We should not give up until Mwangi and Atuhaire get justice

Activists Boniface Mwangi and Agather Atuhaire while narrating their harrowing experiences at the hands of Tanzanian Authorities last Month. [Bernard Orwongo, Standard]

I watched in tears as human rights defenders Agatha Atuhaire and Boniface Mwangi narrated their traumatic experiences of torture and ill-treatment in Tanzania. The two had traveled to attend the treason trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu, a trial already raising alarms about political repression. What they endured was nothing short of state-sanctioned brutality: physical assault, verbal abuse, and sexual harassment while in custody. These are not isolated incidents. They meet the internationally accepted definition of torture.

According to the UN Convention Against Torture (UNCAT), torture includes any act that inflicts severe physical or mental pain intentionally, for a specific purpose, by or with the consent of public officials. Tanzania has an obligation to prohibit, prevent, investigate, and redress acts of torture. These obligations are echoed in regional instruments such as the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.