Amnesty: Mozambique police killing with impunity

Robert Mugabe will be scratching his head. Why, he might be musing, does everyone focus on me and my crimes, when there are so many similar states in the world to choose from? Evidence has emerged this week that the Kenyan and now the Mozambiqan governments have been out-repressing Mugabe by a distance, at least in recent times.

According to AFP, Amnesty International says that “Police in Mozambique seem to think they have a license to kill [while] In almost all cases of human rights violations by police — including unlawful killings — no investigation into the case and no disciplinary action against those responsible has been undertaken.”

Touchingly, the NGO has offered Maputo an alibi. Apparently, rising crime is pushing Mozambique’s lawmen into their brutal responses, and not a systematically repressive government.

A pattern seems to be emerging of police forces in U.S. allied African nations (Kenya, Mozambique and Angola spring to mind) of intensified repression as food and oil prices spiral and biofuel cultivation spreads. Military aid may have something to do with this.

Human rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday accused Mozambique police of killing and torturing people with impunity as the country struggles to deal with growing crime.

Amnesty International said police officers have used “excessive force” to deal with criminals because of public pressure to crack down.

“Police in Mozambique seem to think they have a licence to kill and the weak police accountability system allows for this,” Michelle Kagari, deputy director of Amnesty’s Africa programme, said in the report.

“In almost all cases of human rights violations by police — including unlawful killings — no investigation into the case and no disciplinary action against those responsible has been undertaken,” the report said.

Posted by Szamko
Just tries to tell the truth.

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