The detention and alleged torture of Kenyan and Ugandan activists in Tanzania has drawn the attention of the United States, which has demanded an immediate investigation.
The US Bureau of African Affairs, which is under its Department of State, posted a terse message on X on Friday night on the treatment of Kenya’s Boniface Mwangi and Uganda’s Agather Atuhaire.
“The United States is deeply concerned by reports of the mistreatment in Tanzania of [the] two East African activists,” it wrote.
'I can barely walk': Activist Boniface Mwangi speaks
Ms Atuhaire, it added, was recognised by the US State Department last year as an “International Women of Courage” awardee.
“We call for an immediate and full investigation into the allegations of human rights abuses. We urge all countries in the region to hold to account those responsible for violating human rights, including torture,” the post read.
Also joining calls for an investigation was Amnesty International, which issued a statement on Friday demanding immediate answers.
“Tanzanian authorities must investigate the arbitrary arrest, torture, incommunicado detention, and forcible deportation of [the] human rights defenders,” it stated.
Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, Mr Tigere Chagutah, noted: “For four days, these two human rights defenders were subjected to unimaginable cruelty. Their ordeal highlights the dangers faced by human rights defenders in Tanzania and there must be accountability and justice. Amnesty International demands effective investigations be opened immediately.”
The human rights body also took issue with remarks made by Tanzanian president Samia Suluhu after the activists were arrested as others were deported earlier in the week.
“Amnesty International is concerned by remarks made by President Samia Suluhu Hassan following the pair’s arrest, calling for a crackdown on human rights defenders who come into Tanzania, labelling them ‘foreign agents’. Such statements provide state authorities with an unlawful and spurious pretext to impose restrictions flouting international human rights obligations,” it said. “Amnesty International has reported the intensification of a vicious clampdown on peaceful dissent in recent years as the country heads towards presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for October 2025.”
“Trial observation is central to the transparency of court processes and guarantees of fair trials and is not a threat to security. President Suluhu’s remarks and actions by authorities in Tanzania sends a chilling message aimed at further stifling freedom of expression and association,” he noted.
“Tanzanian authorities must ensure and respect the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and end the repression against human rights defenders and non-governmental organisations,” Mr Chagutah further says.
On Thursday night, Ms Atuhaire was dumped near the Uganda-Tanzania border point of Mutukula after going missing for days.
Mr Mwangi on the other hand, was dumped in Ukunda at the Coast, near the Kenya-Tanzania border. Before his discovery, Kenya had issued a statement saying Tanzania had not been cooperating in disclosing Mr Mwangi’s whereabouts.
The two had gone to Tanzania to attend Monday’s court appearance for Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who is facing treason charges. While alerting the world of his impending arrest, Mr Mwangi said in a video that he had been woken up by people claiming to be police who were demanding that he open the door.
In a post on Facebook on Friday, Mr Mwangi detailed the torture they went through.
“The last time l was in the same space with [Ms Atuhaire] was Tuesday morning. We had been tortured, and we were told to strip naked and to go bathe,” he stated.
“We couldn’t walk and were told to crawl and go wash off the blood. We were handcuffed and blindfolded, so l didn’t even see her, but l heard her groaning in pain as they barked orders at us. Any attempt to speak to each other during the night we were tortured was met with kicks and insults. We were removed from the torture location in different vehicles,” added Mr Mwangi.
Where's Boniface Mwangi? Tanzanian authorities mum
He further wrote: “Our tortures were acting on orders from a ‘state security’ employee who came to Immigration offices and followed us to Central Police Station and ordered we should be taken to a secret location to be given a ‘Tanzanian treatment’. That man assaulted me in the presence of three lawyers from Tanganyika Law Society.”
Former Chief Justice David Maraga, who attended Monday’s court session without hindrance unlike his predecessor Willy Mutunga who was deported, issued a statement saying that civic and democratic spaces in East Africa are “shrinking”.
“[It] should be a concern to all of us,” said a statement from Mr Maraga’s campaign secretariat.
“The history of institutionalised humanity has given Tanzania the character of utu we all wish to emulate. Sometimes, the teacher forgets they are the master. We stand at the cusp of a new rising as a continent, and it is upon us to fiercely protect this potential so the present generation will never again ask why their leaders failed them. We must not relent in our solidarity in the pursuit of the rule of law, dignity and the protection of human rights,” noted Mr Maraga.
