Lobby groups demand compensation for activists Boniface Mwangi and Atuhaire

Activists Boniface Mwangi and Agather Atuhaire Narrating their harrowing experiences in the hands of Tanzanian Authorities last Month. [Benard Orwongo, Standard] A network of activists now wants Kenya's Boniface Mwangi and Uganda's Agather Atuhaire compensated after they were tortured for days by Tanzania authorities. Under the umbrella of Jumuiya, the lobby groups say the incident mirrors others in Kenya and Uganda, and they want the Tanzanian government to apologise to the two. "Mwangi and Agather were blindfolded, forced to strip naked, and tied by their hands and feet, with their bodies chained, hanging below," they said in a statement. They say the two underwent brutal beating and torture while being forced to say "Asante Mama Suluhu", while this terrifying process was all being recorded. "They spent days walking on their knees, crawling to bathe themselves to wash off the blood, as they could not stand after the torture, handcuffed and blindfolded, in solitary confinement for four days, with the occasional verbal, psychosocial and physical abuse along the way." The activists say Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu wanted to silence critical voices about her leadership, but had achieved the opposite. "This mounting repression has galvanised a broad and unified movement of young and old, united in purpose and conviction." The activists said that they had information that Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania intelligence agencies are collaborating across borders to target critics. "We will pursue every possible avenue of seeking justice, under the local, regional and international human rights laws to prosecute the dictators, and their accomplices from Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya." They also want an explanation from Suluhu's administration on Mwangi and Atuhaire's illegal detention and why police never brought charges against them. The activists also want an inquest on the illegal detention and torture to be undertaken by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights for Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. They want the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat to convene a meeting to address the breach of regional protocols on human rights and the rule of law, integrating representation from the People's Jumuiya. The lobby groups further want EAC lawyers to help in pursuing justice for Mwangi and Atuhaire and numerous others like them who are languishing in the custody of EAC authorities, as Political Prisoners. "That the people who subjected them to this torture are immediately held accountable, including those directing these crimes, which has proven to be the directive of Samia Suluhu." According to them, the international community should pressure Suluhu and Uganda's Yoweri to free opposition leaders Tundu Lissu and Kizza Besigye, respectively and all Political Prisoners being illegally detained on trumped-up charges. The activists also want pressure put on Kenya's William Ruto to give an account of missing youth abducted, murdered and missing since 2024, and prosecution of those identified as murderers, along with their commanders. Their sentiments come after Mwangi and Atuhaire revealed chilling details of their alleged abduction, torture, and deportation by Tanzanian authorities. The revelation of the harrowing ordeal has drawn condemnation from across the region. Speaking in Nairobi a week after their return from Tanzania, Mwangi recounted the terrifying experience that began with their arrest while attending court proceedings for Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu. "They did very terrible things to me and Agather. Whatever they did was recorded, and they said they would release the footage once we returned home," Mwangi told journalists. The two had travelled to Tanzania in solidarity with Lissu, but their mission was cut short when they were denied entry into the courtroom and later seized under unclear circumstances.

Lobby groups demand compensation for activists Boniface Mwangi and Atuhaire

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Lobby groups demand compensation for activists Boniface Mwangi and Atuhaire

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