DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania — The United States has imposed sanctions on a senior Tanzanian police officer over alleged gross human rights violations involving the detention, torture and sexual abuse of Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi and his Ugandan counterpart Agather Atuhaire.
In a statement issued on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the designation of Tanzanian Police Force Senior Assistant Commissioner Faustine Jackson Mafwele under Section 7031(c) of the U.S. Department of State appropriations law.
The provision allows Washington to bar foreign officials implicated in significant corruption or gross human rights abuses from entering the United States. Rubio said the decision was based on “credible information” linking Mafwele to serious violations.
“Members of the Tanzanian Police Force detained, tortured, and sexually assaulted Ugandan Agather Atuhaire and Kenyan Boniface Mwangi, who were in Dar es Salaam to observe the judicial trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu,” Rubio said.
The sanctions render Mafwele permanently ineligible for entry into the United States.
The move comes a day after Atuhaire published an emotional account describing the lasting physical and psychological impact of the alleged abuse.
“I always want to put the torture I and Boniface Mwangi were subjected to in Tanzania behind me, but yesterday and today have refused. A year later, we are yet to recover from it,” she wrote.
She said she continues to suffer persistent physical complications, including ongoing foot pain requiring medical intervention.
“In March the pain was so bad and I was given cortisone shots in between the toes. They numbed the pain for a few weeks and we went back to zero,” she added.
Atuhaire also accused Mafwele of directly issuing threats during their detention.
“When people asked about our whereabouts the following day, he told them he would do whatever he wants to us and there is nothing anyone will do,” she claimed.
Despite the ordeal, she said the experience had not deterred her activism or calls for accountability in the region.
“What he did didn’t stop us from demanding respect for human rights and dignity,” she wrote, also accusing Tanzanian authorities under President Samia Suluhu Hassan of suppressing dissent.
In a detailed public briefing in June 2025, Mwangi and Atuhaire said they had travelled to Dar es Salaam to observe court proceedings involving Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu.
They recounted being picked up from their hotel, moved between police stations, interrogated by immigration officials, and later handed over to individuals who allegedly subjected them to torture.
“We were transferred to a police station where we found a guy called Mafwele. The beating continued in the presence of three lawyers,” Mwangi said.
“At that station, Mafwele said he is going to rape Agather,” he added.
Mwangi further alleged that they were later blindfolded, transported to another location, and subjected to sustained physical and sexual abuse in what he described as a coordinated operation.
Atuhaire, in her testimony, said the attackers inflicted severe pain while issuing threats and recording the abuse.
“The people had come with one instruction: inflict as much pain as you can,” she said.
After the incident, the two were allegedly held overnight before being moved separately the following day and later released.
Also Read: Voices from Detention: Kenyan, Ugandan activists speak out on ‘sexual torture’ in Tanzania
The United States Bureau of African Affairs had earlier called for investigations into the allegations, urging regional governments to ensure accountability.
Mwangi and Atuhaire, alongside seven civil society organisations, have since filed a case before the East African Court of Justice accusing Tanzania of enforced disappearance, torture, arbitrary detention, sexual abuse and unlawful deportation.
They are seeking public apologies from the governments of Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya, as well as compensation of at least USD 1 million each, alongside rehabilitation and psychological support.
