrete action.

During the debate, European Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque told the House that the gravity of the situation in Tanzania made it impossible for the EU to continue as normal. She emphasized on the need for credible, independent investigations into the killings, abductions, internet shutdowns and the shrinking civic space seen before and after the October elections.

“The EU has supported this role through a broad range of programmes, benefiting directly the population, and an ambitious global gateway approach with investments in key sectors of interest for the EU. We acknowledge the communications received from the Honourable Members of the European Parliament concerning the situation in Tanzania, which we are following very closely. Given the gravity of the situation, the EU has put on hold the adoption of the Implementation Decision for the Tanzania Annual Action Plan 2025,” she said.

Several MEPs spoke about the violent crackdown on protesters, the imprisonment of nearly all major opposition leaders and the treatment of activists from Kenya and Uganda who were beaten and tortured for observing Tundu Lissu’s trial.

A representative of the Maasai community also sent a message highlighting years of repression, forced removals and exclusion from the electoral register, warning that the attacks on the Maasai are linked to land-grabbing for tourism and resource projects.

With the adoption of this resolution, the Parliament is calling for:

• The immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, including Tundu Lissu
• An end to arbitrary arrests, torture and intimidation of activists, journalists and opposition supporters
• Independent investigations into killings, abductions and reported mass graves
• Suspension of EU funds that may be benefiting state-controlled bodies involved in the abuses
• Clear democratic conditions for any future EU–Tanzania cooperation

The Parliament emphasized that Tanzanians deserve justice, truth and the protection of their rights, adding that silence in the face of these abuses would amount to complicity.