The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) condemns the arbitrary arrests and detention and torture of human rights defenders Boniface Mwangi of Kenya and Agather Atuhaire in the United Republic of Tanzania.
The ICJ calls on the responsible authorities to ensure a prompt, thorough, and impartial investigation into their treatment with a view to bringing those responsible to justice.
Boniface Mwangi, a photojournalist and activist from Kenya and Agather Atuhaire, journalist from Uganda, were in Tanzania last month to observe the trial of Tundu Lissu, the main Tanzanian political opposition leader, who has been charged with treason and publishing false information online under the cybercrime laws.
On 2 June the two human rights defenders publicly recounted how between 9 and 23 May they were allegedly abducted from their hotel rooms in Dar es Salaam, blindfolded and held in incommunicado and thereafter subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, including severe beatings and sexual violence. They were separately found abandoned at border posts on 22 and 23 May.
Both Boniface and Agather alleged that they had been forcibly stripped naked, tied and hung upside down while handcuffed and blindfolded, beaten severely on their feet and had fists and objects inserted through the anus. The captors reportedly issued death threats and filmed the sexual ordeal to blackmail them if they recounted their ordeal.
“The arbitrary arrest and torture of two human rights defenders who were performing the indispensable role of observing a public trial in exercise of their human rights and professional responsibilities is a further stain on the already dismal human rights record of Tanzania”, said Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh, Director of ICJ’s Africa Programme.
The treatment of Boniface Mwangi of Kenya and Agather Atuhaire constitutes multiple human rights violations prohibited under both Tanzanian law and the Tanzania’s international legal obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights and the Tanzania Constitution. The obligations pertain to the treatment of citizens and non-citizens alike. They are also contrary to the ideals enshrined in the East Africa Community Treaty (EAC Treaty).
Under both international and Tanzanian law, Tanzania must carry out effective investigations and prosecution of the perpetrators and provide for effective remedies and reparation of victims of these violations.
In addition, persons acting as human rights defenders must be afforded particular protections by State officials in carrying out their work, as provided in the UN Declaration on Human Defenders.
The frustration of the work of Boniface Mwangi and Agather Atuhaire as trial observers, has also impaired the right to a fair trial in the Tundu Lissu case.
“The right to a public trial, open to observers and others, is an essential component of a fair trial and the restriction of independent trial observation clearly undermines the exercise of the rights of not only of the defendant, but also of members of the general public,” Ramjathan-Keogh added.
Additional References
- Daily Nation, Mwangi & Atuhaire detail harrowing ordeal in detention
- Kurunzi News, Agatha Atuhaire Narrates Her Ordeal in Tanzania
- Tanzania’s main opposition party banned from election
- Tanzania president warns ‘meddling’ Kenyan activists
- Martha Karua speaks after her deportation from Tanzania
- Kenya’s ex-justice minister ‘deported’ from Tanzania
- Citizen Digital, Former CJ Mutunga, Martha Karua sue Tanzania over detention and deportation
Contacts
Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh, Regional Director, ICJ Africa Regional Programme, email: Kaajal.Keogh@icj.org
Petronella Mukaindo, Associate Legal Adviser, ICJ Africa Regional Programme, email: p.mukaindo@icj.org
