DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania — A Ugandan activist has accused Tanzanian security officials of rape and torture while she was in detention in Tanzania last week, according to reports by the BBC and accounts from her and a Kenyan activist.
Agather Atuhaire, a Ugandan human rights advocate, said she was raped after being arrested alongside Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi. The two had traveled to Tanzania to show solidarity with opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who was facing treason charges and was expected to appear in court.
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Atuhaire described a harrowing experience in which she was blindfolded, beaten, and sexually assaulted by individuals in plain clothes. “The pain was too much,” she recounted, displaying a scar she attributed to handcuffs. She also stated she heard screams from Mwangi and that their captors threatened to circumcise him.
Mwangi corroborated Atuhaire’s account, detailing his own torture. In a post on X, he wrote, “We had been tortured, and we were told to strip naked and to go bathe. We couldn’t walk and were told to crawl and go wash off the blood.”
The alleged mistreatment of Atuhaire and Mwangi has drawn condemnation from regional rights groups and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Africa Affairs, both of which have called for an investigation.
Atuhaire’s organization, Agora Discourse, had previously reported indications of torture. Godwin Toko, the deputy team leader at Agora, confirmed Atuhaire’s safe return after her release, stating, “Finally, Agather has been found and I have talked to her via her sister’s phone right now. She was picked from the border.”
Anthony Masake, Executive Director of Chapter Four Uganda, denounced Atuhaire’s arrest, asserting that observing court proceedings is not a crime. He called for her unconditional release and safe return, urging regional and international condemnation of what he termed reprisal attacks against human rights defenders in Tanzania.
