Mozambique: Cabo Delgado open to journalists, but it is a war zone – President

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Mozambique: Cabo Delgado open to journalists, but it is a war zone – President

8:57 CAT | 01 Sep 2020

Photo: TVM

Mozambique’s president, Filipe Nyusi, on Monday considered ‘false news’ the alleged information that the northern province of Cabo Delgado was closed to journalists, but warned that it is a war zone and unpredictable.

“Unlike false news of people who are displaced from the stage of events, the province of Cabo Delgado is not closed to journalists,” said Filipe Nyusi.

He referred to the situation in Cabo Delgado, where there are armed groups when he spoke during the launch of the Integrated Development Agency of the North (ADIN), a state entity created for the promotion of development in the region.

Nyusi warned, however, that the movement in Cabo Delgado province is subject to the typical constraints of a war zone.

Several national and international organisations have accused the Mozambican Defence and Security Forces (FDS) and armed groups operating in the region of making it impossible for journalists and independent investigators to work in the context of the armed violence that has been going on in Cabo Delgado province for about three years.

Ibrahimo Abu Mbaruco, a journalist from a community radio station in Palma district, Cabo Delgado province, has been missing for four months and no developments are known regarding an investigation into the case announced by the Attorney General’s Office (PGR).

In early 2019, journalists Amade Camal and Germano Adriano were held captive in a military barracks and were released after internal and international pressure.

Both are the target of criminal proceedings, the outcome of which has not yet happened.

Last year, the journalists Estácio Valoi and the Mozambican activist of Amnesty International (AI) David Matsinhe were arrested in Cabo Delgado.

At the beginning of this year, the journalist of the private channel STV, Izidine Achá, was momentarily arrested and is now working in the city of Pemba, capital of Cabo Delgado.

In 2019, the CDD continues, another journalist, Amade Abubacar, was deprived of his liberty for three months in a military barracks in Mueda, Cabo Delgado.

The province of Cabo Delgado has been the target of attacks by armed groups since October 2017, which have caused the death of at least 1,059 people in almost three years, in addition to the destruction of various infrastructures.

According to the United Nations, the armed violence has led to the flight of 250,000 people from insecure districts further north in the province.

The United Nations and several international entities have classified the attacks as a threat and some of the actions have been claimed by the Islamic state.

Source: Lusa