Legislatures in Kenya and Uganda are under pressure to demand answers from their governments over the alleged torture of two activists in Tanzania. Political commentators in the two countries also fault Tanzania’s commitment to the East African Community (EAC).

Human rights groups want the Tanzanian government to be held responsible not only for the torture of Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi and Ugandan Agather Atuhaire but also to be compensated.

They have also petitioned the Kenyan and Ugandan foreign affairs ministries to explain their actions, as the two human rights defenders suffered in Tanzania.

This follows reports of abduction and torture meted out to Mwangi and Atuhaire. However, on June 4, Dar es Salaam’s Special Police Zone Commander, Jumanne Muliro, dismissed the allegations.  

The two activists arrived in Tanzania on May 18 as part of a delegation to observe the trial of jailed opposition political leader Tundu Lissu. After being arrested by immigration and police officers at the Serena Hotel in Dar es Salaam on May 19, Mwangi and Atuhaire were driven to an unknown location, where they were held incommunicado and allegedly beaten, stripped naked and tortured by people believed to be members of the Tanzanian military.

On June 3, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and the Police Reforms Working Group called on the EAC 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 the two human rights defenders.

A day earlier, the two had testified to the cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and torture they experienced in Dar es Salaam between May 19 and 23, 2025. Mwangi and Atuhaire claimed that they were denied medical treatment and access to their families or legal representatives, adding that, rather than being brought to a court of law, they were kept in inhuman detention conditions. In their June 2 press conference in Nairobi, they named the arresting officers and described the stations involved.

According to the LSK and Police Reforms Working Group, 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 Agather Atuhaire and bring them to justice in a fair trial,” the two organisations said in a statement.

Article 6.2 of the Treaty establishing the East African Community (EAC) binds Tanzania, Kenya, 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 Ministries to account for the actions taken to protect their nationals and spell out the steps 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,” the statement released by the two bodies read in part.  

Amnesty International also raised concern over remarks made by Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan following the pair’s arrest, calling for a crackdown on human rights defenders who entered Tanzania, labelling them “foreign agents.” The organisation stated that such statements provide State authorities with an unlawful and spurious pretext to impose restrictions that flout international human rights obligations.

“Trial observation is central to the transparency of court processes and guarantees of fair trials and is not a threat to security. President Suluhu’s remarks and actions by authorities in Tanzania send a chilling message aimed at further stifling freedom of expression and association,” said Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa.

The rights groups said the three East African countries also need to refrain from collaborating to abuse the rights of their respective citizens, quoting the abductions and arrests of Tanzanian activist Maria Sarungi and Ugandan Kizza Besigye in Nairobi.

Eric Mokaya, Executive Director of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), stated that they are concerned about potential collusion among countries to silence dissent in every way. “Even now, as we speak in this country, particular laws are being used to kill dissent,” he stated.

Additionally, Tanzania’s commitment to the EAC is being faulted. The neighbouring country is accused of being a reluctant partner in the regional bloc.

“Tanzania does not believe in the East African Community. Tanzania is very comfortable in the Southern African Development Community (SADC); its identity is rooted in the South, not the East. It finds itself geographically in the East, but its heart and soul is in the South,” said Prof. Peter Kagwanja, Chief Executive of the Africa Policy Institute, on Wednesday night on Citizen TV’s JKLive.

Political commentator Dr. Barrack Muluka, also speaking on the same show, called out inconsistencies in the implementation of EAC ideals, more especially on matters related to the right to freedom of movement and political expression.

“There is paranoia in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania; there is paranoia everywhere within the East African Community. The difference is in the stages; the difference is in the manifestation of the paranoia. Activism is an integral part of the law in the three East African countries. There is nothing criminal about mobilising people,” said Dr. Muluka.