Mozambique: Cabo Delgado conflict country’s ‘most critical’ human rights situation – Amnesty International

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Mozambique: Cabo Delgado conflict country’s ‘most critical’ human rights situation – Amnesty International

11:25 CAT | 29 Mar 2022

in file CoM

Amnesty International (AI) has classified the conflict in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, as the “most critical” situation in the country, in the 2021/22 edition of its report on the state of human rights around the world.

“The armed conflict in Cabo Delgado province remained the most critical issue, with President Nyusi facing criticism about his mishandling of the conflict,” reads the document, which summarises the various cases of human rights violations made public in the period – both in the north and elsewhere in the country.

“The armed group known locally as al-Shabaab, government security forces and private military operatives continued to commit war crimes and other serious human rights violations,” says the AI, reaffirming the position taken a year ago.

According to the human rights organisation, “the authorities mishandled the humanitarian crisis in Cabo Delgado, seriously undermining rights to food, water, education, housing and health.”.

Cabo Delgado province is rich in natural gas but has been terrorised since 2017 by armed rebels, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.

There are 784,000 internally displaced people due to the conflict, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and around 4,000 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project.

Since July 2021, an offensive by government troops with Rwandan support later joined by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has allowed areas where there was a rebel presence to recover, but their flight has provoked new attacks in other districts used as passage or temporary refuge.

Elsewhere in the country other problems persist

Besides the conflict in the north, other problems persist in the rest of the country.

“Violence against women and girls continued unchecked,” reads the AI report, which mentions, among other cases, the accusation of a network of sexual exploitation of prisoners by wardens at a Maputo prison.

The document also highlights the complaints made by women’s support organisations about obstetric mistreatment.

“Expectant mothers were treated inhumanely, and were beaten, insulted and humiliated in public maternity wards” it said.

At the same time, “the authorities stifled activity within civic space through intimidation, harassment and threats against civil society activists and journalists”, Amnesty International concludes.

Speaking to Lusa on the sidelines of the presentation of the main conclusions of the annual report in Johannesburg, AI’s secretary-general Agnès Callamard stressed that the organisation found “massive violations” of humanitarian and international law in Cabo Delgado province.

“Amnesty International investigated the situation in Cabo Delgado last year, we found massive violations of humanitarian law, people being killed, tortured, many refugees, private security companies involved, government armies involved,” she said.

“The situation is extremely serious because of the potential to go further, and because of the fact that there are so many weapons available and very little regulation,” she stressed.

Asked by Lusa about international military support to Mozambique, namely from European Union countries, Agnès Callamard considered that “this should be done according to the best possible rules regarding arms exports”.

“In our investigation, we found that the Mozambican authorities violated international law and if they do so by choosing arms sold by other countries, these other countries can be complicit in human rights violations,” she stressed to Lusa.

OUT NOW: Every year, we take a look at the state of human rights around the world. In 2021, we found betrayal & collusion and conflict & repression led to deeper inequality and greater instability.

Here’s how we can move forward: https://t.co/BWjMzEc46G

— Amnesty International (@amnesty) March 29, 2022