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Ugandan human rights activist Agather Atuhaire has spoken out about the torture and sexual assault she endured while detained in Tanzania last month.
Alongside Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi, she was held in custody for several days after arriving in Dar es Salaam to attend the first court hearing of Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who faces treason charges.
The two broke down in tears as they described the ordeal at a press conference in Kenya's capital Nairobi.
Atuhaire revealed that during their detention, she was blindfolded, tied up, and sexually assaulted by Tanzanian security officers.
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“They got be out of the car and they told me to undress. I did not undress immediately and I fet a blow in my back” she recounted.
“They cuffed my hands and legs and hanged me upside down”
Both activists were eventually released near their respective countries’ borders, where they returned home.
Agather Atuhaire at the press conference in Nairobi
Disturbing Details from Mwangi and Atuhaire
Mwangi described their ordeal, recounting how police blindfolded them and took them to an undisclosed house.
While being questioned, he said he was stripped, blindfolded again, and sexually assaulted.
He also revealed that security personnel photographed him during the assault.
Atuhaire corroborated these allegations, sharing that she suffered similar treatment.
Agather Atuhaire feet
Despite repeated requests for comment, spokespeople for Tanzania’s government, foreign affairs ministry, and police did not respond. Neither did representatives from Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs or Uganda’s Information Ministry address the issue publicly.
Political Context and Wider Implications
The activists’ detention follows the arrest of Tundu Lissu, Tanzania’s prominent opposition figure, who is charged with treason after allegedly inciting rebellion ahead of October’s elections.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who has faced criticism for increasing political repression since taking office in 2021, warned foreign activists against interfering in Tanzanian affairs on the day of the activists’ detention.
While Hassan has pledged to respect human rights and launched investigations into earlier reported abductions, this case has intensified concerns over a crackdown on dissent in Tanzania.