Edgar Mwakabela, a Tanzanian social media activist known as Sativa, survived a brutal abduction last year that left him with a bullet wound to the skull and a shattered jaw. His harrowing account highlights a growing trend of enforced disappearances and violence against critics of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party in Tanzania ahead of October's general election.

• Over 200 enforced disappearances have been recorded in Tanzania since 2019, according to UN experts.
• The police arrested Shedrack Chaula, a portrait artist, in June 2024 for burning the president's photo; he was abducted by unknown individuals a month later and remains missing.
• Kenyan Boniface Mwangi and Ugandan Agather Atuhaire, both activists, claimed they were detained and sexually tortured after traveling to Tanzania in May to observe a political trial.