Ruto, Museveni, Samia, Muhoozi accused of torture, enforced disappearances during UN Assembly in New York

Demonstrators gathered outside the United Nations headquarters in New York this week, accusing East African heads of state of human rights abuses, enforced disappearances and authoritarian rule.

The protest took place during the 81st session of the UN General Assembly and targeted Kenyan President William Ruto, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, and his son, Uganda People's Defence Forces chief Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan was also named among those accused.

One protester, addressing the crowd, did not hold back.

"We're here today outside the UN in New York City, where these presidents and gangsters and their accomplices, especially those who are too old to make it, much less lead a country, are here trying to make deals about the future of our people, of our continent," she said.

"And they are terrorists," she continued. "These three, four are terrorists, torturing, killing people, abusing office, abusing power, extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances. These are the gangsters of East Africa, and they must be held accountable for all of their crimes."

Demonstrators carried placards and wore branded merchandise condemning the four leaders.

One protester wore a black T-shirt printed with images of Museveni, Ruto, Suluhu Hassan and Muhoozi, bearing the message: "East Africa Abduction Alliance. End Transnational Repression."

This is not the first time the four leaders have faced this kind of public pressure.

The protest marks the latest in a string of demonstrations and rights advocacy campaigns targeting them, following mounting accusations from civil society groups over the past year.

The accusations include allegations of cross-border abductions, enforced disappearances and crackdowns on dissent across Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

The demonstration also comes amid growing concern over the treatment of political dissidents in the region.

In August, Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye's wife, Winnie Byanyima, accused Ugandan authorities of putting her husband's health and life at risk by returning him to prison despite his weak condition.

According to Byanyima, Besigye remains extremely weak and needs family care, warning that prison conditions could undermine his recovery.

His latest health concerns follow an earlier scare in July, when he was admitted to an intensive care unit in Kampala after collapsing and losing consciousness during his treason trial.