Ugandan journalist and human rights activist Agather Atuhaire has shared a deeply troubling account of abuse and mistreatment she allegedly endured while in Tanzanian custody. Speaking at a press briefing on Monday, alongside Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi, Atuhaire described the terrifying ordeal she faced after traveling to Tanzania to support opposition leader Tundu Lissu during a court hearing.
Atuhaire and Mwangi were both detained for several days incommunicado and later forcibly deported to their respective countries, with Mwangi sent to the Horohoro border with Kenya and Atuhaire to Mutukula in Uganda.
Describing the horrific treatment she received, Atuhaire recalled that after being taken into custody, Tanzanian authorities stripped her down to her underwear and subjected her to physical assault.
“They removed all my clothes and left me in my underwear. They beat me,” Atuhaire said. She further explained that after the assault, she was taken to a clinic where she was injected and had unidentified substances inserted into her body.
“I had no strength left to resist,” she added, detailing the brutal violation she endured while feeling completely powerless.
As her condition worsened, Atuhaire noted that the authorities seemed to become increasingly concerned about her physical state.
“They kept checking on me. I think they started to panic that I might not leave in a physically stable condition. They had to make sure I walked out looking like a human being,” Atuhaire explained, revealing that she was repeatedly given painkillers, which she later discovered had been administered in doses much higher than prescribed.
“They almost overdosed me,” she said, revealing that the prescribed dosage was “one times two,” but she had been given the medication up to four times a day.
Despite the physical and emotional scars, Atuhaire said the abuse did not include sexual assault through their own body parts, which she considered a grim relief.
“At least I wouldn’t have to deal with HIV or other diseases. But the scars, both emotional and physical, remained,” she noted.
The traumatic abuse left Atuhaire with severe injuries, including swelling of her feet that left her unable to walk for three days. “I couldn’t walk for three days. My feet were so swollen. Have you ever felt your skin become so tight that you think it would burst if you stepped on something? That’s how my feet felt,” she explained.
Atuhaire and Mwangi have vowed to seek justice and are exploring all possible legal avenues to hold Tanzanian authorities accountable for the abuse they endured.
