Two activists from Kenya and Uganda grew to become emotional whereas recounting the alleged “sexual torture” they suffered by the hands of Tanzanian safety forces.
Kenyan human rights advocate Boniface Mwangi and award-winning Ugandan activist Agather Atuhaire spoke out throughout a June 2 press convention in Nairobi, detailing the alleged bodily and sexual abuse they suffered by the hands of Tanzanian safety officers whereas in custody, France24 studies. The 2 activists traveled to Tanzania’s financial capital, Dar es Salaam, to attend the Could 19, 2025, courtroom look of Tanzanian opposition chief Tundu Lissu, who faces a possible dying sentence in a high-profile treason trial forward of the nation’s October elections.
Whereas there, the activists say they had been kidnapped from their lodge room, blindfolded, and delivered to a home the place interrogators questioned Mwangi in regards to the whereabouts of his telephone and laptop computer. Mwangi recalled being stripped bare, hung the other way up, and overwhelmed on the soles of his toes.
“They take you thru sexual torture, and inform you for those who converse, you’re going to be reported to your loved ones and all that,” Mwangi mentioned.
“And what they did to us is, it breaks me. Then they began beating my toes… I used to be screaming so onerous. I couldn’t breathe. There have been no tears popping out due to how painful it was.”
Atuhaire mentioned she was additionally blindfolded, sure, and subjected to related abuse. Mwangi broke down in tears whereas describing the alleged sexual assault Tanzanian authorities compelled on him.
“They might put objects in my anus after which say, ‘say you’re feeling good, say you’re feeling good’. Then they might say, ‘say asante (thanks in Swahili) Samia, asante Samia’, so I say asante to their president,” he mentioned.
Each activists had been finally deserted close to their respective nation borders, the place they made their approach again residence.
“We’re right here to share our story, and to say that our our bodies could also be damaged, however our spirit is powerful,” Mwangi mentioned.
Opposition leaders, human rights teams, and the U.S. Bureau of African Affairs have cited Mwangi and Atuhaire’s case in accusing Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan of following the identical authoritarian path as her predecessor, John Magufuli. Hassan, who took workplace in 2021, initially obtained reward for rolling again among the political repression seen beneath Magufuli, however has since confronted rising backlash over arrests and mysterious abductions concentrating on authorities critics.
Lissu is among the many most high-profile instances of alleged assaults on political opponents involving Hassan. He got here in second in Tanzania’s final presidential election. However he was arrested in April and charged with treason after prosecutors accused him of calling for public revolt in a speech.
His trial and the activists’ reported assaults have underscored what many see as a renewed clampdown forward of the October election, through which Hassan has been nominated as her celebration’s candidate. The alleged sexual assault of the 2 activists got here simply after Hassan accused overseas activists of attempting to “intrude and intrude” in Tanzania’s inner affairs, feedback that drew worldwide concern. On the identical day the activists had been kidnapped, she additionally urged safety forces “to not enable ill-mannered people from different international locations to cross the road right here.”
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