Landmark case filed at EACJ to defend ‘the soul of East Africa’ and the rule of law

The filing of a landmark case at the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) on Friday is not just about two individuals who were abducted and tortured in Tanzania in late May while in the country to publicly observe a treason trial, but defending the soul of East Africa and the principles of human dignity, regional integration, and the rule of law, says Donald Deya, CEO of Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU).

“These violations cannot be ignored,” says Deya. “We are demanding accountability and justice at the highest regional level.”

PALU, whose membership includes five regional lawyers’ associations and over 54 national lawyers’ associations and 1,000 individual lawyers, on Friday joined six other leading civil rights organisations along with journalists Agather Atuhaira and Boniface Mwangi in filing the pivotal case against the Attorney-Generals of Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya, and the Secretary General of the East Africa Community. 

“This matter strikes at the heart of what it means to be East African,” says David Sigano, advocate and CEO of the East Africa Law Society. “No citizen should be tortured, disappeared, or deported simply for observing a court trial. The East African Court of Justice must rise to the occasion.” 

Along with PALU and the East Africa Law Society, Atuhaira and Mwangi have been joined and supported in the milestone case by the Kenya Human Rights Commission, the Kenyan Section of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ-Kenya), Agora Centre for Research, Centre for Strategic Litigation, and Innovations for Democratic Engagement and Action (IDEA).

The EACJ is an organ of the East African Community (EAC) and an international Court of Justice with responsibility to ensure adherence to law in the interpretation and application of compliance with the Treaty for the Establishment of the EAC.

In a media release, the applicants note that the EACJ case arises from “shocking events” that unfolded in Tanzania between 19-23 May 2025, when Atuhaira, a Ugandan journalist and human rights defender, and Mwangi, a Kenyan photojournalist and activist, were abducted from their hotel and taken to Immigration Department offices, the Central Police Station in Dar es Salaam, then to an unknown location where they were tortured, including acts of sexual violence. 

Later they were “dumped” across the Tanzanian border, in Uganda and Kenya. 

“Despite extraordinary media coverage of the enforced disappearance of both Boniface and Agather in the East African and international press, both the Kenyan and Ugandan governments failed in their legal duty to safeguard their nationals and exhaust all diplomatic and consular avenues to secure their safe return home.” 

The EAC Secretary General also failed to take corrective action despite the enforced disappearances being widespread knowledge, say the applicants. They argue such acts and omissions “constitute a blatant violation” of the EAC Treaty, African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, other regional and international legal instruments, and “also violates the principles of East Africanness and Pan-Africanism”. 

Earlier this month, Mwangi shared on his birthday that several weeks on from their ordeal in Tanzania, he was still struggling to walk due to the injuries inflicted, and that the psychological and physical torture had “left a hole” in him. His physical pain can be alleviated by medication, but the mental anguish can be overwhelming.

“Agather and l were abducted and tortured in the most inhumane and gruesome way. Our respective governments played a role in our torture. I come from a country where the president fought to get a convicted murderer, and also a drug trafficker held abroad, pardoned. For us, it took the efforts of our family, friends, and strangers on social media to fight for our release. The Tanzanian police did terrible things to us, and it will take time to heal, but none of the things they did broke our spirits.”

The case filed at the EACJ is seeking public apologies from the Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda governments; compensation $1 million USD+ per victim; rehabilitation and psychosocial support for the victims; formal condemnation of the unlawful acts by the EAC Secretary General; institutional and legal reforms; and the convening of an EAC Summit to review peace, security, and governance in the region.