Mozambique: PRM leader apologises for “police mistakes”

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Mozambique: PRM leader apologises for “police mistakes”

4:05 CAT | 16 Dec 2020

FILE PHOTO - Bernardino Rafael, commander-general of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique: "For the mistakes of the past", we want to "apologize to everyone". [File photo: DW]

In an interview with the newspaper Noticias, Bernardino Rafael, the commander-general of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique, admits that some Mozambicans were “victims of errors and crimes” committed by his colleagues.

The commander-general of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM), Bernardino Rafael, apologized this Tuesday (15-12) for alleged “errors and crimes” committed by agents of the corporation.

“The apologies are addressed to all those who have been victims of the mistakes and crimes committed by my colleagues,” he said in statements to the newspaper Noticias.

Without indicating whether he was referring to any specific case, Bernardino Rafael underlined: “I am ashamed of what happened, but we promise to change.”

“For the mistakes made in the past, especially in these three years of my mandate, we want, on behalf of the General Police Command, to apologise to everyone, and renew our commitment and mission: to serve the nation,” he added.

According to the newspaper, Bernardino Rafael acknowledged that not everything had gone well in the PRM’s performance “in recent times”, with “targeted citizens and others unable to count on the services of the corporation”.

Abuses during the pandemic

In November, the Mozambican Bar Association (OAM) denounced “exaggerations and excesses, with clear signs of violence” in the way police ensured compliance with coronavirus preventive measures.

Prmf.dw_ — *The year 2020 was marked by police abuses in Mozambique*

In April, police detained two of their agents suspected of beating a man to death in Beira, central Mozambique, after a disagreement triggered by restrictions imposed during the state of emergency.

In September, the Mozambican Interior Minister, Amade Miquidade, announced disciplinary measures for an instructor and an agent from the Police Training School who impregnated two students. The case provoked the indignation of several figures, including the President of the Republic, Filipe Nyusi.

In the same month, and after complaints from several organisations, the PRM publicly repudiated a video in which an investigative police officer sexually abused a 13-year-old, announcing criminal and disciplinary proceedings against him.

The Defence and Security Forces (FDS), of which the PRM is a member, have this year been the target of complaints from various Mozambican and international organisations on the basis of testimony and videos of acts of torture and other atrocities committed in the context of confrontations with rebels in Cabo Delgado, in the north of the country. The allegations have been dismissed by the government, which reiterated its confidence in the FDS.

Source: Deutsche Welle