Activist Sativa tells the BBC how he was shot and left for dead

Caution: This article contains details that some readers may find disturbing.

As a result of his abduction on a highway in the capital city of Tanzania Dar Es Salam, social media activist Edgar Mavakabella, more known as Sativa, says he approached death.

He describes in an interview with the BBC how, after abducting him on June 23 last year, his abductors questioned him and then directed him across the country in the remote Katavi region near the Congoy border, more than 1000 km (600 miles).

Sativa says he was handcuffed, tied with blindfolded and brutally beaten, including being hit repeatedly on the head, back and legs with the flat side of the machete.

“It was extremely painful.”

He tells the BBC that those who abduct him want to know who makes his activism easier, and why he criticizes the ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), in power since 1977.

Sativa believes that those who held him were police officers or other operating persons related to the authorities.

However, the government denies that it is aimed at critics of the state.

Sativa says that on the fourth day after he was taken, violence continued as his abductors transported him to the Katavi National Park, full of dangerous wild animals and dragged him to a river.

He believes it is clear that his abductors do not intend to let him live.

Then, he says, the freezing line came from a vehicle behind them: “Shoot it!”

A trigger was pulled. The bullet went through his skull. His jaw was broken.

Sativa’s canvas left – he thought he was dead.

As the October general elections closer, the abductions have become more common, mostly aimed at anti-government critics and opposition voices.

Every other week, police or social media publications announce a missing person. Some are never found, while others reappear with disturbing stories of violence or torture – and others are found dead.

The Sativa case offers a rare survivor account.

Although he suffered life -threatening injuries, he regained consciousness and crawled to the road where the wildlife rangers saved him.

It will require long and specialized treatment and its survival is described as “extraordinary”.

Police did not respond to BBC’s requests for an interview, but in a video statement published in Media Houses in June, their speaker, deputy commissioner David Missime, said they were acting on the missing information and conducting an investigation.

The BBC talk to families from people reported to be missing and those who have died and they have betrayed their agony over missing loved ones.

The portrait artist Chedrak Cealla, 25, is among those who are still missing.

Has not been seen or heard for more than a year. In June 2024, he posted a video from Tiktok, which became a viral on him, burning the President’s photo Suluh himself and offended her.

He was arrested, convicted of cyber realization and released after paying a fine. A month later, he is abducted by unknown persons.

“We do not know when or whether it would be found. When he was arrested, at least we found out where he was. Now even the authorities say they do not know,” his father Yusuf Chaula tells the BBC.

He says that in August 2024, three men arrived in a car with toned windows and took it. They did not identify or explain why or where they accepted it.

“We made every effort. We have been exhausted. We visited every detention facility. We went to prisons and police departments at different levels – local, regional and regional,” he says.

Police insist that an investigation is underway.

“If we knew where it was, or where it was held, or even if we knew that he had died and was buried somewhere, at least we would have a grave for a visit,” says G -N -Chaula, struggling with the grief of unanswered questions and lack of closure.

In June, UN experts report over 200 disappeared disappeared In the country since 2019

They expressed concern over “torture to jam the opposition and critics” before the election and called on the government to “immediately” stop it.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch rights have recently accused the government of being behind arrests, abuses and forced disappearance.

Authorities denied the allegations.

Police have identified at least a dozen abduction cases since last year, some of which have been resolved, with many returning to 2019.

On June 18, police announced that investigations had led to the discovery of some victims that were still alive.

They added that some cases include abductions of self -self -abduction, while others arise from romantic relationships that are destroyed, superstitious beliefs and property disputes.

“Police are calling for relatives, friends and the public to remain calm, as security forces continue their investigations to reveal the facts about these incidents,” said Deputy Commissioner Missime.

The president called on the police to end the worrying incidents of the people who disappear – a directive that many Tanzanians hope to lead to justice.

In May, the activist and opposition politician Mpaluka Nyangali, known as Mdude, was abducted from his home in Mbeya, South Tanzania, in a violent incident, witnessing his wife and young child.

There were blood stains at the scene showing the brutality of the attack.

Since then, the members of the main opposition party Chadema have begun a search at MBeya and have conducted prayer vigils requiring police responses who suspect that they are complicit in the incident.

To date, Mdude’s wife, Siji Mbugi, has not heard from him.

“I ask for the release of my husband. I believe he was held by the police and the authorities. Mdude did nothing. He has never stolen anything from anyone, please release him. If he has had problems, then he took him to court,” she says.

On July 9, the Supreme Court in the MBEA rejected a case that she brought for the disappearance of her husband.

She testifies that the armed persons who identify themselves as police officers have struck their home late into the night and attacked Mdude before taking it away.

During the proceedings, police in the IBEYA admitted that he was investigating the possibility of one of their officers playing a role in abducting MDude.

Activists described the rejection of the case as a major failure in the ongoing struggle for justice for Tanzania’s opposition.

No arrests or persecution were made in connection with incidents, although police claim to be under investigations.

Some activists from other countries in the region have also accused Tanzania authorities of directing them.

Kenyan Boniface Mwangi and Uganda Agater AgaterThey said they were detained and sexually tortured after arriving in Tanzania on May 19 to monitor the trial against opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who faces state treason.

The location of Mwangi and Atuhaire has not been known for several days. Both were abandoned near the boundaries of their countries.

But Juman Muliro, the commander of the Dar Es Salam special zone area, told the BBC at the time that their accusations were “rumors” and asked them to present evidence of investigations. Since then, they have brought a case to the Regional East African Court on the subject.

Their ordeal has cast a projector on the issue of the forced disappearance of government critics, opposition figures and the defenders of human rights in Tanzania.

“Nobody provides answers,” says Maduho William, an activist at the Center for Legal and Human Rights (LHRC), adding that security agencies routinely promise to conduct a thorough investigation, but the question ends.

“At the end of the day, we do not receive feedback on what is happening to these (cases),” he said, citing Ali Kibao’s example, a senior Chadema employee who was killed last year after being abducted, beaten and sank with acid.

“Even the President (himself) ordered the security forces in Tanzania to conduct a thorough investigation and to submit her a report on more action. But so far nothing has been heard,” he says.

Boniface Mwabukusi, president of the Tangania Legal Society, says many people are afraid to go out and share their stories for fear of victimization.

He says there is no free, independent system to guarantee the right justice.

“If you are in the arrest of the police and the same employees ask you to give a statement about your abduction, can you really go to them? You can’t,” he says.

“Most people leave him to God. They are afraid. They say that if they pursue the issue, things will get worse.”