The humanitarian situation deteriorated in Mozambique in 2022, with the armed insurgency in the north, alleged arbitrary detentions and kidnappings as the main problems, the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) denounced on Thursday.
“The humanitarian situation in Mozambique worsened in 2022 with continued attacks by a group linked to the Islamic State (ISIS),” the organization notes, in the chapter dedicated to Mozambique in its annual report.
While operations by government forces from Mozambique, Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) since 2021 have culminated in the recovery of several important areas, according to the organization, the situation remained “volatile” in 2022, with clashes reaching new areas, to the south, and some districts of Nampula, a neighboring province.
“In June, the group carried out a series of attacks in the Ancuabe district, 45 kilometers from the provincial capital, Pemba, an area previously considered safe, killing at least seven people, four of whom were beheaded, and forcing thousands to flee. their houses,” the report said, noting that the extremist group Islamic State claimed responsibility for some of these attacks, including those that occurred in the far north of Nampula, where an Italian nun was also killed.
In five years, the armed conflict in Cabo Delgado has displaced one million people, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and around 4,000 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registry project.
In addition to the armed conflict in Cabo Delgado, HRW warns about alleged cases of limitations on the right to protest by the Mozambican authorities throughout the country, highlighting, among others, the case in which activists from the Women’s Observatory were prevented from marching in Maputo in December 2021.
“State security forces used deadly force and arbitrary arrest and detention to limit the right of people to protest peacefully across the country,” the report added.
On the other hand, the document mentions that the wave of kidnappings that has dominated the main provincial capitals of the country is also a problem in Mozambique, with several unresolved cases and the involvement of some police officers and magistrates.
“Police continued to be involved in extortionate kidnapping cases across the country. In May, the Mozambique Criminal Investigation Service (Sernic) announced the arrest of three members of a group of kidnappers, two of whom were members of the national police. and an agent from the Mozambique Criminal Investigation Service,” the document says.
The wave of kidnappings that has hit Maputo and other Mozambican cities since 2020 is mainly aimed at businessmen or their families.
Official data indicates that in 2022 the country registered at least 13 kidnappings and 33 arrests related to crimes that, according to the Attorney General of the Republic, Beatriz Buchili, in some cases involve police officers, investigators, lawyers and magistrates.
Source: TSF
