Mozambique: Government approves Law on Prevention, Repression and Combat against Terrorism

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Mozambique: Government approves Law on Prevention, Repression and Combat against Terrorism

10:33 CAT | 03 Mar 2022

File photo: Lusa

The Mozambican government on Thursday approved the Law on Prevention, Repression and Combat against Terrorism, an instrument that updates the country’s legislative framework in the face of the emergence of extremist movements.

“Our law did not have a legal framework for crimes of this nature, and the great innovation here is that we now have a specific law to deal with crimes related to acts of terrorism,” government spokeswoman Ludovina Bernardo said at the end of a Council of Ministers meeting in Maputo.

The new law, which will be submitted to the Mozambican parliament in the coming days, revokes Law 5/2018, which was considered by many to be outdated in face of the outbreak of the armed insurgency in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique.

“The new law will apply to the prevention, repression and fight against terrorism, as well as preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,” Ludovina Bernardo stressed.

Since 2017, the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, rich in natural gas, has been terrorized by armed rebels, with some attacks claimed by the Islamic State extremist group.

The conflict has already caused more than 3,100 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project, and more than 859,000 displaced people, according to the Mozambican authorities.

Since July, an offensive by government troops with the support of Rwanda, which was later joined by SADC, allowed for increased security, recovering several areas where the rebels were present, but attacks continue in scattered areas of the province and neighbouring regions.

Yesterday’s Council of Ministers session also assessed the situation of Mozambicans who crossed the border to Malawi after the destruction caused by the storm Ana in Mozambique.

“We want to ensure that everything is being done between the two governments so that these people have the necessary means of subsistence, and to ensure that they return safely to their areas of origin,” Bernardo said.

In total, according to official data, at least 2,500 Mozambicans from the province of Tete and Zambézia, in central Mozambique, crossed into Malawi in search of safety and now live in eight reception centres, mostly located in the district of Sanje, in southern Malawi.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, at least 116 people perished in January during the passage of Tropical Storm Ana through Madagascar, Mozambique and Malawi, 25 of them in Mozambique.

In Mozambique, the storm hit the provinces of Zambézia, Nampula and Tete, killing 25 and injuring 22, in addition to destroying 13,600 dwellings and leaving more than 140,000 people homeless.

Source: Lusa