Amnesty International Report 2000 - Mozambique

Head of state: Joaquim Chissano
Head of government: Pascoal Mocumbi
Capital: Maputo
Population: 18.1 million
Official language: Portuguese
Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes
1999 treaty ratifications/signatures: UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

Respect for human rights increased, particularly in Maputo, with fewer reports of abuses by police. Efforts to reform the criminal justice system and to retrain the police continued. One journalist detained after reporting a death in police custody was a prisoner of conscience. There were some reports of police brutality, and prisons were severely overcrowded. Elections took place in December. The ruling Frente para a Libertação de Moçambique (FRELIMO), Mozambique Liberation Front, continued in power.

Background

Mozambique, which emerged in 1992 from a prolonged civil war between FRELIMO and the Resistência Nacional Moçambicana (RENAMO), Mozambique National Resistance, remained one of the poorest countries in the world despite recent economic growth.Crime levels were high, having risen sharply after the 1994 withdrawal of the UN, which had monitored the peace process. The introduction of a free market economy had widened the gap between rich and poor, thousands of demobilized soldiers had increased the already high numbers of unemployed, access to land was limited by the prevalence of landmines, and criminals had easy access to weapons. The President of the Supreme Court stated that 75 per cent of the population had no access to official justice, owing, primarily, to lack of resources.

The draft of an amended Constitution, containing enhanced protection for human rights, was open for public discussion.

The Procurator General announced moves to inspect and monitor the work of judges, in order to prevent corruption. Proposed reforms to the penal code were discussed by members of the judiciary during the year.

In the run-up to presidential and parliamentary elections in December, and afterwards, before results were announced, there were clashes between supporters of FRELIMO and RENAMO. Police intervened and a number of people were injured after incidents, many provoked by FRELIMO. There were also reports of abuses by RENAMO. RENAMO members were reported to have harassed ordinary citizens as well as government officials in villages, and to have assaulted people engaged in civic education.

Reform and retraining of police

Work to restructure and retrain the police continued under a project coordinated by the United Nations Development Programme, with assistance from Spain and the Netherlands. Members of the Spanish Guardia Civil helped to train police trainers and to retrain police officers. The syllabus included courses on police ethics and human rights. Originally, the whole police force – more than 18,500 officers – was to be retrained, but the project was scaled down to about 4,500 officers for lack of funding. By the end of 1999 more than 4,100 officers had been retrained.

In areas where retraining had taken place, police wore name badges and patrolled in threes armed with pistols rather than rifles. In addition, police salaries were increased, and police officials said they intended to assign an officer responsible for relations with women and children to each police station.

Although new police laws were developed during the year, little attention was paid to the need to introduce effective complaints and monitoring procedures, and procedures for receiving and processing complaints by members of the public continued to be inadequate.

Abuses by police

There was evidence of improvement in police behaviour, especially in Maputo where detainees are more likely to be brought before a magistrate within the required 48 hours. Although allegations of police brutality were fewer than in previous years, some cases continued to be reported, and information from parts of the country outside Maputo was less readily available.

• In January, João Munguambe, a mechanic, was shot dead by police in Maputo as he tested a car he had been working on. His body was taken to the morgue and registered as unknown. One policeman was reportedly arrested in March in connection with his death.

Prisoner of conscience

Fernando Quinova, a journalist, was detained for a second time after reporting the death in police custody of Cabral Manica, a suspected thief. In October 1998 Fernando Quinova was arrested in Chiure, Cabo Delgado province, and held for 23 days. He escaped and submitted a complaint to the provincial police command. He was rearrested on 15 February 1999, when he returned to Chiure, and charged with slandering the police and "leaking information", which is not a criminal offence. He was released on 6 March.

In June Severino Charles, the district police commander who illegally detained Fernando Quinova, was sentenced to three months' imprisonment. It was also announced that a police officer had been charged with homicide in connection with the death of Cabral Manica, and was awaiting trial.

Prison conditions

Prison conditions remained extremely harsh and severely overcrowded, amounting sometimes to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Prisons were old and dilapidated, and sanitation was rudimentary. Food, blankets, mattresses, soap and medicines were in short supply or unavailable and most prisons were having to accommodate three times their capacity.

In addition, in the absence of any juvenile facilities, children were detained in prisons together with adults, in contravention of international standards. In April, six minors aged between 14 and 16 who were held on suspicion of offences such as burglary were released from the high security prison in Tete. They were freed on the orders of the Procurator General after he visited the province.

AI country visit

AI visited Mozambique in July.