Mozambique: House arrest bracelets will be introduced in the country by December – Watch

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Mozambique: House arrest bracelets will be introduced in the country by December – Watch

2:02 CAT | 04 Sep 2025

Screen grab: STV Notícias

The Minister of Justice, Constitutional and Religious Affairs, Mateus Saíze, says that the government will implement a house arrest ankle monitor system by December to address the problem of prison overcrowding in the country.

The current prison capacity in the country is around 8,000, but the country has more than 20,000 inmates.

The overcrowding situation was highlighted among the concerns raised this Wednesday by inmates of the Xai-Xai provincial penitentiary during the first day of Minister Saíze’s two-day visit to Gaza province.

“Preventive detentions have expired, and sentences for minor crimes like robbery and assault,” inmate representative Mércia Ruco said. The inmates have made other complaints: “Crowded cells have led to the transmission of infectious diseases, and this is a threat to our health.” They asked the minister for “alternative sentences, commuted sentences, and a reduction in the long sentences that the court has been applying, leaving the cells overcrowded”.

Mateus Saíze announced that the government would introduce the use of ankle bracelets by December, to mitigate the problem of overcrowded jails. “We intend to select a province as a pilot so that we can introduce the ‘pulseira electrónica’ before December this year. We have a window with a possible cooperation partner, and we have provided clear instructions […] so they can see how this works,” the minister explained.

The justice minister also condemned the police’s repeated use of lethal means in their arrests, arguing that they contribute to human rights violations.

“And let’s not let this kind of thing happen. When it does, we have to investigate and hold the perpetrators responsible. That’s all. The government distances itself from these deviant behaviours among police officers. But as I say, it’s not the police command, it’s the police’s own behaviour that must be prevented,” he emphasized.

More than half of the criminals who escaped from prison at the height of the post-election protests have already been recaptured.

“Many have been recaptured, and others have turned up dead. We regret this, but we have recaptured just over 800 out of a total of 1,600 inmates,” Saíze concluded.

Minister Saíze said that more than a thousand inmates would be pardoned across the country this year.

Source: O País