Amnesty International Report 1997 - Mozambique

Criminal suspects were tortured and ill-treated, and one man died as a result of torture. One person reportedly "disappeared" in police custody. Little progress was made in bringing those responsible for human rights violations to justice. In areas formerly occupied by the Resistência Nacional Moçambicana (RENAMO), Mozambique National Resistance, and where the government of President Joaquim Chissano had not fully extended its authority, armed groups continued to commit crimes including looting, murder and rape. One such group, known as Chimwenje (Torch), was said to be connected with a Zimbabwean opposition politician and to comprise both Zimbabwean and Mozambican nationals, including former RENAMO soldiers. Government sources reported that RENAMO groups still controlled areas around their former military bases, where they continued to detain some people taken prisoner during the war. In early August, seven alleged Chimwenje members, including two Zimbabwean nationals, were convicted of armed rebellion and sentenced to between two and 16 years' imprisonment. They had been arrested in late 1995 in connection with an attack on a police post in Dombe, Manica province (see Amnesty International Report 1996). There was a sharp increase in the already high levels of violent crime, and the Attorney General expressed concern that some criminals were operating under the protection of influential people. The 1992 peace process entailed a requirement that the police would be restructured and retrained with the assistance of the international community, but little progress was made. Amid public concern about the crime rate, the Minister of the Interior was replaced in November. Reports of the torture and ill-treatment of criminal suspects indicated that the practice was widespread. The most detailed reports came from the capital, Maputo, where journalists and the Liga Moçambicana dos Direitos Humanos (LMDH), Mozambique Human Rights League, were able to make inquiries. In May, university students striking for improved study conditions were subjected to beatings by members of the Rapid Intervention Police. Police arrested four students, beat them and then released them without charge. One of them, a disabled man, sustained injuries to his arms, back and head as the result of the beatings and was taken to hospital. Another student was stopped in his car and beaten. No investigation was known to have taken place into the incidents. Franque Luís Tchembene, a driver, died in June as a result of torture after being arrested and accused of stealing a vehicle from his employer. He was reportedly taken to the Seventh Police Station in Maputo, beaten severely for several hours and shot at while immersed in a pool containing dirty water. The bullets did not penetrate his body. Representatives of the LMDH visited the police station and insisted that Franque Luís Tchembene be taken to hospital. He died a few days later. The Minister of the Interior reportedly failed to respond to a request from the parliamentary human rights commission for information about the incident. A criminal investigation into the allegations of torture continued at the end of the year. According to reports, 19-year-old triplets who had been arrested in November 1995 in connection with a complaint made against one of them by an employer were tortured. They were taken to a police station in Matola, a Maputo suburb, where José Zacarias Moçambique was handcuffed and given 18 lashes with a whip, and his sisters, Ana and Leonor Zacarias Moçambique, were beaten and forced to have sexual relations with male prisoners in the presence of a policeman. They were held for about three weeks before being released without charge. Following the intervention of the LMDH, the Maputo provincial police commander initiated a criminal investigation, but the results had not been published by the end of the year. Further information was received about the case of a police chief accused of illegally detaining and beating two RENAMO members of parliament in 1995 (see Amnesty International Report 1996). He was tried by the Tete Provincial Court in November 1995 and convicted of illegal detention, but acquitted of the charge of beating the two men. He was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment and a fine, and ordered to pay an indemnity to the plaintiffs. Abdul Mota reportedly "disappeared" in police custody in June. According to reports, members of a special police battalion set up to fight vehicle theft had detained him and other young men in May and impounded four cars they were driving. The police took the men to the battalion's base in Moamba, near the South African border, questioned them about a stolen vehicle, and then released them, saying they could have their cars back when it was returned. Three of the cars were subsequently given back by the police, but when questioned by Abdul Mota's family about the fourth car, the police could not account for it. Abdul Mota was reportedly last seen getting into a vehicle with a member of the special battalion, who subsequently denied any involvement in the "disappearance". Amnesty International wrote to the police authorities in January and November to express concern about reports of torture. It received no response.