The United States has imposed sanctions on a senior Tanzanian police official over allegations of torture and sexual assault involving two East African rights activists detained last year.
The State Department said on Thursday that it had designated Faustine Jackson Mafwele, a senior assistant commissioner of police, based on credible information linking him to gross violations of human rights. The designation bars him from entering the US.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the action followed the detention, torture, and sexual assault of Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi and Ugandan activist Agather Atuhaire by members of the Tanzanian Police Force in May 2025. The two had traveled to Tanzania to observe the trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu when they were detained and later released.
Mwangi said he was stripped, beaten, hung upside down, and sexually assaulted while in custody. Atuhaire said she was raped during her detention. Tanzanian police at the time described the accounts as opinions and hearsay.
Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Riley Barnes said the US was acting to promote accountability for the incident. Mafwele has not publicly commented on the allegations. Tanzania’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mahmoud Thabit Kombo said the government had not yet received the formal designation.
The sanctions come amid increased international scrutiny of Tanzania’s human rights record ahead of the October 2025 general election. Rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have called for investigations into the treatment of activists and opposition figures.
A government commission of inquiry said last month that 518 people died in protests following the election, including 197 who were shot dead. It did not assign responsibility but blamed foreign-sponsored groups. Opposition parties and rights groups dispute the figures and accuse security forces of using lethal force against unarmed protesters.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who took office in 2021, was declared the winner of the election with 98% of the vote. She said the election was fair and transparent. US lawmakers on Tuesday called for stronger measures to address what they describe as democratic backsliding in Tanzania.
