Mozambique Elections: Four detained in riot in Moatize - Notícias
Lusa (File photo)
The annual report on human rights prepared by the US State Department, released on Friday, uses the term “low-intensity civil war” coined by the Mozambican Human Rights League to describe the situation in the country.
“Clashes between the government and Renamo, which the Mozambican Human Rights League regards as a ‘low-intensity civil war’, have increased in the rural areas of central and northwestern Mozambique and have contributed to over 10,000 people fleeing to Malawi,” the document says.
The US notes that observers of the 2014 election, which brought Frelimo’s Filipe Nyusi to power, found a “lack of transparency” in the counting of votes and other irregularities.
The report says that “the country has experienced significant upheaval due to the continuing armed conflict between the defense and security forces and the militarized members of the opposition Renamo party”.
The State Department also recalls the discovery of mass graves, reported by Lusa, and says that “although the government blocked access to the site, journalists found about a dozen bodies scattered in the surrounding bush”.
“Although a parliamentary inquiry has not reached any definitive conclusion [on these mass graves], it was the first time such a research commission was formed,” the authors of the report add.
The US understands, therefore, that “the most significant human rights problems [in the country] are internal conflict, the arbitrary and extra-judicial executions, and the lack of respect for civil liberties.”
The document underlines that the government has taken some steps to investigate these violations but that “impunity has continued to be a problem at all levels” and gives the example of alleged government-sponsored “death squads” targeting Renamo members.
“The government has promised to investigate these activities, but so far no charges have been laid,” the report observes.
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