Mozambique: At least two Naparamas killed in Angoche - AIM report
Mozambique: Police refusing to comment on sexual abuse scandal – AIM report
5:03 CAT | 12 Aug 2020
File photo: Folha de Maputo
The Mozambican police are refusing to make any comment about the scandal in which male police instructors at the Matalana training centre on the outskirts of Maputo impregnated 15 female trainees.
A document from the office of the General Commander of the police, Bernadino Rafael, revealed that a report from the police Central Recruitment and Selection Commission had looked into the pregnancies of 15 Matalana trainees.
Rafael decided to initiate disciplinary proceedings against the instructors who made the trainees pregnant. He also suspended them immediately from their duties and banned them from setting foot in the Matalana centre.
The 15 pregnant trainees will not complete the current course at Matalana, but are expected to return for the next course. The police will pay the travel costs for the trainees to return to their home provinces, including air tickets for those returning to Tete, Zambezia and Nampula provinces.
Rafael ordered the provincial commands of the police to receive the trainees, and accompany them to their families. They must explain to the families why the women are not completing the course, and then present reports on the meetings with the families.
This document has caused an uproar on Mozambican social media, but the only official reaction from the police has been to condemn whoever leaked the document.
Interviewed by the independent newssheet “Mediafax”, the spokesperson for the General Command, Orlando Mudumane, declared that the General Command had no comment to make.
The document was for internal use, he said, and should never have been made public. “There is nothing to explain”, Mudumane declared.
“This is an internal document of the defence and security forces which was leaked by people of bad faith”, he claimed.
“Mediafax” claimed a witch-hunt is now under way inside the police to discover who leaked the document, which is dated 28 July.
All measures envisaged for situations of this sort would be taken, said Mudumane, “and there is nothing to be debated with the press on this matter. I’ve said all I have to say”. He then hung up on the “Mediafax” reporter.
Although Rafael’s dispatch opens the way for the abused women to complete their training at a later date, it is by no means certain that they will want to remain in the police force. “Mediafax” reports that one of the pregnant trainees, is currently receiving psychiatric care at Maputo Central Hospital.
Mudumane’s “Mediafax” interview revealed, beyond any doubt, that the document is genuine, and more details are bound to emerge. Already, stories are circulating on social media that the true number of abused women trainees is not 15, but 28, 18 of whom have been infected with HIV. Without cooperation from the General Command, it is difficult to confirm such reports.
Lacking from Rafael’s dispatch is any indication that criminal proceedings will be taken against the instructors. A strong case can be made that they have committed rape, which the Mozambican Penal Code defines as any act of copulation against the will of the person abused “by means of physical violence or vehement intimidation”.
A police instructor is certainly in a position to intimidate trainees. Although some apologists for the police on social media have claimed that the trainees consented, there can be no true consent in such a grossly unequal relationship.
Many details are not yet clear – such as the period of time in which these crimes took place, and how many instructors were involved.
Calls have come from civil society bodies for a thorough investigation of the Matalana scandal by the Attorney-General’s Office.
Source: AIM
Show comments
Also read
Leave a Reply
Be the First to Comment!
You must be logged in to post a comment.
You must be logged in to post a comment.