Mozambique: More than 400 have already signed petition calling for rescue of kidnap victims

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Mozambique: More than 400 have already signed petition calling for rescue of kidnap victims

8:42 CAT | 21 Dec 2023

Image via Anti-Raptos Beira

Almost 400 people have signed an online petition in 24 hours calling for the “unconditional” release of Mozambican and Portuguese-Mozambican citizens being held captive in Mozambique and against the kidnappings affecting the country.

“Kidnappings are a heinous crime that has plagued Mozambican society for several years. It is urgent for Mozambican society to rise up against what is happening in the country,” reads the online petition “Against kidnappings in Mozambique”, which in around 24 hours has been signed by 436 people

“The signatories of this petition call for the unconditional release of Portuguese-Mozambicans and Mozambicans in captivity. To this end, the signatories of this petition call on the authorities of Mozambique to make every effort to rescue them, and on the authorities of Portugal to provide the necessary and unconditional support within the framework of the usual collaboration between the two states in this process,” says the document, addressed to the governments of both countries.

For some weeks now, Maputo has been experiencing a new wave of kidnappings, especially of businesspeople, with two Portuguese-Mozambicans having been targeted since November, one of whom, aged 26, has been held captive for more than 50 days, and suspicions that agents linked to police investigations are involved in this type of crime.

There is no official data on the number of people currently being held captive in Mozambique, victims of kidnappings, but on 17 November another Mozambican businessman linked to the automobile industry was kidnapped by unknown men, also in the city of Maputo.

“Don’t let these victims fall into oblivion,” say the petition’s signatories, Portuguese and Mozambican citizens.

READ: Just In: Kidnap victim rescued by police after 50 days in captivity

The country’s president, Filipe Nyusi, recognised in parliament on Wednesday that despite improvements in the fight against crime, there is still concern about the wave of kidnapping that continue to plague the country.

“Despite advances, we are still concerned about kidnapping cases, even though there has been a reduction of six cases, compared to 12 cases recorded in the same period in 2022,” said the head of state, in his usual annual state of the nation address at parliament in Maputo.

“And of these cases, four kidnappings have been cleared up, 31 individuals have been detained, the same ones involved in previous kidnappings, and a mastermind has also been detained in South Africa, as part of judicial co-operation between the authorities of the two countries,” Nyusi added.

In November, the Confederation of Economic Associations (CTA), the country’s largest employers’ association, called for “harsher” prison sentences against kidnappers and no possibility of bail in order to stop these crimes.

READ: Businesspeople are leaving Mozambique over kidnapping fears

Mozambique’s prime minister, Adriano Maleiane, announced in parliament in May that officers had already been selected to work in a special unit to combat the kidnappings affecting the country.

According to a balance sheet presented by the head of government, 28 cases of kidnapping have been recorded since 2021, of which “15 have been fully resolved”.

The Portuguese ministry of foreign affairs (MNE) previously confirmed to Lusa that the Consulate in Maputo was monitoring the attempted kidnapping of a Portuguese-Mozambican citizen, which took place on 27 November, the second case in a month.

“The Consulate General in Maputo is monitoring the attempted kidnapping of a Portuguese-Mozambican citizen. The Mozambican authorities have taken charge of the incident,” said an official MNE source in response to a question from Lusa.

The man in question was a Portuguese-Mozambican shopkeeper who was shot by unknown assailants who tried to kidnap him in Maputo city centre, a crime that was thwarted thanks to the intervention of the public.

In another case, a group of three armed men kidnapped a 26-year-old Portuguese-Mozambican woman on the morning of 1 November as she was leaving her home in Maputo, according to a source from the police.

“The situation is being monitored through the diplomatic and consular posts in Maputo, which are in contact with the family,” a source from the Portuguese ministry of foreign affairs previously told Lusa, and in this case, the young Portuguese-Mozambican woman remains in captivity to this day.

Source: Lusa