Tanzania releases Ugandan activist at border, Kenyan colleague alleges torture
FILE PHOTO: Kenyan social-political activist Boniface Mwangi speaks during a Reuters interview before the screening of the Kenyan documentary 'Softie' at the Prestige Cinema in Nairobi, Kenya October 16, 2020. Picture taken October 16, 2020. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya/File Photo
KAMPALA (Reuters) -Tanzania has released the second of two foreign activists who had come to support an opposition leader charged with treason, her organisation said on Friday, after a Kenyan fellow activist said they had both been badly tortured.
Ugandan lawyer and activist Agather Atuhaire, who had been in custody since Monday, was abandoned at the border between Tanzania and Uganda, Agora Centre for Research, the Uganda-based rights group that she leads, posted on X.
"We are relieved to inform the public that (Agather) has been found," it said.
On Thursday, Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi, who was also detained after arriving in Dar es Salaam to attend the first court appearance of Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu, had been dumped on the Kenyan border.
In a post on X, he said the last time he had been held together with Atuhaire was on Tuesday, when he had heard her groaning in pain after being tortured. Reuters could not reach Atuhaire directly.
"Our (torturers) were acting on orders from a 'state security' employee who came to Immigration offices and followed us to Central Police Station and ordered we should be taken to a secret location to be given a 'Tanzanian treatment'," Mwangi said.
Tanzanian officials had not commented on Atuhaire and Mwangi's detentions specifically, but President Samia Suluhu Hassan warned foreign activists in public comments on Monday against "invading and interfering in our affairs".
Lissu, who came second in Tanzania's last presidential poll, was arrested last month and charged with treason over what prosecutors said was a speech calling on the public to rebel and disrupt elections due in October.
The case has highlighted a growing crackdown on opponents of Hassan, whose party has nominated her to stand again.
She won plaudits after coming to power in 2021 for easing the political repression that had proliferated under her predecessor, but has faced mounting criticism over a series of arrests and unexplained abductions and killings of political opponents.
Hassan has said the government is committed to respecting human rights, and ordered an investigation into reported abductions last year.
Spokespeople for Tanzania's government, police force and immigration service did not respond to repeated requests for comment about Mwangi's allegations of torture.
(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Aaron Ross, Hereward Holland and Kevin Liffey)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
34 minutes ago
- The Star
Tokyo voters punish Japan ruling party ahead of national election
FILE PHOTO: Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba holds a press conference after the G7 Leaders' Summit, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, June 17, 2025. REUTERS/Todd Korol/File Photo TOKYO: Voters in Tokyo decisively knocked Japan's ruling party from its position as the largest group in the city assembly, results showed Monday (June 23), a warning sign for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's unpopular government before July elections. Japanese media said it was a record-low result in the key local election for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has led the country almost continuously since 1955. Public support for Ishiba, who took office in October, has been at rock-bottom for months, partly because of high inflation, with rice prices doubling over the past year. The LDP took 21 Tokyo assembly seats in Sunday's vote, including three won by candidates previously affiliated with the party but not officially endorsed following a political funding scandal. This breaks the party's previous record low of 23 seats from 2017, according to the Asahi Shimbun and other local media. Tomin First no Kai, founded by Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike, increased its seats in the 127-member assembly to 31, becoming the largest party. "This was a very tough election," Shinji Inoue, head of the LDP's Tokyo chapter, said Sunday as exit polls showed a decline in the party's seats. The funding scandal "may have affected" the result, while policies to address inflation "didn't reach voters' ears very well" with opposition parties also pledging to tackle the issue, Inoue said. Within weeks Ishiba will face elections for parliament's upper house, with reports saying the national ballot could be held on July 20. Voters angry with rising prices and political scandals deprived the 68-year-old's ruling coalition of a majority in the powerful lower house in October, its worst general election result in 15 years. Polls this month showed a slight uptick in support, however, thanks in part to policies to tackle high rice prices. Several factors lie behind recent shortages of rice at Japanese shops, including an intensely hot and dry summer two years ago that damaged harvests nationwide, and panic-buying after a "mega-quake" warning last year. Over this time some traders have been hoarding rice in a bid to boost their profits down the line, experts say. Not including volatile fresh food, goods and energy in Japan were 3.7 percent higher in May than a year earlier. To help households combat the cost of living, Ishiba has pledged cash handouts of 20,000 yen ($139) for every citizen ahead of the upper house election. The opposition Democratic Party For the People (DPP) won seats for the first time in the Tokyo assembly vote, securing nine. The DPP's campaign pledge for the July election includes sales tax cuts to boost household incomes. Sunday's voter turnout rate was 47.6 percent, compared to the 42.4 percent four years ago, according to local media. A record 295 candidates ran -- the highest since 1997, including 99 women candidates, also a record high. The number of women assembly members rose to 45 from 41, results showed. - AFP
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Russia's attack on Kyiv region kills one, sparks fires, Ukraine says
