Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday said the U.S. was designating Faustine Jackson Mafwele, a Tanzanian police official, for alleged human rights violations.
The designation would prevent him from entering the U.S., Rubio said in a statement.
This is over the May 2025 assault of activists Boniface Mwangi (Kenyan) and Agather Atuhaire (Ugandan).
“The Department of State is designating Tanzanian Police Force (TPF) Senior Assistant Commissioner Faustine Jackson Mafwele under Section 7031(c) based on credible information that he was involved in gross violations of human rights. One year ago, members of the TPF 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.”
“This designation prohibits Mafwele from entering the United States,” the notice said. Mwangi and Atuhaire had travelled to Tanzania to attend the first court appearance of opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who was facing treason charges on May 19, 2025.
The two activists were reportedly abducted from their hotel room shortly after arriving in Dar es Salaam, before they were detained, interrogated, tortured, and sexually assaulted and later abandoned near the borders of their respective countries.
Mwangi was later found alive in Ukunda on May 22, 2025, after being held in Tanzania for more than three days, while Atuhaire was reportedly abandoned at the Mutukula border between Uganda and Tanzania a day later.
Their detention came amid a broader crackdown that also saw the detention and deportation of several others, including Martha Karua, former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga and activist Hanifa Adan at Julius Nyerere International Airport.
Following his release, Mwangi described the ordeal as one of the worst forms of torture he had ever experienced, accusing Tanzanian authorities of threatening them with public humiliation if they spoke about the abuse they suffered.
“Everything that happened to us in Tanzania was done in Samia Suluhu’s name, and we will ensure the world gets to know. We shall speak for the Tanzanian victims who are too afraid to speak,” Mwangi told the press.
“What Suluhu did to us will be revealed to the world. We shall not be silenced by a torturous dictator who has her foot on the necks of the Tanzanian people,” he added.
The U.S. sanctions on Mafwele mark one of the strongest international responses to the allegations surrounding the treatment of the two activists and are likely to intensify scrutiny on Tanzania’s human rights record under President Suluhu’s administration.
The issue keeps haunting Tanzania officials.
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