Maputo, 25 May (AIM) – Mozambique’s Bar Association (OAM) has expressed its concern at the resurgence of politically motivated violence and assassinations in the country, warning that the normalization of these acts represents a direct threat to democracy, peace, and the democratic rule of law.
According to OAM’ statement, the Mozambican State faces “serious difficulties” in guaranteeing the safety of citizens, underlining that political crimes constitute “a very serious attack against human life.”
“Democracy cannot coexist with the physical elimination of political opponents, nor can it survive when fear, intimidation, and silence replace the debate of ideas. The worsening of political violence reveals an environment marked by intolerance, hatred, and persecution against dissenting thought, a situation that weakens state institutions and compromises efforts at national reconciliation”, reads the document.
The OAM position emerges after two members of the he National Alliance for a Free and Autonomous Mozambique (Anamola), the political party led by former presidential candidate Venancio Mondlane, were shot dead in less than a week, in the central province of Manica and southern province of Gaza. The perpetrators of these crimes are still unknown.
The NGO “Decide” Electoral Platform, From July 2025 to the present day, over 20 attacks against members of the opposition parties have been recorded.
“The political opponent is not an enemy to be defeated or eliminated, but a citizen entitled to the same constitutionally protected rights and guarantees. The growing culture of impunity is alarming, and the absence of swift investigations and effective accountability of the moral and material authors of the crimes is worrying”, says the Bar Association.
“Episodes of political violence are multiplying without serious investigations, effective accountability, or exemplary punishment. Institutional silence and investigative delays end up strengthening clandestine networks of violence and encouraging new practices of political terror”, adds the Association.
OAM demands from the competent authorities “a swift, rigorous, transparent, and independent investigation” into the recent assassinations, arguing that all those involved should be tried and severely punished, “without political, institutional, or partisan protection.”
The celebration of our 50th years of National Independence, the document says, cannot be reduced to the exaltation of the past, but must also be revealed in a renewed commitment to the present and the future.
“Peace is not built only through flowery political speeches or formal or informal agreements; it is built, above all, through tolerance, mutual respect, and the effective guarantee of fundamental rights”, reads the note.
“We cannot normalize these hateful practices in a civilized society. Tomorrow’s history depends on today’s commitments”, it adds.
(AIM)
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