Amsterdam & Partners LLP has filed a formal submission to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) on behalf of Tundu Lissu, arguing that his repeated arbitrary arrests and the politically motivated criminal prosecution he continues to face constitute a violation of Tanzania’s obligations under international human rights law.
The Working Group, established by the UN Human Rights Commission, issues opinions on cases of arbitrary detention worldwide and its findings carry significant legal and diplomatic weight. The Group’s opinions have formed the basis of international pressure campaigns, sanctions, and in some cases, the release of political prisoners.
The Legal Argument
The submission argues that Tanzania’s conduct toward Lissu violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), in particular Articles 9 (freedom from arbitrary arrest), 10 (right to fair and public hearing), 11 (presumption of innocence), 18 (freedom of thought), 19 (freedom of expression), and 20 (freedom of assembly and association).
The submission further contends that Tanzania is in breach of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which it is a state party, particularly Articles 9, 14, 19, and 25 — the latter guaranteeing every citizen the right “to vote and be elected at genuine periodic elections.”
The core of the argument is straightforward: Lissu’s repeated detentions — most recently on August 11 and September 23, 2024, as well as September 10, 2023 and August 12, 2024 — are not the product of legitimate law enforcement. They are timed to disrupt political organizing, prevent public assembly, and remove him from the public stage in the critical period before a general election. The sedition charges he continues to face — dating back to statements made in the course of legitimate political activity — are precisely the kind of politically motivated prosecution that international human rights law is designed to prohibit.
The Broader Context the Submission Presents
The submission places Lissu’s individual case within the broader pattern of state persecution documented across multiple international bodies. It notes that Amnesty International has designated Lissu a prisoner of conscience on multiple occasions, that the Inter-Parliamentary Union launched its own investigation into the 2017 assassination attempt, and that Freedom House’s 2024 Tanzania report documents a “Not Free” classification with particular concern for the independence of the judiciary and the treatment of political opposition.
The submission also addresses the absence of any legitimate prosecutorial basis for the sedition charges, noting that the statements alleged to constitute sedition were made in the context of election campaigning and political speeches — activities protected not only by Tanzania’s own constitution but by every international human rights instrument to which Tanzania is a party.
“This Is What Accountability Looks Like”
“Every international legal avenue matters,” said Robert Amsterdam. “A WGAD opinion finding that Tanzania has arbitrarily detained Tundu Lissu would not only strengthen the case for individual accountability — it would provide further grounds for the Commonwealth, the African Union, and bilateral partners to demand concrete reforms before the 2025 election.”
The submission calls on the Working Group to find that Tanzania’s treatment of Lissu constitutes arbitrary detention under Categories II (violation of internationally recognized rights) and III (denial of fair trial), and to call upon the Tanzanian government to immediately and unconditionally cease its prosecution of Lissu and provide him with adequate security guarantees.