Uriri Member of Parliament (MP) Mark Nyamita has urged activists to practice restraint as they visit nations within the East African bloc to avoid being met with hostility.
According to MP Nyamita, activists should do due diligence to understand the restrictions provided by law in neighbouring nations before setting foot on foreign soil.
This comes after Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi and Uganda’s Agather Atuhaire narrated their harrowing ordeal of how they were subjected to sexual assault and physical torture by Tanzanian authorities.
“It is sad that it has happened from our neighbours but activists really need to restrain themselves and understand the landscape that we are operating in. The landscape in Kenya is different from Uganda and Tanzania,” he told Citizen TV on Tuesday.
“Even when they push for things they want in those jurisdictions, maybe they need to alert the Kenyan authorities that we are crossing over so that it is handled in good time,” he said.
The legislator condemned the violent torture used against the activists, calling on regional bodies, among them the African Union (AU) and the East African Community (EAC), to address the matter.
“That shouldn’t happen to anyone in any part of the country in this day and age. It is dehumanizing and uncalled for,” he said.
“We need to open up the democratic space across and there are lessons to learn in Kenya just as there are lessons to learn from those other countries.”
The activists were detained after arriving in Dar es Salaam to attend the first court appearance of Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who faces treason charges.
In a press address on Monday, Mwangi said they were blindfolded by police officers and taken to a house after being taken into custody.
He said that while questioning him about the whereabouts of his phone and laptop, his interrogators stripped him, blindfolded him and sexually assaulted him.
Agather recalled that the tormenters never used their sexual organs but other objects to sexually assault them. While handcuffed and blindfolded, pain was also inflicted on their feet.
“The people had come with one instruction. ‘Inflict as much pain as you can,” said Agather.
The activists have now vowed to take legal action against Tanzania.
Meanwhile, Foreign ministries from both nations have remained tight-lipped on the matter amid heaping uproar.
