CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Mozambican security forces have killed at least 10 children and injured dozens of others as they tried to quell weeks of protests following a disputed presidential election, Human Rights Watch said Monday.
Hundreds of other minors have been held by security forces, some of them for days in violation of international law, since the election results were announced a month ago, the rights group said.
The southern African country is rocked by unrest after the ruling party’s candidate was declared the winner of the October 9 elections, despite claims of fraud by the opposition and criticism of the vote by international observers, including a European Union team .
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Mozambican authorities did not release details on how many people were killed or detained during the protests, but said some demonstrations turned violent and had to be suppressed by security forces.
Daniel Chapo was declared the winner of the election on October 24, extending the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique party’s half-century of uninterrupted rule since independence from Portugal in 1975. Chapo will succeed President Filipe Nyusi, who has held the maximum two offices. conditions.
The left-wing party known as Frelimo is often accused of rigging elections to stay in power. There were violent protests after last year’s local elections, but these demonstrations posed the biggest challenge to Frelimo’s long rule.
Protests took to the streets in the capital Maputo and other major cities after two senior opposition figures were killed by unknown gunmen in a late-night shooting on October 18, which their party called a political assassination.
Since then, thousands have responded to regular calls for protests on social media from independent presidential candidate Venancio Mondlane, who lost to Chapo. Mondlane left the country out of fear for his safety, he said, after his lawyer was one of two opposition figures killed when the car they were in was ambushed and riddled with bullets on a Maputo street. No arrests have been made in these murders.
International rights groups say at least 30 people have been killed by security forces firing live bullets at protesters, while Mozambican groups say the death toll is around 50. The Mozambique Bar Association said earlier this month it had secured the release of more than 2,700 people. who had been detained by security forces, many of them teenagers.
The protests have forced schools and businesses to close and prompted many Mozambicans to stay home. The army has been deployed to maintain order.
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AP Africa News: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
