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The International Amnesty points out “abuses” by the military against civilians in Mozambique and repression of the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association in 2023, accusing the police of “not protecting” the population from criminals.
In the report on the state of Human Rights in the world in 2023, released today, Amnesty International recalls that the terrorist group Al-Shabaab killed 17 civilians in Mozambique and that the Mozambican Armed Forces “and their allies committed abuses against civilians.”
“The rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association were repressed. The police used real ammunition against members and supporters of the opposition during the electoral period, killing demonstrators and passers-by. Hundreds were arbitrarily detained,” the report reads.
Furthermore, it states, the police “failed to protect people from kidnappings committed by criminals.”
The organization notes that the Mozambican government created the Interministerial Commission for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law during this period, but “significant human rights violations continued to occur,” notably “due to the conflict in the province of Cabo Delgado.”
It also points out that “although Mozambique was responsible for only 0.02% of global greenhouse gas emissions, it was one of the countries most affected by climate change.”
“Twelve people died, and about 40,000 others were affected by floods in the province of Maputo in February. In March, five children died, and 20 houses were destroyed as a result of heavy rains in the city of Pemba,” it recalls, stating that “authorities did not provide timely humanitarian assistance to the victims,” including from the passage of Cyclone Freddy.
Regarding the consequences of terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, the report states that the armed group Al-Shabaab, the Mozambican Armed Forces, and the Southern African Development Community Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) “committed war crimes against civilians.”
“On July 24, a member of the Armed Forces violated a 17-year-old girl in the Nangade district. Also in July, a SAMIM member shot and injured a man in Ingoane, Mucojo district. Authorities failed to open investigations into both cases,” Amnesty International points out.
It mentions that the Mozambican security forces “subjected people, including protesters, to arbitrary detentions,” listing several cases that occurred in 2023, notably after the local elections on October 11 in 65 municipalities, whose results – which attributed victory to the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO, in power) – were strongly contested on the streets by the opposition and civil society.
It recalls that on October 12, the Mozambique Republic Police (PRM) “fired at three people, one of whom died,” in the Chiúre district, Cabo Delgado province.
In the context of these demonstrations, the report states that a 14-year-old “was shot dead while selling drinks on the street” in Nampula, in December at least one other was killed in the Marromeu district, and five other people were injured by “bullets fired by the police,” and that “dozens suffered symptoms of tear gas inhalation,” launched by PRM elements in these demonstrations, which occurred in various parts of the country.
It recalls that on March 18, the PRM “fired real ammunition, rubber bullets, and tear gas at hundreds of people in the cities of Maputo and Beira,” who “participated in a peaceful meeting in honor of the deceased rapper Edson da Luz [Azagaia].”
The report also mentions that in July, a Mozambican citizen “was found dead in the 3rd Police Station of Maputo, one day after being arrested by the National Criminal Investigation Service.”
“The police said he died of natural causes, but a local NGO suspected he had died under torture,” Amnesty International points out.”
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