Amnesty International Report 2007 - Mozambique

Head of state: Armando Guebuza
Head of government: Luisa Diogo
Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes
International Criminal Court: signed

There were reports of extrajudicial executions of prisoners and criminal suspects by the police. Ten police officers were sentenced to between three and 10 years' imprisonment for carrying out extrajudicial executions. Clashes between the ruling and main opposition parties resulted in eight people being injured and the arrest of at least five members of the Mozambique National Resistance (Resistencia Nacional Moçambicana, Renamo). Restrictions on freedom of the press remained and three journalists were unlawfully held in detention for a week.

Background

Mozambique ratified the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption and the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its three protocols: the Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition; the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children; and the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air.

Efforts to combat crime continued to be hindered by the deaths of police officers from AIDS-related illnesses. In March the police authorities reportedly began to demand HIV tests from potential new recruits, in contravention of the country's Constitution. To mitigate the shortage and the difficulties in recruiting new officers, the authorities decided to start recruiting new officers from the Armed Forces training centres.

A fund to help the fight against HIV/AIDS was set up by the government and seven funding agencies, aiming at providing anti-retroviral drugs to 50,000 people. Statistics put the rate of HIV infection at 16.1 per cent of the 15 to 49-year age group.

Incidents of domestic violence increased, with 3,000 cases reported between May and October.

Unlawful killings

There were several reports of unlawful killings and other human rights violations by police officers and a member of the Presidential Guard. However, most of the incidents were not investigated and only a few officers were arrested or demoted. None had been tried by the end of the year. Some police officers were prosecuted for human rights violations committed in previous years.

In May, police officers shot dead several prisoners as they tried to escape from Maputo Central Prison by climbing over the prison walls. Eyewitnesses reported that police officers clubbed and shot at the escaping prisoners and killed some after they were recaptured. Following the escape, the Maputo Central Prison temporarily banned visits from relatives and human rights organizations. However the Mozambican Human Rights League (Liga Moçambicana dos Direitos Humanos) was eventually given access to the prison and stated that three prisoners were killed during the break-out and at least 10 were seriously injured. Those who were captured after the attempted breakout were reportedly put in disciplinary cells and tortured. By October the situation in the prison had reportedly returned to normal with prisoners being allowed to receive visitors.

• In January, a police officer shot dead 21-year-old Julêncio Gove when he went to the rescue of a woman who was being beaten by another police officer in a street in Matola, Maputo province. After shooting him, the officer reportedly kicked the body several times. The police officer was subsequently arrested following several demonstrations by local people. However, he was not known to have been tried by the end of the year.
• A member of the Presidential Guard shot dead Abdul Monteiro in June after he accidentally damaged a car belonging to the Office of the President. Three members of the Presidential Guard chased Abdul Monteiro and shot at the tyres of his car, bringing it to a halt. After he surrendered, the officers reportedly shot him in the leg, beat him and then shot him dead. An investigation was started and one of the officers was arrested. He had not been brought to justice by the end of the year.

Ten police officers charged in 2005 with assault and extrajudicial execution of suspected criminals, extortion and theft, were sentenced in October to between three and 10 years' imprisonment in Manica province. Two of the officers were sentenced in their absence, as they had absconded, while three were acquitted and one died before the end of the trial.

Political violence

In May, eight people were seriously injured in clashes between supporters of the ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frente da Libertação de Moçambique, Frelimo) and Renamo members in Inhangoma, Tete province, during the visit of Renamo's Secretary General to the area. Five Renamo members were subsequently arrested and reportedly convicted for excessive self-defence. However, the convicted men were reportedly not even present when the incident occurred. They were sentenced to between eight and 20 months' imprisonment.

The 20 Renamo members arrested in September 2005 following violence over alleged election rigging in the town of Mocímboa da Praia, Cabo Delgado province, were released pending trial in October 2006. The trial had still not taken place by the end of the year.