Firefighters work at the site of an apartment building hit during Russian drone and missile strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko KYIV (Reuters) -An overnight Russian drone and missile attack in and around Kyiv killed one person, sparked fires in residential areas and damaged an entrance to a metro station that serves as a bomb shelter, Ukrainian authorities said on Monday. "The Russians' style is unchanged - to hit where there may be people," Timur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's military administration said on the Telegram messaging app. "Residential buildings, exits from shelters - this is the Russian style." Russia has not commented on the strikes. Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war that Russia launched in February 2022, but thousands of civilians have been killed in the conflict - the vast majority of them Ukrainian. A 68-year-old woman was killed and at least two people were injured in the attack on the broader Kyiv region that surrounds the Ukrainian capital, its governor Mykola Kalashnik said on Telegram. In the capital itself, at least five people were injured, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram. Photos posted by Ukraine's State Emergency Service showed rescuers leading people to safety from several buildings and structures on fire in the dark. The Service said a pregnant woman was among those rescued. The attack caused damage in three of the city's 10 districts, including in several apartment buildings, Klitschko said. An exit to the metro station in Kyiv's Sviatoshynskyi districts was also damaged, as well as an adjacent bus stop, Kyiv's officials said. Kyiv's deep metro stations have been used throughout the war as some of the city's safest bomb shelters. Russia's deadliest attack on Kyiv last week with hundreds of drones killed 28 people and injured more than 150, with Ukrainian officials saying that nearly 30 sites were hit during the multi-wave attack. (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk and Gleb Garanich; Writing by Lidia Kelly in Warsaw; Editing by Tom Hogue)
Barnama
3 hours ago
- Barnama
Top News Headlines In Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore & Vietnam: June 23, 2025
The Indonesian government has strongly condemned a Canadian-based website for listing several islands within Indonesia's territory for sale, declaring the practice illegal and misleading. Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning Nusron Wahid said Sunday that no private ownership or sale of entire islands is permitted under Indonesian law, following reports that Private Islands Inc., a website based in Ontario, Canada, was advertising islands in Indonesia to international buyers. State asset fund Danantara is stepping in to provide capital support for state-owned enterprises (SOEs), marking a shift away from direct state-funded injections. While the move is expected to ease the fiscal burden, experts have raised concerns about a potential lack of transparency. MEKONG RIVER ENVIRONMENT -- VIENTIANE TIMES The United Kingdom and the Mekong River Commission partnership will strengthen climate resilience efforts and improve water resource management in Laos. The partnership will enhance regional climate adaptation, water governance, and biodiversity protection. This will benefit communities across the Lower Mekong Basin. 2. LAO TO BE SELF-SUFFICIENT ECONOMY -- VIENTIANE TIMES Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone urged provinces to increase domestic food production and reduce imports. The move is to promote a self-reliant economy and transition from a consumer society to a production-oriented market. MYANMAR FOR LOWLAND COFFEE GROWERS -- THE GLOBAL NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR The government will provide technology to families interested in growing coffee on a small scale or for commercial purposes in lowland areas where coffee is widely grown. Authorities are trying to promote more lowland organic coffee cultivation, mostly robusta and liberica varieties. EXPERTS TO FIX DAMAGED BUILDINGS -- THE GLOBAL NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Chinese cultural heritage preservation experts have completed the inspection of ancient buildings damaged by the earthquake in the Mandalay region. They also discussed with Myanmar authorities regarding renovation of damaged heritage buildings, repair processes and long-term plans. SINGAPORE 1.'SAFETY FOREMOST IN OUR MINDS': FAISHAL IBRAHIM REASSURES SINGAPOREAN STUDENTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST -- THE STRAITS TIMES The Government is monitoring developments in the Middle East closely and is working with the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to remain in touch with Singaporean students in the region. THREATENS US BASES IN RESPONSE TO STRIKES ON NUCLEAR SITES -- CNA/AFP Iran on Sunday (Jun 22) threatened US bases in the Middle East after massive air strikes that Washington said had destroyed Tehran's nuclear programme, though some officials cautioned that the extent of damage was unclear. VIETNAM POLICY OFFERS HIGHER LOANS FOR FARMERS -- VIETNAMPLUS Farmers are allowed to borrow up to about RM51,000 (US$12,000) starting July 1 without any collateral. The new policy is to promote agriculture and rural development and also simplifies loan applications for farming communities. CHI MINH TO HOST TAEKWONDO TOURNAMENT -- VIETNAMPLUS Vietnam will host the international CJ 2025 Taekwondo Tournament in Ho Chi Minh City from June 26–29. This is the first time that Vietnam is holding a G1-level tournament where more than 100 athletes from 15 countries will participate. -- BERNAMA BERNAMA provides up-to-date authentic and comprehensive news and information which are disseminated via BERNAMA Wires; BERNAMA TV on Astro 502, unifi TV 631 and MYTV 121 channels and BERNAMA Radio on FM93.9 (Klang Valley), FM107.5 (Johor Bahru), FM107.9 (Kota Kinabalu) and FM100.9 (Kuching) frequencies. Follow us on social media : Facebook : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatv, @bernamaradio Twitter : @ @BernamaTV, @bernamaradio Instagram : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatvofficial, @bernamaradioofficial TikTok : @bernamaofficial
