Mozambique attacks: Community Radio journalists have been hiding in the woods for 10 days, with families – NGO

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Mozambique attacks: Community Radio journalists have been hiding in the woods for 10 days, with families – NGO

12:51 CAT | 10 Nov 2020

According to Forcom, on October 31, the insurgents occupied the Parish Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (in Muidumbe district), where the Saint Francis of Assisi Community Radio is located, and at least nine journalists were forced to flee into the woods with their families. [Image: FORCOM]

The National Community Radio Forum (Forcom) expressed its concern yesterday about the situation of a group of community radio journalists in Cabo Delgado, who have been hiding from armed violence in the woods for 10 days.

“Information held by Forcom shows that most of the journalists in the woods are incommunicado and surviving in humanly deplorable and insecure conditions,” a statement from the organisation reads.

The radio facilities were destroyed, and insurgents are currently still in the district, according to Forcom.

The journalists sought refuge in the woods and are now trying to leave the region for districts considered safer, and at least one reporter lost a relative in the attacks.

“My father was beheaded. We are dying of thirst and hunger, three days without eating anything and I am with my nephews. So we are asking for help,” one of the journalists reported in a telephone message quoted by Forcom.

“In view of the situation, Forcom is putting in place all mechanisms to guarantee all the necessary support to journalists who are in the woods, to safeguard their physical integrity and safety. Forcom underlines that the State must guarantee the safety of its citizens,” the document adds.

The province of Cabo Delgado, in northern Mozambique, has been the scene for the past three years of armed attacks by forces classified as terrorists, which have intensified this year.

Estimates of the number of deaths range from 1,000 to 2,000, with at least 435,000 internally displaced, according to official figures.

The capital of Cabo Delgado, Pemba, has since mid-October been receiving a new wave of internally displaced people (IDPs), arriving by boat.

Victims of violence in the region rich in natural gas have migrated to other regions, notably the neighbouring provinces of Niassa and Nampula, but local authorities have already offered aid to refugee families penetrating further south, to Zambezia and Sofala.

Full unabridged FORCOM communique below.

Journalist of Community Radio São Francisco de Assis hiding for more than ten days in the bush due to insurgent attacks in Muidumbe

The National Forum of Community Radios (FORCOM) received the disquieting news of the forced evacuation of the entire editorial team of São Francisco de Assis Community Radio from the radio’s facilities as a result of an attack carried out by the insurgents in the District of Muidumbe, Cabo Delgado province.

Armed violence has reached levels never seen before, with the assault and occupation of the main villages in the districts.

On October 31, the insurgents occupied the Parish Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus where the radio station is located, forcing the nine journalists, together with their families, to flee and take refuge for more than ten days in the woods, heading for the nearest districts, Mueda and Montepuez, supposedly considered safer.

According to Father Edgard Silva Júnior, coordinator of the radio station, it is suspected that the entire structure of the radio station has been completely destroyed by the armed men. What equipment was rescued is being transported to the city of Pemba. The village of Muambula, where the radio station was located, is under the control of the insurgents.

Information held by FORCOM relates that most journalists in the woods are incommunicado and are surviving in deplorable and insecure conditions. Through steps taken by the Parish Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, it was possible to get in touch with journalists Daniel Nantuma and Beatriz João who have been walking for days towards Mueda, and Costa Marcelino and Hilário Tomás, who are heading for the Administrative Post of Nairoto, Montepuez District, Cabo Delgado Province.

Below are some examples of communications illustrating the suffering of journalists in the woods.

“Good morning, Reverend (Father). Our houses in Aldeia 24 de Março were burned down. They’re killing. Too bad this time. Father, if you have any money, I ask you to remove some family members up here where I am in Montepuez.”

“We are still in the bush. The situation is very complicated.”

“We are dying of thirst and hunger, three days with my nephews without eating anything. So we are asking for help.”

“Father, the situation is still bad. I have been in the woods for five days with my family, we are in bad shape.”

“My father was beheaded …”

“I arrived here in Pemba today at 12 noon. It was not easy, but God helped me a lot in my journey. Yesterday, I went into the forests near our mission on foot until I came out in Macomia. From what I experienced these four days of the terrorist attacks, everything indicates that this time it will be complicated for us to go back to live there. The shooting does not stop, and the houses are being burned down.”

In view of the situation, FORCOM is putting in place mechanisms to guarantee the necessary support for journalists who are in the woods and safeguard their physical integrity and safety. FORCOM believes that the State must guarantee the security of its citizens.

FORCOM stresses that the right to information is an unconditional principle within the framework of the materialization of human rights and is enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Mozambique and in the Right to Information Law as a fundamental and irreducible right.

We are extremely concerned about the journalists’ situation.

We demand that the necessary conditions are created to guarantee the human rights of the communities in the affected areas in Cabo Delgado. We demand that conditions be created for the operation of the São Francisco de Assis Community Radio, so that staff can continue to fulfil their mission to develop, protect and promote the human rights of local communities.

Source: Lusa / FORCOM