Police Officers Beaten to Death in Zambézia During Community Security Mission, Says Spokesperson

- Around 4% of the fatalities in the post-election protests are police officers lynched by the population.

By Noémia Mendes and Sheila Nhancale

Maputo (MOZTIMES) – The Head of Public Relations at the Zambézia Provincial Police Command, Miguel Caetano, explained the circumstances surrounding the lynching of two police officers in the administrative post of Miciasse, Molumbo district, on Sunday (09).

Speaking to MOZTIMES, Caetano stated that the officers were tortured to death by the population while on a mission to revitalise a Community Security Council (CSC). CSCs are a government initiative supported by donors, aimed at combating crime in rural and peri-urban communities by engaging residents in community-based surveillance efforts.

"The officers had been assigned to a mapping exercise in that administrative post, with the objective of revitalising the Community Security Council and also establishing a tactical position," said Caetano. "When they arrived, they began interacting with local communities, but suddenly, a group of individuals armed with blunt objects attacked them, striking them until they died," he explained.

The Zambézia Police spokesperson stated that those responsible for the crime have already been identified and that efforts are underway to apprehend them.

"There are 11 people involved in this act, and the police are working to detain them," said Miguel Caetano to MOZTIMES.

It is not yet clear what motivated the population to lynch the officers. However, Zambézia province has been the epicentre of post-election violence, with Defence and Security Forces accused of persecuting and killing demonstrators contesting the election results.

At a certain point, the population began to retaliate against police violence, attacking officers suspected of being on missions to track down protesters within communities.

In the case of Miciasse, videos circulating on social media show the officers stripped to their underwear, dragged along the ground, and brutally beaten until they lost their lives.

This is not an isolated case in the context of the post-election protests. In January this year, in Moma district, Nampula province, two police officers were beaten to death by the population, and their bodies were set on fire.

In February, an officer from the Rapid Intervention Unit (UIR), the police's anti-riot unit, was killed by the population in the Lioma administrative post, Gurué district, Zambézia province.

Data from Plataforma DECIDE, a civil society initiative monitoring post-election violence, indicates that since October, 357 people have been killed in the protests, including 14 members of Mozambique’s Defence and Security Forces. (NM/SN)

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