Stop torture in Tanzania
I travelled to Tanzania as an activist. I came back broken, but I will not be silenced:
Strange men pounded violently on my hotel door, claiming to be police. I refused to go with them without a lawyer. They came back the next day during breakfast and arrested me, together with Agather, my fellow activist. They blindfolded and handcuffed me, stripped me naked, hoisted me upside down, and beat me. These ‘police’ shoved underwear into my mouth to muffle my screams and blasted gospel music to drown my cries.
Then came the sexual torture. My torturers forced objects into my rectum, mocking me and forcing me to sing their president’s praises as they violated me. They filmed it. Said if I ever spoke, they’d release the videos. Shame me. Humiliate my wife and my children.
I was left bleeding on a concrete floor, then made to crawl like a dog to the shower. These nameless, faceless men eventually dumped me on a roadside near the Kenya-Tanzania border with a few shillings and a warning: 'If you ever return, we will kill you. If you speak, we will destroy you.'
I came back with a broken body, but a strong mind: I refuse to be silenced. And I speak not just for myself and Agather, but for the countless Tanzanians who suffer in silence. Who are raped, tortured, humiliated—and whose stories never reach the light. My body is healing, my spirit is still standing. Africa is my home, and I will continue to fight.
To Tanzania's global partners:
As citizens from across the world, we are deeply alarmed by the human rights violations being perpetrated by Tanzanian security forces. We call on you immediately to:
As citizens from across the world, we are deeply alarmed by the human rights violations being perpetrated by Tanzanian security forces. We call on you immediately to:
- Condemn abuse and demand independent investigations;
- Suspend financial support until credible safeguards are in place;
- Tie all future aid to enforceable human rights standards.
Recent signers
I travelled to Tanzania as an activist. I came back broken, but I will not be silenced:
Then came the sexual torture. My torturers forced objects into my rectum, mocking me and forcing me to sing their president’s praises as they violated me. They filmed it. Said if I ever spoke, they’d release the videos. Shame me. Humiliate my wife and my children.
I was left bleeding on a concrete floor, then made to crawl like a dog to the shower. These nameless, faceless men eventually dumped me on a roadside near the Kenya-Tanzania border with a few shillings and a warning: 'If you ever return, we will kill you. If you speak, we will destroy you.'
I came back with a broken body, but a strong mind: I refuse to be silenced. And I speak not just for myself and Agather, but for the countless Tanzanians who suffer in silence. Who are raped, tortured, humiliated—and whose stories never reach the light. My body is healing, my spirit is still standing. Africa is my home, and I will continue to fight."
These are the words of Boniface Mwangi, an activist tortured by Tanzanian secret police. As elections approach, the government has been facing accusations of orchestrating abductions and killing political opponents. Join the call to Tanzania’s global partners to put pressure on President Hassan and stop her slide into violent despotism.
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