30 years on, and Mozambique has not forgotten the Homoíne massacre

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30 years on, and Mozambique has not forgotten the Homoíne massacre

11:03 CAT | 26 Jul 2017

DW / Common grave in Homoíne

This July marks 30 years since the Homoíne massacre in the Mozambican province of Inhambane, in which hundreds were killed and many others abducted.

At the time, in 1987, Renamo and government forces were at war. To this day, the perpetrators of the massacre have never been identified, according to Deutsche Welle.

Survivors still living in the region told DW Africa they had sad memories of the day they lost so many family members and friends.

The worst massacre in the region

Mosambik Hussen Algy (DW/L. da Conceicao) — Hussen Algy, survivor

Hussen Algy is one of the survivors and claims that Homoine was the worst massacre of the war. Algy lost relatives and his girlfriend and only escaped by hiding in the bathroom, he says.

“After escaping from being kidnapped when my parents, my sisters, my girlfriend and some people seeking shelter were abducted from my house, I hid in the bathroom. By all accounts, between 800 and 1000 people were killed that day,” he recalls.

Algy adds that it was not easy to forget the massacre because the consequences were so profound.

“For me, thirty years is not enough to erase what I saw that day,” he says.

Esperança Matsimbe is another survivor. She told DW Africa that she lost many relatives and acquaintances. Some were buried in mass graves and others in the family cemetery.

Mosambik Esperanca Matsimbe (DW/L. da Conceicao) — Esperanca Matsimbe, survivor

Esperança escaped because she was asleep. “I left at around 6:00 p.m., after the ceasefire, and crossed from the village to Chinguirri. That was not blood, it was almost water,” she recalls.

The Homoíne massacre happened around 9.00 a.m. on July 18, 1987. Trader Pedro Sevene managed to flee to “a safe region” (Mubalo) when he heard shots and explosions. He lost a niece nevertheless.

“The following morning. when the firing ceased, I returned to the village, where I had my stall. Many people had been hit,” he says.

According to Pedro Sevene, nowadays, “the village is rebuilt, though much remains to be done”.

Source: Deutsche Welle