Mozambique Elections: Human Rights Commission criticises “indiscriminate” use of force against protesters

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Mozambique Elections: Human Rights Commission criticises “indiscriminate” use of force against protesters

3:43 CAT | 31 Oct 2023

Photo: O País

The president of the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), Luís Bitone, has criticised the “indiscriminate” use of force by the police in the context of demonstrations against the results of the local elections on the 11th of this month promoted by the opposition.

“We are seeing [excessive force] at some points, because the bullets are real and are fired indiscriminately,” Bitone said to journalists.

Police officers have to be “trained” in using alternatives to live bullets, so as not to put the lives and physical integrity of protesters at risk, he continued.

The president of the CNDH also appealed to supporters of opposition parties contesting the results of the October 11 municipal elections to respect the law.

“Demonstration is a right, but it must be aligned with the legal framework,” Luís Bitone stressed. But the exercise of a right, he continued, must not jeopardise the rights of other citizens, or cause damage to property and injury.

Figures provided by the authorities indicate that more than 100 people have been detained in various parts of the country, especially in the cities of Nampula, Nacala-Porto and Maputo, where the demonstrations and skirmishes took place, and criminal proceedings are ongoing “for the damage caused and the destabilisation of public order” in those municipalities.

According to the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP), a Mozambican non-governmental organisation (NGO) that observes the elections, a police officer and a young man died during demonstrations against the results of the local elections in Nampula and Nacala.

These deaths have not yet been confirmed by the authorities, who have admitted, however, that there were injuries and arrests during the skirmishes.

The Mozambican police yesterday accused the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), the largest opposition party, of manufacturing and using homemade bombs in demonstrations against the election results in Nampula, leading to the amputation of an agent’s arm.

“It is very well known that at the Renamo party level there are militants who have knowledge about the use of war material and took advantage of this knowledge to manufacture homemade bombs to use against the police at a time when they were restoring order and public security,” spokesperson for the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) in Nampula Zacarias Nacute told a press conference.

The main opposition party has been promoting marches to challenge the results of the October 11 elections, bringing together thousands of people to denounce an alleged ballot “mega-fraud”.

The sixth municipal elections in Mozambique took place in 65 municipalities across the country on October 11, including 12 new municipalities, which went to vote for the first time.

The results presented by Mozambique’s CNE indicate a victory for the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo), the party in power, in 64 of the country’s 65 municipalities, while the MDM, the third-largest party in parliament, won in Beira.

Under Mozambican electoral legislation, the results of the ballot still have to be validated and proclaimed by the Constitutional Council (CC).

Source: Lusa