Mozambique: Macomia in panic following clashes with terrorists - AIM report
Appeals to release journalist detained in Cabo Delgado
1:47 CAT | 15 Jan 2019
in file CoM
Amade Abubacar has been detained for nine days for investigating the attacks in Cabo Delgado. Human rights activists urge Mozambican authorities to find out who is behind the attacks instead of arresting journalists.
Amade Abubacar, a Nacedje radio and television journalist in the Macomia district was arrested on the 5th of January at a bus stop while photographing and interviewing families fleeing Cabo Delgado, and taken to the Mueda barracks by the military authorities.
So far, little is known about his condition. Relatives and friends of the journalist have tried without success to obtain information from the district police command. The community radio where the journalist works does not have any news, his brother Ali Abubacar says. “The radio and the Institute of Social Communication (ICS) do not say anything. They are very calm, they seem to have no worries. They only like a person when they are well; when they have a problem they do not want to know,” he comments.
The Southern African Social Communication Institute (MISA) in Cabo Delgado has asked the Attorney General and the Mueda District Court whether any lawsuit has been filed against the journalist, but no trace has been found.
Arrest is “kidnapping”
Jonas Wazir, MISA’s Provincial Nucleus president, who oversees the rights of journalists, concludes that the journalist’s detention by the army is kidnapping.
“Being in the hands of the military without being charged with any crime is kidnapping, as far as we’re concerned. We are appealing for the restoration of the young man’s freedom. We have no information that he has committed any crime.”
The journalist’s arrest is the second in less than a month. In December, journalist Estacio Valoi was also arrested, along with Amnesty International investigator David Matsinhe and his driver.
The Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) last week accused Mozambican authorities of “censoring the coverage of the insurgency, arresting journalists and accusing them of collusion with the militants”.
Amnesty International called on Mozambique to “end the growing crackdown on journalists”, find out the causes of the attacks and “take steps to protect citizens”.
National demonstration of journalists
Both Amnesty and the Committee are calling for Abubacar’s immediate release. With no comment from the authorities, “Carta do Dia” journalist Omardine Omar has appealed to journalists’ for nationwide action.
“We must join forces and defend our interests,” he says, “because it has been days since Abubacar was detained and we do not know if he is alive or not.”
On Monday, Cabo Delgado police spokesman Augusto Guta said the case was delicate and avoided commenting further, promising to call the press with clarification in due course.
The situation in several regions of Cabo Delgado is deteriorating, although the authorities often say the region is calm. This morning, police fired into the air to disperse protesters protesting against the failure of the Defence and Security Forces to quash insurgency in the region.
On Sunday (13.01), a group of unidentified attackers killed seven people and wounded thirteen others in Olumbe, in Palma district.
Source: DW
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