The United States government has imposed sanctions on a senior officer in the Tanzanian Police Force for involvement in serious human rights abuses committed against activist Agather Atuhaire and her Kenyan counterpart Boniface Mwangi.
In a statement issued on Thursday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US had designated Assistant Commissioner Faustine Jackson Mafwele under Section 7031(c) of the US Department of State appropriations law.
The designation bars Mafwele from entering the United States following what Washington described as “credible information” linking him to gross violations of human rights.
“One year ago, 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 in the statement issued by the US Department of State.
The department said the sanctions were intended to hold accountable individuals implicated in serious human rights abuses.
Atuhaire, who heads the Agora Centre for Research, had travelled to Dar es Salaam alongside Kenyan Mwangi as part of a regional solidarity effort focused on political freedoms and judicial transparency.
However, shortly after arriving in the city, the two activists were reportedly picked up by security operatives from their hotel and prevented from attending the court hearing.
Their arrest came amid heightened political tensions in Tanzania and public remarks from Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan warning foreign activists against interfering in the country’s internal affairs.
Following her release days later, Atuhaire recounted what she described as a terrifying ordeal during her detention, alleging she was held incommunicado, assaulted and sexually abused by plainclothes security personnel.
According to accounts she later shared with regional and international media, she said she was blindfolded, restrained, stripped and repeatedly beaten during interrogations, and that loud music was played to conceal her cries for help.
On Friday, the activist said the sanction provided small victory worth celebrating in their fight for justice, framing it al;ong the saying that "the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.”
"Our tormentor and of many other Tanzanians has been sanctioned by the State Department. It gives me hope that one day it will be more than just sanctions he will have to contend with but be behind bars to pay for his crimes and to save people from his criminality," she said.
"We hope that the regional bodies we petitioned will also pronounce themselves soon.
Atuhaire further alleged that the beatings left her unable to walk properly, forcing her to crawl at certain moments during captivity.
After several days in detention, she was reportedly abandoned near the Mutukula border between Uganda and Tanzania, while Mwangi was separately left near the Kenya–Tanzania border.
The incident previously sparked regional outrage, with civil society organisations and human rights defenders calling for investigations into the alleged abuses.
The US Bureau of African Affairs also called for accountability at the time, while Amnesty International urged Tanzanian authorities to investigate the detention and treatment of the activists.
Tanzanian authorities have not publicly responded in detail to the specific allegations of torture and sexual assault raised by Atuhaire.