Mozambique: More dumped bodies found burned in Macossa

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Mozambique: More dumped bodies found burned in Macossa

3:05 CAT | 30 May 2016

DW / This is the place where the seven abandoned bodies were found

Seven bodies were found last Wednesday in the forest in Macossa, Manica, by a group of journalists, including a reporter for DW Africa, who went to the site to investigate the existence of mass graves.

The bodies were dumped there two months ago and the area where they were deposited set on fire, and bring to 21 the number of bodies found in the area since the start of the month.

Plastic bottles, some still containing liquid, were found near the bodies, some of which were naked and appeared to have been tied up.

According to a farmer and a mining prospector who usually work along the Nhaduwe river, five kilometres from where the bodies were found, the corpses were dumped overnight by unknown individuals. “It’s been two months since I first saw the bodies. I woke up early to go to my farm and saw them. I walked away and never returned,” one of them said.

Along the bodies were found plastic containers with remains of liquid

Speaking on behalf of the authorities, Manica provincial police commander Armando Change, said that the eleven bodies discovered under a bridge near the N1 between Gorongosa district (Sofala) and Macossa (Manica) were buried.

But DW Africa, on site on Wednesday (25 May), saw four of these bodies still lying where they were found more than one month ago, and the same witness who saw 11 corpses in the woods say there are more dumped bodies. “There is nothing buried here. The bodies are here just like this. They didn’t bury them,” he said.

The Sofala provincial prosecutor says he has visited the site but did not find the mass graves or abandoned bodies.

Murders and kidnappings in Vunduzi

The population of Vunduzi meanwhile has alleged that Defence and Security Force personnel have beaten and abducted civilians.

Carlitos Azarias Meque says his father was one of the victims. He was beaten by government troops and saw his four houses were set on fire.

“They came and took my father. They beat him, tied him up, put him in a car and took him away to hit him some more, and then brought him back again. The other day, they came, beat him and shot at him. He managed to escape, but they stayed here to burn the houses,” Meque says.

Source: Deutsche Welle