A Kenyan and a Ugandan human rights activist have alleged that they were sexually assaulted by Tanzanian security officers while detained in Tanzania last month.
Boniface Mwangi of Kenya and Agather Atuhaire of Uganda made the accusations on Monday, several weeks after their detention in Dar es Salaam. Spokespeople for Tanzania’s government, foreign affairs ministry, and police have not yet responded to requests for comment on the allegations.
The spokespersons for Kenya’s ministry of foreign affairs and Uganda’s information minister also did not respond to calls seeking comment.
Mwangi and Atuhaire were detained after arriving in Dar es Salaam to attend the first court appearance of Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who is facing treason charges.
Tanzanian authorities have not commented directly on Mwangi and Atuhaire’s detentions. However, in public remarks on May 19, the day of their arrest, President Samia Suluhu Hassan cautioned foreign activists against “invading and interfering in our affairs.”
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Mwangi said that after being taken into custody at their hotel in Dar es Salaam, he and Atuhaire were blindfolded by police officers and taken to a house. He alleged that during questioning about his phone and laptop, his interrogators stripped him, blindfolded him, and sexually assaulted him.
Visibly emotional, Mwangi described his ordeal at a press conference in Nairobi, Kenya, adding that the security personnel had also photographed him during the assault.
Atuhaire corroborated Mwangi’s account, stating that she too had been blindfolded, tied up, and similarly assaulted.
Both activists were eventually abandoned near the borders of their respective countries, from where they returned home.
Lissu, who finished second in Tanzania’s last presidential election, was arrested in April and charged with treason for allegedly making a speech calling on the public to rebel and disrupt the upcoming October elections.
His case has drawn attention to a perceived increase in the suppression of political opposition under President Hassan, whose party has nominated her to run in the October vote.
While Hassan initially received praise after assuming power in 2021 for easing the political repression of her predecessor, she has faced growing criticism for a series of arrests and unexplained abductions targeting political opponents.
President Hassan has stated that her government is committed to respecting human rights and ordered an investigation into reported abductions last year.
