United States call for immediate investigations into human rights abuse incidents in Tanzania
The United States of America, through the Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of African Affairs has released a statement which expresses concern over states of affairs in Tanzania.
“The United States is deeply concerned by reports of the mistreatment in Tanzania of two East African activists, among them the Ugandan activist Agather Atuhaire and Kenyan activist and photojournalist Boniface Mwangi,” reads part of the Statement from the Assistant Secretary of State.
“Atuhaire had been recognized by the U.S State Department in 2024 with an International Women of Courage Award. We call for an immediate and full investigation into the allegations of human rights abuses,” the U.S Bureau of African Affairs maintains.
“We urge all countries in the region to hold to account those responsible for violating human rights, including torture,” the U.S statement insisted.
In another development, the People’s Liberation Party (PLP) leader Martha Karua has written to various continental organisations, accusing the Tanzania of detention and torture of human rights activists Boniface Mwangi from Kenya and Uganda’s Agather Atuhaire.
In a letter addressed to the African Union, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat, Karua explained that detaining the duo breached the international human rights standards and sets a precedent for democratic values in the region.
According to Karua, the activists were part of a delegation of East African observers in Tanzania to follow the trial against opposition leader Tundu Lissu, but upon arrival, they were arrested and held incommunicado by authorities.
Tundu Lissu, the leader of the main opposition party in Tanzania and is being detained in Prison. He is the same politician who got showered by bullets in 2017 in Dodoma.
The two detainees were later released at different times and each of them dumped at the border of their respective countries , Kenya and Uganda.
Boniface Mwangi was badly beaten and injured, while Agather claimed to have been sexually assaulted by Tanzanian policemen, in addition to being tortured.
“This situation represents not only a humanitarian concern for the individuals involved but also a troubling indicator of deteriorating human rights and justice standards within the East African Community. Your diplomatic influence is crucial in ensuring that member states uphold their commitments to human rights and the rule of law,” Martha Karua stated.