Mozambican journalists demand access to Cabo Delgado to cover the situation in the province

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Mozambican journalists demand access to Cabo Delgado to cover the situation in the province

3:08 CAT | 19 Aug 2020

The Southern African Social Communication Institute – MISA Mozambique has demanded that journalists be able to cover the armed violence in Cabo Delgado safely, even while Palma Community Radio reporter Ibraimo Mbaruco is still missing.

The President of MISA Mozambique, Fernando Gonçalves, says that the situation in Cabo Delgado province, which has been the target of armed attacks for almost three years, “is very delicate for journalists”.

Gonçalves said that journalists should not be prevented from exercising their profession, stressing that the issue of Cabo Delgado “is within our entire approach to journalistic coverage of the situation of violence” in the province.

“There has to be a collective effort for journalists to cover events in Cabo Delgado in a safe environment,” Gonçalves said.

MISA Mozambique is also asking the authorities to step up actions aimed at restoring to freedom Palma Community Radio journalist Ibraimo Mbaruco, who has been missing since April 7 of this year.

According to the press freedom monitoring institute, Mbaruco was seized by the Defence and Security Forces in Palma. The police have distanced themselves from the incident.

Mistreatment

Mozambican journalists agree with the position of MISA Mozambique, stressing that it has been quite difficult to report on what is happening in Cabo Delgado.

Journalist Fernando Mbanze says that there are many examples, but highlights the arrest of Amade Abubacar and the disappearance of Ibraimo Mbaruco, which “reveal illegal behaviour which cannot be allowed by a state”.

The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) says it does not understand why journalists are prevented from working in conflict zones in Cabo Delgado, since they only report what happens on the ground.

CDD executive director Adriano Nuvunga says that, at a time when there are allegations of mistreatment of citizens by the military, “the difficulties created for journalists look as though they are intended to protect certain information, which some people are concerned to keep out of the public domain”.

Source: Voa Portugues