– The main border post between Mozambique and South Africa was closed on Wednesday
– The National Defence and Security Council met to analyse, for the first time, the impact of the protests on national security
By Stélvio Martins and Noémia Mendes
Maputo (MOZTIMES) – The police killed seven people this Wednesday (13 October) in Nampula city, during the demonstrations called by the opposition to contest the election results. Four people were injured, including two police agents, and 22 people were detained. A local government building was set on fire by an angry crowd, in the outlying neighbourhood of Namicopo.
All seven deaths were caused by live ammunition fired by the police, when the crowd was burning tyres and erecting barricades in that densely populated neighbourhood.
Eye-witnesses at the scene say that the deaths were caused by police agents who fired live ammunition and rubber bullets against the crowd. Some citizens were in their homes. In retaliation, the crowd set fire to the Namicopo municipal administrative post.
“The Rapid Intervention Unit (UIR – the Mozambican riot police) shot a táxi driver and he died here, near the administrative post. A child was shot in the buttocks and two people were shot up there”, said António Adelino Amorim, a member of the municipal council staff, who was working when these events unfolded.
The public reacted violently, attacking the police and the municipal officials. “My colleague was hit in the face with a stone, and he’s in hospital. They wanted to burn me and my colleague. They said they wanted to bury the bodies here, inside the Administrative Post”, recalled Amorim.
The sister of one of the victims lamented what had happened and said that her brother was not participating in any demonstration. He was at a relative’s house when the police arrived and began to open fire. She called for a political solution to the post-election crisis which pits the Government against the opposition due to allegations of fraud.
According to the Mozambican Network of Human Rights Defenders (RMDDH), the clashes began with the burning of tyres by members of the population in the areas of Waresta and Namicopo and the police reacted by attacking the demonstrators. The police also assaulted journalists when they were trying to cover these events.
The recent demonstrations against the election results have already caused dozens of deaths, thousands of injuries and the destruction of private and public infrastructures. The police promised zero tolerance to the new phase of demonstrations which began on Wednesday, but it seems that the public paid no attention.
The Ressano Garcia border post, the largest between Mozambique and South Africa, was closed all day due to a blockade by the local population, particularly young men. The closure of the Ressano Garcia border affected international trade, and the activities of the port of Maputo, the largest in the country, were paralysed.
Venâncio Mondlane, the runner-up in the 9 October presidential election, speaking from an undisclosed location via his Facebook page, has urged that the demonstrations should continue until Friday, focused on the provincial capitals, the borders, the logistical corridors and the ports.
Terrorist act
The head of the police public relations department in Nampula, Dércio Samuel, described the mass demonstrations as “terrorist acts” which justify a tough reaction from the police.
“The group burnt down the Namicopo administrative post and attacked a member of the police. A peasant was assaulted by discontented members of the PODEMOS party. With these actions, which are similar to acts of terrorism, the police were obliged to intervene immediately to rescue the colleague who was in danger”, said Samuel, in an interview.
Even with witnesses and images widely publicised on social media, the police refused to confirm any deaths, and blamed the Nampula Central Hospital (HCN).
“The police cannot confirm or declare deaths. What the police did was rescue the injured and take them to the HCN, which would make an assessment of the injuries”, said Samuel. “We have no way of declaring anything with certainty, because we are not the competent institution for this. However, we registered four injured people who were taken to the hospital for assessment”, he said.
President Filipe Nyusi met on Wednesday with the National Defence and Security Council to assess the impact of the protests on national security. According to a statement distributed to the press, Nyusi said he deplores “the disguised attempt to subvert the legitimately instituted democratic order, and to place obstacles on the operations of our institutions, and on the free circulation of people and goods, with disastrous consequences for the national economy.”
“The competent authorities have been urged to identify those responsible for these acts, so that they may be held to account”, Nyusi said. (SM/NM)
