Tanzanian authorities have remained silent following shocking allegations by Ugandan activist Agather Atuhaire, who claims she was raped and tortured while detained in Tanzania.
Atuhaire, leader of the Uganda-based Agora Centre for Research, was arrested alongside Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi while attempting to attend a court hearing for Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who faces treason charges.
In a harrowing account to the BBC, Atuhaire described being blindfolded, beaten, stripped violently, and sexually assaulted by plainclothes assailants during her detention. “The pain was too much,” she said, displaying scars from handcuffs. “I was screaming so hard they had to cover my mouth.”
Mwangi, who was later abandoned near the Kenyan border, corroborated her ordeal in a social media post, detailing how they were forced to strip, bathe, and crawl while bleeding from torture. He also claimed their captors—allegedly state security agents—threatened to circumcise him and silenced any communication between them with kicks and insults.
The arrests came after Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan warned against foreign activists “meddling” in the country’s affairs. Atuhaire was found abandoned at the Ugandan border on Thursday, while Mwangi’s disappearance had triggered protests in Kenya. The Kenyan government formally protested Tanzania’s refusal to grant consular access.
Regional rights groups are demanding investigations into the alleged abuses, urging East African nations to uphold human rights treaties. Neither Tanzanian officials nor President Hassan’s office have responded to the allegations.
Atuhaire, now reunited with her family, and Mwangi, recovering in Kenya, continue to seek justice as international scrutiny mounts over Tanzania’s treatment of dissenting voices.
