Mozambique: 125 dead in three days of violence

The violence of the last three days in Mozambique, where the opposition is demonstrating against the proclaimed victory of the ruling party in the October elections, has left 125 dead, according to a local NGO. The opposition shows no sign of running out of steam.

On Tuesday evening, the government reported 21 deaths during the first 24 hours of riots in several major cities of this poor southern African country, after the victory of the ruling party, Frelimo, for the presidency was confirmed on Monday. as in the National Assembly.

The spectacular escape of 1,500 inmates from the large high-security prison in the capital Maputo on Wednesday also left 33 dead among the escaped prisoners, according to the police chief, in clashes with guards.

But Plataforma Decide, an NGO with a serious reputation and whose counts are regularly taken up by Amnesty International and other international NGOs, recorded a total of 125 deaths throughout the country.

Thousands of arrests

This brings, according to this NGO, the toll since the start of the demonstrations which followed the October 9 election to 252 deaths, in a country which had not experienced such violence since the end of the civil war, apart from the abuses committed by armed jihadist groups in the north.

Most of the deaths are recorded around Maputo, the northern provinces including Nampula where the opposition is strong, as well as around Beira (center), the country’s second city. The police and authorities rarely confirm the reports, most often making do with fragmentary information.

More than 4,000 people have been arrested since October in connection with these violent protests, including 137 in the last three days, according to Decide.

Despite numerous irregularities raised by international observer missions, the constitutional council confirmed Monday that Daniel Chapo, candidate of Frelimo in power since independence in 1975, had won the presidential election with 65.17% of the votes. His inauguration is scheduled for mid-January.

The opposition, led by a charismatic former television commentator who went into hiding abroad, Venancio Mondlane, called for demonstrations to denounce this “stolen” election.

“Latest news”

Want to stay on top of the news? “Tribune de Genève” offers you two meetings per day, directly in your email box. So you don’t miss anything that’s happening in your canton, in Switzerland or around the world.

Other newsletters

Log in

ATS

Did you find an error? Please report it to us.

2 comments