Human rights defenders Boniface Mwangi from Kenya and Uganda's Agather Atuhaire have said that they were beaten and sexually assaulted by Tanzanian security officers while in custody.

Mwangi and Atuhaire made the allegations at a joint press conference in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, on Monday. Both had separately spoken of their brutal treatment in the days after their release.

The two had traveled to Tanzania attend the first court appearance on May 19, 2025, of Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who faces treason charges.

They were abducted from their hotel room and allege they were interrogated and tortured by security officers before being dumped several days later near the borders of their countries.

Speaking at the press conference, they said they had both filed a complaint against the Tanzanian authorities.

'What they did to us, it breaks me'

Mwangi, a photojournalist and prominent campaigner against corruption and police brutality in Kenya, broke down in tears as he recounted the brutal beatings and the sexual assault.

He was stripped naked, he said, hung upside down and beaten on his feet.

"They would put objects in my anus and then say, 'say you're feeling nice, say you're feeling good'," Mwangi said, addressing a press conference alongside Atuhaire.

Officers told him that they filmed everything and to never speak of what happened, otherwise they would release the footage, he said.

"And what they did to us is, it breaks me. ... We're here to share our story, and to say that our bodies may be broken, but our spirit is strong," Mwangi added.

No shame, rather 'desire for justice'

Atuhaire said she too had been blindfolded, tied up and similarly assaulted.

"The only thing I desire is justice," the award-winning journalist said. "It is what has enabled me to hold on in this situation."

Although she came from Uganda, a country she described as "very dictatorial," she never imagined that she "would find a worse foreign country, a worse government."

"You cannot be the head of state, the president, yet publicly and shamelessly condone torture, sexual violence," said Atuhaire.

On the day of the abductions, President Samia Suluhu Hassan urged security services "not to allow ill-mannered individuals from other countries to cross the line here".

Atuhaire, who won the EU Human Rights Defenders' Award in 2023 and an International Women of Courage Award from the United States in 2024, has previously said that she refused to be silenced by the shame of being a victim of sexual assault.

"You are the one who is committing a heinous crime, so you are the one who should be ashamed," Atuhaire told the AFP news agency in May.

No comment from Tanzania's government

Spokespeople for Tanzania's government, Foreign Affairs Ministry and police did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment on the allegations, the news agency said on Monday evening.

AFP also said it attempted to reach the Tanzanian government for comment, but there was no immediate response.

The case has highlighted a growing repression of political dissent in Tanzania, criticized by a wide range of bodies and organizations, including Amnesty International and the European Parliament.

Oppposition leader Lissu, Hassan's main political rival, was arrested in April and charged with treason.

His Chadema party has been disqualified from running in October's presidential and legislative elections.

Hassan's ruling party has nominated her as their candidate in October's election.

Tanzania has been ruled by the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party since independence in 1961.

Edited by: Zac Crellin