THE United States has publicly designated senior Tanzanian police officer, Faustine Jackson Mafwele over alleged gross violations of human rights, marking another major international rebuke against Tanzania’s security establishment. In a statement issued on May 21, 2026, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington had credible information linking Mafwele, a Senior Assistant Commissioner in the Tanzania Police Force, to serious abuses involving Ugandan lawyer and activist Agather Atuhaire and Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi. The two had travelled to Dar es Salaam in May 2025 to observe court proceedings in the treason case facing opposition leader Tundu Lissu. According to the US State Department, members of the Tanzania Police Force detained, tortured and sexually assaulted the two East African activists while they were in the country. The public designation, made under Section 7031(c) of US law, makes Mafwele ineligible to enter the United States. The move comes at a time when Tanzania is facing growing international scrutiny over allegations of abductions, torture, enforced disappearances and killings, particularly around the 2025 general election and its aftermath. A presidential commission appointed to investigate post-election violence reported that 518 people were killed and thousands injured, although opposition figures and rights activists have claimed the true toll could be higher. Washington’s decision places Mafwele among a small but politically significant group of Tanzanian officials who have been publicly targeted by the United States over human rights concerns. In January 2020, the US publicly designated Paul Christian Makonda, who was then Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner, over alleged gross violations of human rights. The State Department said at the time that Makonda had been implicated in the oppression of political opposition, crackdowns on freedom of expression and association, and the targeting of marginalised individuals. The Makonda case was widely seen as one of the strongest diplomatic signals from Washington during the late President John Magufuli’s administration. The Mafwele designation now suggests that US concerns over Tanzania’s human rights record have not faded, but have instead entered a new phase of direct individual accountability. Although such designations do not amount to criminal convictions, they carry diplomatic weight. They publicly name officials accused by Washington of serious abuses and restrict their access to the United States. For Tanzania, the decision adds pressure on the government and security agencies to respond to mounting questions over accountability, police conduct and the treatment of political opponents, activists, journalists and civil society actors.