(Johannesburg) – mozambique Security forces killed at least 11 people and injured dozens more by using live bullets and tear gas during post-election protests across the country on October 24 and 25, 2024, Human Rights Watch said today. Authorities must promptly and impartially investigate clearly excessive use of force.

Mozambique election commission on 24 October announced He said that Daniel Chapo and his ruling party Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (Front for the Liberation of Mozambique, FRELIMO) won the October 9 general elections. Elections and the pre-election period were overshadowed political murders, widespread irregularitiesand restrictions Regarding the rights to freedom of expression and assembly.

“The violent repression of protesters by Mozambican security forces has seriously increased political tensions following the country’s elections,” he said. Allan NgariAfrica advocacy director for Human Rights Watch. “Mozambican authorities must promptly and impartially investigate allegations of abuse of power and hold those responsible accountable.”

Between October 24 and 27, Human Rights Watch interviewed 22 people in person and by phone, including victims and witnesses of violence, doctors, journalists, government officials, and local officials. civil society groups.

More than 50 people suffered serious gunshot wounds, and many others, including children as young as one year old, inhaled tear gas, which police fired indiscriminately into residential areas. There is police detained More than 400 people allegedly disrupted public order, looted stores, damaged public and private property, and attacked the police station.

Tensions escalated on 10 October when independent candidate Venâncio Mondlane, supported by the leading opposition party Partido Optimista pelo Desenvolvimento de Moçambique (Optimistic People for the Development of Mozambique, PODEMOS), declared victory.

On 24 October, thousands of opposition supporters marched peacefully in Maputo to protest the election results. Some protesters across the country burned tires and blocked roads. Riot police deployed with dogs and armored vehicles used live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowd. Some protesters also threw rocks and other objects at police. At least eight police officers were detained reportedly wounded.

In the cities of Chimoio and Gondola in Manica province, police shot and killed at least three people, according to two local rights groups, the Center for Democracy and Development (CDD) and the Election Monitoring Civil Society Platform (DECIDE).

A doctor at Chimoio Provincial Hospital confirmed the deaths, stating that one of the victims had “a bullet in his spine” while the other two were “shot in the abdominal area.” He said the hospital admitted dozens of people with gunshot wounds on Oct. 24.

A 37-year-old man said he received a call from a hospital in Chimoio around 4pm on October 24 to identify the body of his younger brother, who had joined the initially peaceful protests around 10am. “There were two bullets in his genital area.”

Three witnesses in the northern city of Nampula said police fired live and rubber bullets into a crowd of stone-throwing protesters, killing at least one person and wounding several others.

A woman said that her 12-year-old grandson was watching the protest from the family settlement in Nampula city around 15:00, and the police bullet hit the girl’s right hip. “We saw the girl collapse to the ground as the crowd was dodging live police bullets,” her grandmother said. “We thought he was hiding out of fear, but no, he was shot.” The girl was treated for injuries at Nampula Central Hospital.

A doctor told Human Rights Watch that three of at least eight people admitted to Nampula Central Hospital with gunshot wounds on October 24 died from their injuries. At least six people were killed by police gunfire in Nampula province, according to CDD and DECIDE.

A police spokesman in Nampula told Human Rights Watch that one person died from a gunshot wound. He refused to explain why police used live ammunition.

In Maputo, police used tear gas to disperse protesters burning tires on a main road. media reported. An eyewitness said police fired tear gas indiscriminately into homes as protesters fled into the residential area. few people reportedly Others, including a mother and her two young children, inhaled the gas in their home.

Another woman stated that two tear gas canisters fell into her house through the open window around 18:00 in the evening and said, “There was a lot of smoke and the smell was terrible.” “I had my children at home, but thank God we all got out safe.”

Mozambique’s constitution protects the rights to freedom of assembly and expression and prohibits the use of excessive force by law enforcement officials, which is guaranteed by international law.

United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials And Guidelines of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights on Inspections of Assemblies by Law Enforcement Forces in Africa Severely restrict the use of force, especially the use of lethal weapons and less lethal weapons such as tear gas.

International standards stipulate that security forces should always use the minimum force necessary. Non-violent methods should be used before resorting to the use of force and firearms. Law enforcement officers may intentionally use a lethal firearm only when absolutely unavoidable to protect life. The United Nations Human Rights Committee is a General comment He stated: “(f)arms are not an appropriate tool for monitoring meetings. They should never be used solely to disperse a meeting.… (A)the use of firearms by law enforcement officers in the context of meetings should be limited to targeted persons in situations where it is absolutely necessary to face imminent death or threat of death. serious injury.”

2020 UN Guide The Law on Less Lethal Weapons in Law Enforcement provides that tear gas should be used only when necessary to prevent further physical harm and should not be used to disperse non-violent demonstrations. Tear gas should only be used after a warning has been given and participants have been given time to comply with the warning and have a safe area or route to move.

“Mozambican authorities need to ensure that police respect the right to peaceful protest and never use excessive force against demonstrations,” Ngari said. “Regional and international partners should press the government to ensure that security forces comply with the law currently and in the future.”