00:00In May 2025, activists Boniface Mwangi of Kenya and Agatha Atuwahire of Uganda
00:06traveled to Dar es Salaam for a treason trial of jailed Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lisu.
00:12In what was supposed to be an act of solidarity in a neighboring country,
00:16the two would ultimately find out the hard way that solidarity activism is not tolerated in Tanzania.
00:25But is that the way to go in any democracy?
00:29Welcome to the flip side.
00:31I have gone through very full dark days.
00:36I have been tortured very badly.
00:39I can barely walk.
00:40So I'm blindfolded.
00:42They get me there and order me to undress.
00:45So my body is upside down.
00:51So one of the men is hitting under my feet with their oil energy.
00:59And I had never known a plane like that existed.
01:03The actions of Tanzanian authorities triggered wide condemnation by human rights groups and the public,
01:10in Kenya in particular, and the rest of the world.
01:13We are concerned.
01:15We are very much concerned on the arrest and torture of the activists who came to Tanzania.
01:21So such kind of actions are not only against those people's fundamental rights,
01:26but as a country, they are against the commitment between Tanzania and the human rights treaties.
01:32But there were some very cautious reactions too.
01:36Ladies and gentlemen, friends, our neighbors from Tanzania, if we have wrongdoing anyway, forgive us.
01:49Now, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights sets out to protect anyone engaged in activism in a foreign country.
01:58But that's not always guaranteed in all countries.
02:01So where should the line be drawn?
02:04Boniface Mwangi and Agatha Atuwaire were not the only ones prevented from witnessing the Lisu court proceedings.
02:11Tanzanian authorities also deported Kenya's presidential hopeful and former Justice Minister Martha Karua.
02:18So how do experts see the stance of Tanzania's leader?
02:44The leadership of Samia Suluhu has exposed itself as one that is not, I mean, does not pay attention
02:51or does not have regard for East Africa community relations, number one, number two, human rights,
02:56number three, you know, basically just general cordial relationships between countries.
03:03And where does it leave Tanzania if sovereign states are entitled to protect themselves from foreign interference?
03:11We need to have that system of checks and balances.
03:14So I feel that this hostility would lead to future, you know, just people sitting down and saying,
03:19you know what, it's your country, it's your business, we don't care.
03:22And yet we could have stepped in and, you know, helped whichever country, be it Kenya or Tanzania,
03:27that would be going through whichever tough times they'd be going through, fix their issues.
03:31Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya, the most influential countries in East Africa, have long enjoyed cordial relations.
03:38So can the case of the detained, allegedly tortured and deported activists change that?
03:44And how should they handle such matters in future?
03:47The relation that has been built between our people, I do agree, the activists should strengthen their relation
03:55to ensure, not only in Tanzania, at any member state, the people's rights should be respected and should be granted.
04:05We should defend our rights and our fellows' rights because injustice anywhere, it is injustice everywhere.
04:13Maybe it also calls into question what activists can and cannot do in foreign countries.
04:20It certainly is a tough nut to crack, and that's the flip side.
