Amnesty International Report 2002 - Mozambique
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Date:
28 May 2002
Republic of Mozambique
Head of state: Joaquim Alberto Chissano
Head of government: Pascoal Mocumbi
Capital: Maputo
Population: 18.7 million
Official language: Portuguese
Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes
Two police officers were convicted of homicide for their involvement in the deaths by suffocation of more than 80 detainees in a police cell in November 2000. However, the authorities failed to investigate allegations of extrajudicial executions and torture following demonstrations in November 2000. Scores of people arrested in connection with the November 2000 demonstrations received trials which were unfair. One other remained in detention awaiting trial.
Background
Political tension continued for most of the year. This focused around allegations by the opposition coalition Resistência Nacional Moçambicana-União Eleitoral (RENAMO-UE), Mozambican National Resistence-Electoral Union, of irregularities during the December 1999 elections and around the killing of scores of people, mainly RENAMO-UE members, during civil unrest in November 2000.
In an attempt to restore stability, President Joaquim Alberto Chissano and RENAMO's President, Afonso Dhlakama, held several meetings between January and March to discuss RENAMO's demands for governorships in those provinces where it had obtained a majority in the elections. However, no agreement was reached and the talks collapsed in March.
A parliamentary commission of inquiry, set up to investigate the violence surrounding the November 2000 demonstrations organized by RENAMO in protest at the 1999 election results and subsequent deaths in detention, stalled in January and had not reported its findings by the end of 2001.
No compensation was paid to victims of human rights violations. In February, RENAMO deputies disrupted debates in the National Assembly in protest at its refusal to discuss constitutional reform and a suggestion that RENAMO deputies accused of instigating the November 2000 violence have their right of immunity from prosecution withdrawn. Immunity was not lifted and parliamentarians were not prosecuted.
In March, the Procurator General published a report in which he denounced corruption within the criminal justice system, including the judiciary and the police. The retraining and restructuring of the police force continued throughout the year, as did efforts to remove corrupt officers from the force. About 200 police officers had been dismissed for misconduct and abuses of power by the end of 2001.
Abuses by police
There were further reports of abuses by the police, including beatings and extortion.
- In September and again in December, former emigrants to the former German Democratic Republic were severely beaten by members of the Rapid Intervention Police. Several hundred returnees demonstrated outside the Ministry of Labour to demand payment of benefits obtained while working abroad and to which they said they were entitled. No investigation into these incidents was known to have taken place by the end of the year.
In July, two police officers were convicted of homicide in connection with the deaths of more than 80 detainees in November 2000. The detainees had died of suffocation in police custody in Montepuez, Cabo Delgado province. Charges against three other officers were withdrawn. However, according to reports, the authorities had not carried out thorough and impartial investigations into these and other reports of deaths in custody. The victims' families did not receive compensation.
There were no investigations into other human rights violations, including into the use of lethal force during the demonstrations in November 2000 and alleged torture and extrajudicial executions afterwards.
Political trials of RENAMO supporters
At the beginning of 2001, 80 mostly RENAMO supporters were in detention in connection with the November 2000 demonstrations. Eleven of them were serving sentences of up to six months' imprisonment after being convicted of charges such as theft, civil unrest and disobeying the authorities. Further arrests of suspected RENAMO members continued in January and February when at least 20 people were arrested in Cabo Delgado province for allegedly participating in the November 2000 demonstrations.
Scores more were tried in 2001. Most of them were tried in January on charges of theft, civil unrest and disobeying the authorities, and were sentenced to periods of imprisonment ranging from one to six months, as well as fines. A further 29 detainees were tried in December.
Most trials fell short of international fair trial standards. They were presided over by judges who in most cases were not legally trained or independent of the government, some being the local representatives of the ruling Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (FRELIMO), Mozambique Liberation Front. Most defendants reportedly did not have access to defence lawyers and some were appointed FRELIMO officials to act for them. They were denied the right to appeal against their conviction or sentence. The courts failed to investigate their allegations of torture.
- In June, five men arrested in November 2000 in Montepuez – João Maulana Catae, José dos Santos Pintainho, Latifo Alimo, Rodrigues Virgílio Bacar and Secundino Manuel Cinquenta – were convicted of armed rebellion, illegally occupying a police station and releasing prisoners. They were sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment after a trial which appeared to be unfair. They told the court that they had been tortured in detention and had made some of their first statements under duress or coercion. The court made no investigation into these allegations and admitted their statements in evidence.
- Rita António was arrested in Montepuez, Cabo Delgado province, in November 2000 and subsequently charged with participating in demonstrations and in the mutilation of the genital organs of a police officer. She was reportedly tortured several times in detention. At her trial in December, the court did not investigate her allegations that she had made some statements to police only under duress; the statements were admitted in evidence. She was convicted and was awaiting sentence at the end of the year.
Visit
An AI delegate visited Mozambique in November and December.
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