Tanzania President has been called out by activists of the country for releasing convicted abusers of 10 primary school children and consenting to the arrest of pregnant teenagers in the state.

The activists accused Magufuli of encouraging human right violations, Guardian reports.

Tanzanian president pardoned the two men, who were convicted of the rape of 10 primary school children aged between six and eight, along with thousands of other prisoners, in his independence day speech on Saturday.

News of their release emerged as a government official in the east African country called for pregnant pupils to be taken into custody. On Monday, John Mongella, the regional commissioner of Mwanza, said the move would force girls to testify against those who impregnated them. This followed calls from the president earlier this year to ban pregnant girls from school.

The released rapists are singer Nguzu Viking, known as Babu Seya, and his son, Johnson Ngazu, known as Papii Kocha, who were pardoned by the president after serving 13 years of their sentence. They had been convicted in 2003 of raping the children, pupils at Mashujaa primary school in the Kinondoni district of Dar es Salaam.

Fazia Mohamed, the director of Equality Now’s Africa office, said,  “While President Mungafuli is pardoning convicted child rapists, regional commissioner John Mongella is calling on pregnant school girls to be arrested and taken to court. Tanzania’s leaders are promoting a culture of human rights violations in which young victims of sexual violence are being punished while perpetrators are going free.”

She said the policy of banning pregnant schoolgirls, often victims of rape or sexual coercion failed to address the issue of who impregnated them.

“It is unacceptable that convicted child molesters walk free by order of a president who simultaneously denies victims of assault access to education if they become pregnant.

“After seeing their attackers sentenced to life for rape, now these survivors and their families are dealing with the pain of witnessing the president freeing the men who violated them. Where is the justice in that?” she said.

Petrider Paul, of Youth for Change, in Tanzania, said the pardons has sent a wrong signal to perpetrators of such evil acts.

“It is unfair to the victims of these crimes and it sends a bad message to perpetrators that they can get away with it,” said Paul.

A change.org petition calling for schoolgirls who are pregnant in Tanzania to be allowed to complete their education has attracted 66,000 signatures.

Magufuli, who came to power in November 2015, is a popular figure, nicknamed the “the bulldozer” for his energetic road-building programme as former works minister and for his solutions-based approach.

His war on corruption and wasteful spending has earned him admiration from many quarters. However, he has come under fire recently for using repressive legislation to silence the media, civil society, and opposition groups.