Minister: “The macabre acts which have been publicised are subversion action” – Watch

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Minister: “The macabre acts which have been publicised are subversion action” – Watch

3:45 CAT | 16 Sep 2020

Photo: Noticias

It is not Defence and Security Forces (FDS) personnel that appear in the video portraying naked woman being tortured then executed, shot more than a dozen times, in the middle of a public road in one of the districts affected by the terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado province, Minister of the Interior Amade Miquidade asserted after the 34th Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers yesterday.

According to Minister Miquidade, the video circulating on social media since last Monday, which has provoked revulsion at home and abroad, was recorded and broadcast by the terrorists with the intention of subverting the facts.

“This video is not the only one that the terrorists have broadcast. It is another video that they publish with the subversive intention of inverting the facts, targeting the Defence and Security Forces. That is a macabre, unacceptable and inhumane act. The Defence and Security Forces would never do anything like that,” the Minister of the Interior said.

The video, which lasts 1 minute and 58 seconds, shows a heavily armed group of men dressed in uniforms of the Armed Forces of Defence of Mozambique (FADM), chasing and torturing a naked woman before one of them opens fire on here, followed by another two other members of the group. One of the members of the group responsible for recording the video, shouts that the victim is “Al Shabaab”, a name attributed to the terrorist group operating in the province of Cabo Delgado. After the execution of the woman, that same individual gestures with two fingers in the shape of a “V”, again stating that “they have already killed Al Shabaab”.

Some believe the video is authored by the FDS, and that the soldiers involved are already in detention. Others say that the executed woman is a “witch” who belonged to the terrorist group and that she was naked because she was on a witchcraft mission. Others maintain the video could not be authored by the FDS, as some members of the group are wearing red (and not green) T-shirts, in addition to having non-military backpacks.

“We want to clarify here that terrorists are wearing a uniform identical to that used by the Defence and Security Forces. What identifies them, among them, is that in their incursions they put signs so that they can get to know each other. But, when they want to carry out their propaganda against the Mozambican state, they remove those signs which identify them and make the videos to promote an image of atrocity for those who defend the people,” Amade Miquidade explained.

The video surfaced just days after Amnesty International demanded that the government set up an independent and impartial investigation into torture and other serious violations committed by the FDS in Cabo Delgado. In fact, as “Carta” has reported on several occasions, atrocities have been committed by the FDS in the districts affected by the terrorist attacks, especially arbitrary arrests and summary executions.

“We want to assure people that the macabre acts that have been publicised are actions of subversion, intending to turn the people against the forces that protect them, and that we will fight and fight [until then]. In fact, we want to assure the people that we are in an investigative process to find out where the nucleus for preparing these videos is located. It is not the first time that we have seen information in the world and in our country being manipulated, with a view to creating a misinformation that leads to the condemnation of our country. Recently, the government, in the face of a communication from the international community, clarified, through a statement, that there was no relationship between those images and the FDS,” the Minister of the Interior said.

“The terrorists, with their macabre actions, beheading their victims, butchering them alive, causing violent death without mercy, only demonstrate their brutal character and demonstrate that, after all, we have a group of individuals with unknown intentions,” he emphasised.

“There are [international] supports because we receive arms and ammunition”

Asked by journalists whether or not the Government plans to ask for support from the international community, Amade Miquidade replied: “International support is being requested, yes. Recently, the ADIN [Northern Integrated Development Agency] was created, with the aim of calling for the necessary help for the displaced and for creating conditions so that young people are not seduced by vain promises. From a military point of view, we don’t produce ammunition, we don’t produce weapons. So, that means that there is support because we receive weapons and ammunition to defend ourselves.”

The terrorist attacks, which have lasted for almost three years, have already displaced more than 360,000 people and killed more than 1,000 military personnel, insurgents and civilians.

By Abílio Maolela