The Tanzanian government has carried out a brutal crackdown on its political opponents, involving the shooting of unarmed civilians. From January 26 to 28, riot police conducted a campaign of violence against peaceful demonstrations held on the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba, which lie off the coast of the Tanzanian mainland, as well as in the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam. The CUF also condemned the ruling government's banning of demonstrations and public meetings as an attack on the democratic right of assembly. Official figures for those killed in the demonstrations stand at 23, but unofficially the death toll is put at 75. The violence began with the arrest of CUF leaders who refused to comply with an order banning public meetings.
Eyewitness reports from Zanzibar tell of police firing live rounds at unarmed demonstrators.
A curfew was imposed and many people were reported to have fled into the forest in fear of their lives. Further reports state that boats used by those attempting to flee from the island were attacked by helicopter gunships and sunk. Over 1,000 people have fled to the Kenyan port of Shimoni where they are now living as refugees. They have given harrowing details to Kenyan television of police brutality and killings. The Tanzanian government had instructed all hospitals on the islands not to treat those injured in the violence.