Agather Atuhaire, Ugandan lawyer and human rights activist, was Friday morning found abandoned at the border between Uganda and Tanzania, amid international condemnation of President Samia Suluhu.
This comes barely 24 hours after activist Boniface Mwangi was similarly dumped at the Horohoro border, which is approximately 162 kilometres from the Kenya-Tanzania Lunga Lunga border post.Atuhaire, who heads the Agora Discourse platform, had traveled together with Mwangi, opposition leader Martha Karua, former CJ Willy Mutunga and others to attend the trial of Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu.
Mwangi and Atuhaire were arrested at their hotel in Serena, Dar es Salaam and held without access to legal counsel or family, reportedly enduring torture while in custody.
The two arrests and detention, without charge or due process, have triggered widespread condemnation."She was beaten, particularly on the feet with blunt objects," one of her close associates told Uganda's DailyExpress.According to Vocal Africa, a human rights organisation, part of the abuse Atuhaire endured included sexual harassment.The Pan-African Progressive Leaders Solidarity Network described the events as a serious breach of national and international human rights standards and a signal of a dangerous trend of coordinated abductions, forced disappearances, torture and extrajudicial killings in the East African region.Signed by more than 40 civil society organizations, including the Law Society of Kenya, Amnesty International Kenya, PAWA254, and VOCAL Africa, the statement demands urgent diplomatic intervention.Among its recommendations is a formal note to the Tanzanian government seeking clarity on the activists' detentions, a regional inquiry into the abuses, and the deployment of human rights monitors to future proceedings."This situation represents not only a humanitarian concern for the individuals involved but also a troubling indicator of deteriorating human rights and justice standards within the East African Community.
