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Mozambique: Activists denied right to march in Maputo – AIM
6:38 CAT | 20 Apr 2025
Photo via Clemente Carlos / Facebook
Several dozen young human rights activists attempted to march through central Maputo on Saturday, to protest against the murders and kidnappings blamed on state-sponsored death squads.
The latest outrage was the attempted murder on 13 April, in the central city of Quelimane, of musician Joel Amaral (better know by his stage name of MC Trufafa), a prominent supporter of former presidential candidate Venancio Mondlane.
This time, the assassins failed and Amaral is still alive, receiving medical treatment at the intensive care unit in Quelimane Central Hospital.
But the Maputo protest had been very badly publicised and the police had no difficulty in dispersing the group. Indeed, the number of police on the streets greatly outnumbered the protesters, who were trying to march under the slogan “For Truth, for Life and for Justice”.
The protesters insisted that their activities were both peaceful and met all the legal requirements for marches.
One of the organisers, Ivandro Sigaval, told reporters that, if the currently unexplained crimes are cleared up, that will develop a sense of public security, and strengthen the confidence of citizens in the institutions of justice.
“We feel that bodies such as the Attorney-General’s Office (PGR) must take a position”, said Sigaval. “Not only must they investigate, but they have the obligation to inform the Mozambican people about what is going on”.
He argued that demonstrations such as Saturday’s attempted march were “an element of dialogue to promote the welfare of Mozambicans”.
Yet the police refused to allow the march to continue – even though the protesters thmselves admitted that there were ten times as many policemen as demonstrators.
The police could not explain why they halted the protest, other than to say that it did not meet the necessary “security conditions”. They did not explain what these conditions were. Since the protesters were unarmed, and vastly outnumbered by the police, it was hard to see what threat they could possibly pose.
One demonstrator, Clemente Carlos, told reporters “It’s as if we were in a prison, as if we were under a dictatorship. There’s no kind of freedom, no joy of being a young Mozambican. We can’t even hold a peaceful march.”
Earlier in the week, protests against the attempted murder of Amaral, took place on the streets of Quelimane, on three consecutive days, attended by tens of thousands of people. There was no violence and no destruction, and the police cooperated with the demonstrators.
The difference is that Quelimane is a municipality governed by the opposition, while Maputo is in the hands of the ruling Frelimo Party.
Source: AIM
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