In 1963, Britain gave Zanzibar their independence. Shortly after, there was an election between the Arab minority and the Afro-Shirazi party (ASP). The Arabs won the election by a mere 54% of the votes. The now enraged ASP allied with the Umma party, and collected some 700 revolutionaries to overthrow the new government power.
THE REVOLUTION
In the early morning on January 12, 1964 the 600-800 ill equipped African insurgents with the help of ex-policemen took over the Arab police stations and armories, with little retaliation from the not yet trained Arab police force. Now armed with machine guns, they were able to capture main government establishments in the city, all within 6 hours of the
outbreak of revolution. 80 people were killed as a result of the street fighting that followed (most of whom were Arab police force), the African rebels now had control over Zanzibar Town. A revolutionary council was quickly established to deal with internal as well as external affairs that would follow the revolution. Abeid Karume (Right) was President of the council, Abdulrahaman Muhammad Babu acted as a Minister of External Affairs, and John Okello as field chief. Okello was in command of the revolutionaries who committed terrible crimes against the Arab community in Zanzibar.ACTS OF GENOCIDE
Although the revolution had ended, the violence proceeded. The rebels captured and imprisoned an estimated 20,000 Arabs. Although there is not an exact number of civilians killed, it is estimated that 2,000 to 4,000 were killed. Any other high number that came out (20,000) was false, and an inflated, exaggerated number given by Okello during his broadcasts that were then used by local newspapers. Mass graves (right) were utilized to do away with the bodies.
This image comes from an Italian film crew, shooting footage of these violent acts, and put into the film Africa Addio.Sources
Jacopetti, Gualtiero, Dir. Africa Addio. Blue Underground: 1966, Film.
Conley, Robert (13 January 1964), "African Revolt Overturns Arab Regime in Zanzibar", New York Times: p. 1, http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20B15F9385C147A93C1A8178AD85F408685F9,
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