The US has sanctioned Tanzanian Police Force (TPF) Senior Assistant Commissioner Faustine Jackson Mafwele over allegations linked to the “torture and sexual assault” of East African rights activists Boniface Mwangi and Agather Atuhaire last year.
In a statement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the State Department had designated Faustine Jackson Mafwele based on credible information that he was involved in gross violations of human rights”.
The sanctions come amid growing scrutiny of Tanzania’s human rights record, with US lawmakers calling for tougher action.
The two activists from Kenya and Uganda flew to Tanzania to observe the trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu last May when they were detained and later released.
Later, in a press conference in Nairobi, Boniface Mwangi alleged that he was stripped naked, hung upside down, beaten on his feet, and sexually assaulted in detention, while Atuhaire also said she was raped during her detention in Tanzania.
Tanzanian police at the time dismissed the torture allegations, describing the activists’ accounts as “opinions” and “hearsay”.
But Rubio, in his statement late on Thursday, said members of the Tanzanian Police Force (TPF) had “detained, tortured, and sexually assaulted” the two activists.
It did not explicitly state Mafwele’s alleged role, but Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Riley Barnes said the US was “taking action to promote accountability for this heinous act”.
The designation prohibits Mafwele from entering the United States.
Mafwele, who serves as Tanzania’s senior assistant commissioner of police, is the first senior government official under President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s administration to face foreign sanctions.
Amnesty International had previously called for an urgent investigation into what it described as the arbitrary arrest, torture, incommunicado detention and forcible deportation of the two activists.
Human Rights Watch also cited the case in this year’s report on Tanzania, pointing to a broader crackdown on opposition figures, activists and free expression.
The sanctions come as Tanzania continues to investigate reports of political repression and abuses surrounding the general election held last October.
A total of 518 people died, including 197 who were shot dead, in the widespread protests that followed the disputed election, the commission of inquiry set up to investigate the violence announced last month.
