Amnesty International criticizes Mozambique over Cistac, Capitine & Castel Branco cases
1:16 CAT | 24 Feb 2016
In File Club of Mozambique / A file photo of a protest march held in Maputo on the wake of Gilles Cistac murder
Amnesty International is criticizing delays in the investigation of the murder of Mozambican professor Gilles Cistac and into abuse in Mozambique and Guinea Bissau prisons.
The criticisms are contained in the 2015 report on the overall human rights situation released yesterday by Amnesty International.
After almost a year, there is still no official information on the investigation into the murder of professor Cistac, who said that provincial autonomy in Mozambique would not violate the Mozambican constitution.
There have been human rights improvements in Guinea-Bissau, but deaths and ill-treatment of prisoners are still being reported, with the authorities doing nothing to address the situation.
Cistac, a Mozambican citizen of French origin, was murdered in Maputo on March 3 2015, a few months after saying that Renamo, the main opposition party in Mozambique, would constitutionally be able rule independently the provinces of Sofala, Manica, Tete , Nampula, Zambezia and Niassa, where it had the most votes in the general elections 2014.
Professor of constitutional law and Eduardo Mondlane University board member, Cistac was the target of criticism by the ruling Frelimo party.
Amnesty expert Mariana Abreu remembers the government saying it would make “an independent and prompt investigation, but so far we do not have information, and we know that the people (killers) have not been identified”.
Capitine’s case still unanswered
Amnesty also condemns the silence surrounding the case of crafts vendor Capitine Jose Cossa, who, until his liberation in 2012, spent years in a maximum security jail without ever having been convicted of a crime.
“In three years, no one has been held responsible for the arbitrary detention of José Capitine Cossa,” reads the report.
The report also condemns the lawsuit filed by the Prosecutor’s Office against the university professor Carlos Nuno Castel-Branco for having written, and journalist Fernando Mbanze for having published an article criticizing the legacy of President Armando Guebuza.
On September 16, a judge in Kampfumo acquitted the two, but the attorney general appealed to a superior court and is awaiting a response.
Abreu praised the court’s decision, saying: “since the charges were politically motivated, there was the fear that the judiciary was becoming politicized and used to repress and persecute people, as has happened in Angola.”
For her, “the Maputo judgment was a good thing, and shows the independence of the judiciary”.
On the positive side, Amnesty notes that Mozambique has approved a law that regulates access to information and brought in a new penal code which decriminalizes abortion, provides alternatives to imprisonment and criminalizes actions against the environment.
Police torture in Guinea Bissau
Although Amnesty says the overall human rights situation has improved, it criticizes torture and ill-treatment by police in the northern city of Bissorã.
Tchutcho Mendonça was arrested in Bissorã on July 3 of last year, after an argument with his father. Mendonca died two days later in a local police station and the report says that “those who saw his body noticed signs indicating torture”.
Ten police officers were arrested, but by the end of 2015 had not been brought to court.
Another case is that of Mamadu Djalo, who was beaten in the street by police in the same city without any investigation ensuing.
Conditions in prisons are also worrying, Amnesty says. In June, they called for the closure of some which they said were dehumanising, with detainees sleeping in the bathrooms. In addition to overcrowding, the jails have poor hygiene and ventilation.
The cells of the Criminal Investigation Police and the 2nd Police Station in the capital Bissau have been singled out for particular criticism.
Source: Voa Portugues
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário