
Maputo, 15 Nov (AIM) – The international human rights body Amnesty International has condemned the “shocking silence” of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) about the police violence in Mozambique and the murder of defenceless people during the demonstrations called by presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane to protest against the allegedly fraudulent results of the 9 October general elections.
“The situation in Mozambique is getting worse by the day as the death toll rises, but SADC maintains a shocking silence”, said Khanyo Farisè, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, cited by the Portuguese News Agency (LUSA).
Farisè calls on SADC to act against the attempt to silence the right to demonstrate in Mozambique, “regardless of the outcome of the elections.”
“SADC must take a firm stance against the attack on the right to protest and the killing of demonstrators. SADC has been painfully slow to respond to the crisis in Mozambique. The body must now speak out forcefully against the continued human rights violations by the Mozambican security forces and put human rights and accountability at the centre of its next summit in Harare”, she said.
Amnesty International has also called on the African Union to “hold the Mozambican authorities accountable, in particular by asking the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights to carry out investigations into ongoing human rights violations in Mozambique.”
(AIM)
Ad/pf (235)