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Mozambican analysts believe that the state should show “genuine indignation” at the death of 52 people by an armed group in the village of Xitaxi, Cabo Delgado province, in the north of the country, rather than treating it with “levity” in order not to perpetuate “impunity”.
“If it is proven that these deaths occurred, the government should be the first to show genuine indignation and avoid treating such an event lightly, as has happened with several cases in the country”, said Juma Aiuba, who lives in Nampula, the neighboring province of Cabo Delgado.
For Aiuba, the Mozambican government’s thesis that the victims are young people who were shot for refusing to join the ranks of the armed groups that are carrying out attacks in Cabo Delgado province is strange.
“It is strange that the government appears to claim that 52 young people refused to fight on the side of the armed groups and so were killed on the same day and in the same village,” he said.
Elísio de Sousa, a lawyer and analyst, considered it important that the government put an end to “impunity” in Cabo Delgado “so that the killing does not multiply” in the province.
“These attacks on human rights must be investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice so that impunity is not imposed,” said Elísio de Sousa.
While the perpetrators of violence in Cabo Delgado are not caught, the defence and security forces must, within the law, pursue the armed groups that promote violence in Cabo Delgado, he said.
“Defence and security forces must act, with the necessary proportionality, against the perpetrators of these acts of terrorism,” he noted.
The president of the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) of Mozambique, Luís Bitone, advocated a judicial investigation into the 52 deaths, pointing out that fundamental rights have been questioned.
“We are talking about human rights, there have been deaths, even if it was only one death, it is important because human life is unique,” Luis Bitone said.
The investigation must establish whether or not “there has been sufficient protection of the population and whether or not there has been intervention by local authorities, including members of the defence and security forces, he said.
The president of the CNDH added that the entity urged the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) and the National Criminal Investigation Service (Sernic) to bring results on the deaths in Xitaxi.
Luís Bitone said that the CNDH stopped sending missions to the conflict zones in Cabo Delgado, due to the worsening insecurity, and therefore monitors the situation through intermediate sources.
“We interrupted our trips to Cabo Delgado until the situation is normalised. The last time we went there was in November last year, after that the situation got complicated and we had no way to go again,” Luis Bitone said.
Mozambique’s minister of internal affairs, Amade Miquidade, considered that the 52 deaths were a form of retaliation against the casualties inflicted by the defence and security forces on members of the insurgent movement.
Earlier, Orlando Modumane, a spokesman for the Mozambique police had said that the victims were young people who were killed in retaliation for refusing to join the armed groups.
The northern province of Mozambique is plagued by attacks from armed groups classified as a terrorist threat that have killed at least 500 people in the last two and a half years.
The Mozambican authorities say 162,000 people have been affected by armed violence in that province.
At the end of March, the villages of Mocímboa da Praia and Quissanga were invaded by a group, which destroyed several infrastructures and raised its flag at an FDS headquarters.
On that occasion, in a video distributed on the Internet, an alleged ‘jihadist’ militant justified the attacks by armed groups in northern Mozambique with the aim of imposing Islamic law in the region.
This was the first message issued by the perpetrators of the attacks that took place two and a half years ago in Cabo Delgado province, recorded in one of the villages they invaded.
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