Mozambique: Women's Observatory denounces attempt to shelve Maputo prison sexual abuse case - Watch
File photo: Lusa
More than 50 non-governmental organisations (NGO) have condemned “threats on the life” of Mozambican activist Adriano Nuvunga, who had bullets inscribed with threatening messages thrown into the yard of his Maputo home in the early hours of Monday morning.
“We have learnt, with great concern, of the macabre and cowardly act of threatening the physical integrity of social activist Adriano Nuvunga, director of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) and president of the Mozambican Network of Human Rights Defenders,” a ‘Note of Repudiation and Denunciation’ signed by over 50 activist organisations reads.
“This macabre act occurs in the context of increasingly closing the civic space and attempts to block the activities of civil society organisations,” the note adds, demanding “that the investigation of the case is swift, and results in identifying its authors, for their criminal accountability.”
The CDD director found two AK47 bullets, one bearing his name, in the backyard of his home, he told Lusa on Tuesday.
“Surveillance cameras show the bullets were thrown into my garden by two men, who then ran off. This was around 05:00 on Monday,” the Mozambican activist explained to Lusa, which notes that his house is just a few metres from a police station.
According to Adriano Nuvunga, the bullets were wrapped in paper and, although in general the content of the messages was unclear, one at least said “Be careful, Nuvunga”.
“This is a veiled threat that aims to limit our work, which aims precisely to extend access to justice so that people who are victims of corruption and impunity can have a minimum of dignity. Therefore, with all these threats, what I can say is that the fight continues,” Nuvunga declared.
Lusa contacted the National Criminal Investigation Service (Sernic) of Mozambique, which confirmed that it had received a complaint, adding that operations to identify the people responsible were ongoing.
“We received the notice on Monday and are working on the matter. It is premature to put forward any hypothesis as to what actually happened, but the authorities are working to establish the truth,” Sernic spokesman Hilario Lole stressed.
Adriano Nuvunga, one of the most vocal and critical voices in Mozambican civil society, is the director of the non-governmental organisation Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), and has also headed the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP), as well as being a professor of political science at the Eduardo Mondlane University, the oldest higher education institution in Mozambique.
In 2020, Nuvunga received a bomb threat at his home, a case into which Amnesty International subsequently called for investigations, the outcome of which however remains unknown.
Among the organisations signing the are the Centre for Democracy and Development, the Southern African Human Rights Defenders Network, the Institute for Social and Economic Studies (IESE), the Wiwanana Foundation and the Terra Viva Centre.
READ: Mozambique: Civil society demands law to safeguard the right to hold demonstrations
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