Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi has denied the accusation that the nation’s Defence and Security Forces (FDS) have occasionally perpetrated human rights abuses against civilian populations in the northern province of Cabo Delgado.
Speaking at the inauguration of a courthouse in Pemba, Cabo Delgado’s capital, Nyusi said that he had spoken with the population of Mocímboa da Praia, asking whether some soldiers had ever hit or insulted them. “They said that those who say that are liars. I told them that even if one or two do that, do not think that they do so because they are soldiers. No, it’s because he’s a rascal and a criminal,” said Nyusi.
“Therefore, [the FDS bad behaviour] has been publicly denied,” adding that many drive the narrative that the FDS are an unruly bunch to tarnish their image.
Comment
Nyusi’s defence of the FDS is an attempt to whitewash history at best. At worst it would seem a total disregard for the lives of Mozambicans who have suffered at the hands of the FDS, and society’s collective memory.
Videos of FDS perpetrating human rights abuses have gone viral in social media, and credible human rights institutions have documented some of the human rights violations meted out by the FDS if they so much as suspect of collaboration with the insurgents.
The most glaring macabre event is that of shooting 36 times of a naked woman by FDS on suspicion that she spied for the insurgents. Amid the backlash and condemnation from civil society and human rights organisation, the military said that it was instituting an inquiry. Suffice to say that three years later there has been no report.
Another surfaced in 2022 of young people tied and being beaten by FDS. The video was cut short, and the fate of the youths is not known.
By no means are the FDS the only force that has been caught violating human rights in Cabo Delgado. Soldiers wearing the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) uniform appeared in a video throwing bodies into a fire, in the district of Nangande – the SANDF soldiers are part of the South African Development Community Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) contingent.
Although SAMIM said they would investigate the gruesome act, to date they have not published the resulting report.
Despite the fact that under traditional human rights approaches, non-state actors fall beyond the direct purview of international human rights law, some sectors are keen to condemn human rights institutions blind spot with regards to non-condemnation of atrocities perpetrated by terrorists.
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