Overview

The government maintained its blanket ban, introduced by the late president in 2016, on political parties organizing rallies and other political activities. The state continued to target online media outlets, using repressive regulations despite earlier promises to reform media laws. Security forces used excessive force in Loliondo division, in the northern Arusha region, during forced evictions of the Indigenous Maasai community while intimidating human rights defenders and journalists. The pledge to lift the discriminatory ban on pregnant girls and young mothers from attending school was not implemented. Plans to construct the East African Crude Oil Pipeline continued despite its potential threat to the environment and the livelihoods and health of local people. Individuals and organizations failed by the national legal system were blocked from seeking justice directly at the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.