UPDATE 4-US reviews relationship with Tanzania over religious freedom, investment concerns

The U.S. is reviewing its relationship with Tanzania amid concerns over religious freedom, free speech, obstacles to U.S. investment and violence against civilians, the State Department said on Thursday. The U.S. issued security alerts for Americans in the East African country after a general election in October was marred by violent demonstrations.

The U.S. is reviewing its relationship with Tanzania amid concerns over religious freedom, free speech, obstacles to U.S. investment and violence against civilians, the State Department said on Thursday.

The U.S. issued security alerts for Americans in the East African country after a general election in October was marred by violent demonstrations. Rights groups, opposition parties and the United Nations have said hundreds of people were likely killed in the clashes, though the government disputes those figures as exaggerated. President Samia Suluhu Hassan has said the election was fair and promised to investigate the violence after the turmoil led to the country's biggest political crisis in decades.

The State Department said the U.S. was conducting a comprehensive review after recent actions by the government raised grave concerns about the bilateral relationship and the reliability of Tanzania as a partner. "The government of Tanzania's ongoing repression of religious freedom and free speech, the presence of persistent obstacles to U.S. investment, and disturbing violence against civilians in the days leading up to and following Tanzania's October 29 elections, required this reconsideration of our ties," the department said in a statement.

It said those actions put Americans at risk in the country. In a separate statement, U.N. human rights experts said they had also taken note of reports that human remains of those killed in the election clashes were being buried in unidentified mass graves or incinerated after disappearing from mortuaries.

"The Government must provide information on the fate and whereabouts of all disappeared persons and ensure the identification and dignified return of the remains to their families," the experts said. Tanzanian government spokesperson Gerson Msigwa did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the U.S. statement.

In response to the U.N. experts' statement, Msigwa said many reports circulating in the media and on social platforms lack verified evidence. "It is therefore important that we allow the investigation team to complete its work so that we can rely on accurate information and confirmed figures," he said.

The State Department did not elaborate on what it considers obstacles to U.S. investment in Tanzania. In November, President Donald Trump put Nigeria back on a list of countries that the U.S. says have violated religious freedom, citing the killing of Christians.

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