Leader of third Mozambican party shocked by images of dead bodies in Gorongosa

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Leader of third Mozambican party shocked by images of dead bodies in Gorongosa

12:17 CAT | 02 May 2016

Lusa / Daviz Simango

The leader of the third largest Mozambican party, the Democratic of Mozambique Movement (MDM), said on Sunday that he is shocked by the images of abandoned bodies in the district of Gorongosa, in Sofala province, and demands that the a clearance the facts.

“I saw the images and they are shocking,” said Daviz Simango, reacting to the report released yesterday by Lusa, about the existence of 15 bodies left abandoned in the National 1 (N1), the main road of the country, near the place where peasants from the region claim to have seen more than a hundred dead bodies in a mass grave.

The presence of the military did not allow access to the mass graves described by the peasants, but 15 dead bodies were visible in the vicinity, scattered in the bush and some of them naked.

Daviz Simango said that a team of his party had gone to Gorongosa, but could not reach the place, “because it is all surrounded by members of the military and it takes great courage to circulate in the area.”

The MDM members describe “a terrible smell” along the road, continued the party leader, adding that he doesn’t have “the slightest doubt” about the existence of mass graves in the region and, furthermore, suspects that there are others which have not been revealed.

“Now that we have seen the pictures, the big question that arises is: who killed those people?” said Daviz Simango, who is also mayor of Beira, capital of Sofala, reiterating that an investigation to the facts must be conducted, as he had already said on his first reaction to the peasants report, demanding the involvement of Parliament and the Public Attorney’s Office.

Simango further lamented the denials by local authorities and now wants to hear more explanations.

“If you deny and there is nothing that can be blamed on you, then why do you deny?” He asked.

The administrator of Gorongosa denied, on Friday, the report of the peasants about the existence of the mass grave with more than a hundred bodies.

According to Manuel Jamaca, a team from the district government was sent to the site but found nothing and the Provincial Government of Sofala has also denied the existence of a mass grave in the Gorongosa region.

Sofala police announced on Friday that it will launch an investigation to determine the veracity of the discovery.

Despite the denials, the Human Rights Commission of Mozambique (CDHM), an institution linked to the State. wants to ascertain the veracity of the reports stating that, if confirmed, it is a “very disturbing” case and urging the Attorney General’s Office to investigate.

Contacted on Sunday by Lusa, the president of CDHM, Custódio Duma, said that he needs to gather more information before making a statement on the revelation of the images of bodies in Gorongosa.

Of the 15 bodies found by a small group of journalists on site, four were dropped in a small savannah, about 200 metres from the Macossa crossing to the interior, and the others were left under a bridge near the N1.

The place where these bodies were deposited is located after the bridge over the river Muare in the Gorongosa-Caia direction, and where illegal extraction of gold has been made, albeit timidly.

As for the main mass grave, according to the peasants, it is located in zone 76, between Muare and Tropa, in the administrative post of Canda, district of Gorongosa, a region that remains under the supervision of the military and the police and that has been hit by clashes between the Defence and Security Forces and the armed wing of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo).

Source: Lusa