{"id":115520,"date":"2025-05-24T13:03:20","date_gmt":"2025-05-24T13:03:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/05\/24\/ugandan-activist-alleges-she-was-raped-while-in-tanzanian-detention\/"},"modified":"2025-05-24T13:03:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-24T13:03:20","slug":"ugandan-activist-alleges-she-was-raped-while-in-tanzanian-detention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/ugandan-activist-alleges-she-was-raped-while-in-tanzanian-detention\/","title":{"rendered":"Ugandan activist alleges she was raped while in Tanzanian detention"},"content":{"rendered":"

Warning: This story contains details of sexual assault<\/em><\/p>\n

A Ugandan activist who was arrested and held for days in Tanzania and later found at the border between the two countries has told the BBC that she was raped while in detention.<\/p>\n

Expanding on the earlier remarks of her rights group, who said she showed \u201cindications of torture\u201d, Agather Atuhaire alleged that people dressed in plain clothes \u201cblindfolded\u201d her, after which she was hit, \u201cviolently\u201d stripped, and sexually assaulted.<\/p>\n

Atuhaire had been held incommunicado in Tanzania alongside fellow Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi, who was on Thursday found at the border with his home country.<\/p>\n

The Tanzanian authorities have not commented.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pain was too much,\u201d said Atuhaire, showing the BBC a scar from where she said she had been handcuffed.<\/p>\n

She added that she was \u201cscreaming so hard\u201d that they had to cover her mouth.<\/p>\n

Atuhaire told the BBC about her alleged rape in graphic detail.<\/p>\n

She said she also heard screams from Mwangi, and that those holding him had threatened to circumcise him.<\/p>\n

The pair had gone to Tanzania to show solidarity with opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who appeared in court on Monday after being charged with treason<\/p>\n

Mwangi recounted his alleged experience in a post on X:<\/a>\u00a0\u201cWe had been tortured, and we were told to strip naked and to go bathe. We couldn\u2019t walk and were told to crawl and go wash off the blood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite being allowed into the country, Mwangi and Atuhaire were not permitted to attend the hearing and were arrested.<\/p>\n

On Monday, President Samia Suluhu Hassan had warned that she would not allow activists from neighbouring countries to \u201cmeddle\u201d in her country\u2019s affairs and cause \u201cchaos\u201d.<\/p>\n

Atuhaire was found abandoned at the border on Thursday night after being held in custody since Monday, Agora Centre for Research, the Uganda-based rights group that she leads, posted on X.<\/p>\n

Uganda\u2019s high commissioner to Tanzania Fred Mwesigye said Atuhaire had \u201csafely returned home\u201d and had been \u201cwarmly received by her family\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mwangi, who was earlier found abandoned on a roadside in northern Tanzania near the Kenyan border, said he had heard Atuhaire \u201cgroaning in pain\u201d when they were held together on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny attempt to speak to each other during the night we were tortured was met with kicks and insults. We were removed from the torture location in different vehicles,\u201d Mwangi added.<\/p>\n

He said those who were holding them were getting orders from a \u201cstate security\u201d official, who directed the activist to be given a \u201cTanzanian treatment\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mwangi\u2019s disappearance had sparked widespread concern across Kenya, with his family, civil society, and human rights groups staging protests and demanding his release.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the Kenyan government formally protested against his detention, accusing the Tanzanian authorities of denying consular access despite repeated requests.<\/p>\n

Earlier on Thursday, Kenya\u2019s foreign affairs ministry issued a statement saying it had not been able to access the activist.<\/p>\n

Regional rights groups have called for an investigation into the alleged mistreatment of the activists by the Tanzanian authorities and urged all East African countries to uphold rights treaties.<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Basillioh Rukanga in Nairobi<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Warning: This story contains details of sexual assault A Ugandan activist who was arrested and held for days in Tanzania and later found at the border between the two countries has told the BBC that she was raped while in detention. Expanding on the earlier remarks of her rights group, who said she showed \u201cindications […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115520\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}