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The police in Mozambique have been accused of killing at least 18 unarmed bystanders following protests against the recent presidential election result.
The official result from the general election held on the 9th October was a landslide victory for the leading party Fremlino with 70.7% of the vote. This meant that the party, which had been in power since Mozambique's independence in 1975, would remain incumbent. Another political party, Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique (PODEMOS), had submitted documentation in support of a formal legal challenge to the election result. PODEMOS claims it had won 53% of the vote, accusing the result of being manipulated, and provided over 300kg of paperwork in dispute.
Image from The Guardian
The police in Mozambique have been accused of killing at least 18 unarmed bystanders following protests against the recent presidential election result.
The official result from the general election held on the 9th October was a landslide victory for the leading party Fremlino with 70.7% of the vote. This meant that the party, which had been in power since Mozambique's independence in 1975, would remain incumbent. Another political party, Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique (PODEMOS), had submitted documentation in support of a formal legal challenge to the election result. PODEMOS claims it had won 53% of the vote, accusing the result of being manipulated, and provided over 300kg of paperwork in dispute.
Prior to the elections, other organisations had accused Fremlino of registering over 900,000 fake voters. EU election observers, witnessing electoral processes, had also reported Mozambique of having “irregularities during counting and unjustified alteration of election results”.
On the 19th October 2024, lawyer Elvino Dias and PODEMOS official Paulo Guambe were shot dead by unknown gunmen. Human rights researchers stated that the shootings fit a pattern of opposition politicians, journalists, activists and lawyers being killed, without anyone being brought to justice.
Since the 24th of October, the Human Rights Watch has reported at least 18 people to have been killed due to police violence. The police have been reportedly firing directly into crowds of protesters.
As a result of the civil upheaval and violence, South Africa has closed one of its busiest border crossings with its neighbouring country Mozambique due to safety concerns.
Internet and social media remain restricted in Mozambique, and the Defence Minister has threatened to deploy the army ahead of planned protests tomorrow, Thursday 7th November.
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