US says vigilante killings on the rise in Mozambique

Violence at the hands of security forces, lynchings and vigilantism against criminals, are tarnishing Mozambique’s human rights record, according to a new report by the United States on Wednesday.

The US State Department’s annual country report on human rights, launched in Maputo, said there had been a rise in vigilante killings, partly fuelled by a lack of police presence in neighbourhoods and an ineffective justice system.

Todd Chapman, the US ambassador to the Southern African nation, described an increase in lynchings in 2007 as unacceptable.

While nationwide figures were not available, the media reported 26 vigilante killings in the capital Maputo, Matola and Beira, the second biggest city, the report noted.

“We hope the government will come up with a solution his year that will result in reduced numbers of vigilante killings,” said Chapman.

Violence, excessive use of force and abuse of citizens by the country’s security forces, remained some of the top human rights infringements.

“Although government or its agents did not commit any political killings during the year, security forces committed unlawful killings,” read the report.

Human-rights abuses in the justice system were found to be rampant, with poorly trained staff in the Justice Department whose decisions were highly influenced by the ruling party.

“Prison conditions remained harsh and life threatening, resulting in several deaths.

Arbitrary arrest and detention as well as lengthy pretrial detentions were problems,” said the report.

Press freedom in the country, which emerged from a 16-year civil war in 1992, has continued to improve, resulting in the growth of independent media.

“The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of views. The international media were allowed to operate freely.”

The report said while the government maintained majority ownership of the mainstream, there was not much control in how they reported the news. - Sapa-AFP