Mozambique Elections: Amnesty International accuses police of “gross violation of Mozambican and international human rights law”

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Mozambique Elections: Amnesty International accuses police of “gross violation of Mozambican and international human rights law”

7:03 CAT | 18 Oct 2024

Image: Amnesty International

Amnesty International (AI) today accused the Mozambican police of “gross violation of human rights”, stating that the authorities shot at supporters of presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane on Wednesday in the city of Nampula, in the north of the country.

““Regardless of who wins the election, Mozambican police must respect people’s right to peaceful assembly. Shooting live bullets at a peaceful political rally and arbitrarily detaining opposition supporters is a gross violation of both Mozambican and international human rights law,” said AI’s Deputy Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, Khanyo Farisè, quoted in a statement entitled “Mozambique: Stop shooting at peaceful political rallies amid disputed election results”.

““If people of any political views continue to hold peaceful rallies during and after the vote counting, police must uphold their obligation to ensure the safety of all those present,” Farisè said.

AI reports that on 16 October, “police shot at Mondlane’s supporters, wounding at least one person, during a public rally welcoming the candidate upon his arrival to Nampula city, an opposition stronghold.”.

“At the rally, police also arrested David Calisto Bandeira, a musician and prominent supporter of the opposition PODEMOS party. Police charged Bandeira with inciting violence for his pro-PODEMOS songs.,”, the statement said.

“On 10 October, one day after the elections, police also shot and wounded two other people at polling stations in Baundua locality of Buzi district in Sofala province and in the George Dimitrov neighbourhood of the capital city Maputo.”, the statement added.

AI notes that “supporters of Mondlane and PODEMOS have been protesting since 12 October, when partial results showed the ruling Frelimo party’s candidate, Daniel Chapo, in the lead in Nampula province and elsewhere”.

Regardless of who wins the election, #Mozambique police must respect people’s right to peaceful assembly.

Shooting live bullets at a peaceful political rally and arbitrarily detaining opposition supporters is a gross violation of Mozambican law.https://t.co/oRM7GLhEva

— AmnestySouthernAfrica (@AmnestySARO) October 18, 2024

On Thursday, Venâncio Mondlane assured, in Beira, central Portugal, that after the announcement of the results of the general elections of October 9, he would appeal to the Constitutional Council, with the minutes and original voting notices. “At the moment, we are aggregating the original notices at a national level. We are making copies, we are scanning them, so that we also have a digital record of all the material and we are sending them little by little to Maputo, to see if after the announcement of the national results by the CNE [National Elections Commission] we will be able to quickly present the appeal to the Constitutional Council”, he said, in statements to journalists.

The district and provincial election commissions have already completed the vote count for the general elections of October 9, which, according to public announcements, give an advantage to the Liberation Front of Mozambique (Frelimo, the ruling party) and the presidential candidate supported by the party, Daniel Chapo, with more than 60% of the votes, although Venâncio Mondlane disputes these results, claiming that he uses data from the original voting minutes and notices, which he collects from all over the country.

The CNE has 15 days, after the polls close, to announce the official results of the elections, which is due on October 24, and then it is up to the Constitutional Council to proclaim the results, after it has also concluded its analysis of any appeals, but without a defined deadline for this purpose.

The general elections of October 9 included the seventh presidential elections – in which the current head of state, Filipe Nyusi, who reached the limit of two terms, no longer ran – simultaneously with the seventh legislative elections and the fourth elections for assemblies and provincial governors.

Source: Lusa