The Police Reforms Working Group has called on the East African Community and the international community to demand that the Government of Tanzania hold accountable the police officers and their commanding officers responsible for the torture, assault, and sexual assault committed against Boniface Mwangi and Agather Atuhaire.
On Monday, the two East African human rights defenders, Boniface Mwangi and Agather Atuhaire, courageously testified to the cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment and torture they experienced in Dar es Salaam between 19-23 May 2025.
They publicly detailed the deliberate inflicting of physical beating, sexual assault, verbal abuse, and humiliation to extract information and punishment.
For four long days, they were allegedly denied medical treatment and access to their families or legal representatives.
According to the Rights groups, the Tanzanian authorities would have brought them to a court of law rather than torture
The group says Tanzania bears a duty under the United Nations Convention Against Torture (UNCAT) to protect all people against torture.
‘’Torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment are serious crimes under multiple treaties and international law. The Government of Tanzania must arrest and prosecute all officers suspected of responsibility for the human rights violations against Boniface Mwangi and Atuhaire and bring them to justice in a fair trial’’, Said the group.
They added, ‘’Article 6.2 of the Treaty establishing the East African Community binds Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda and other partner states to ‘uphold principles of good governance, democracy, the rule of law, social justice and universally accepted standards of human rights.” We petition both Kenyan and Ugandan parliamentarians to summon their respective Foreign Affairs Ministers to account for actions taken to protect their nationals and spell out what steps are being taken to secure justice and compensation for the suffering and trauma experienced. The Police Reforms Working Group shall, with others, also formally petition Members of the East African Legislative Assembly to initiate a parliamentary public hearing’’.
Through a brutal campaign against dissent, the Police Reforms Working Group claims that Tanzanian authorities have created a chilling climate of fear, silencing anyone who criticises President Samia Suluhu Hassan ahead of the October 2025 elections.
‘’Unless urgently addressed, this and the brutal treatment of Boniface Mwangi and Agather Atuhaire shall remain a stark indictment of violent repression and impunity under President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s government and the East African Community’s silence will render it complicit’’.
