Mozambique’s National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) has raised the red flag over alleged abuses by members of the security forces and called on the government to urgently initiate a probe into the extrajudicial killings.
CNDH head Luis Bitone on Monday criticised the alleged high-handed response by members of Mozambique’s Defence and Security Forces (FDS) to the fight against suspected terrorists in Cabo Delgado province.
He called on the Maputo authorities to open investigations into allegations raised by Amnesty International in its report last week in which the rights group said it had video evidence showing members of the FDS abusing suspected members of a shadowy group that has been attacking government installations.
Bitone’s comments came in the wake of Monday’s release of a video showing men in army uniform beating up and later executing a naked woman suspected of being an insurgent.
The video, circulated on social media earlier on Monday, shows what appears to be government troops shouting and marching behind a woman stripped of her clothing.
The men hit the victim several times with sticks before shooting her dead on the side of a road.
The government has however dismissed the allegations, accusing the insurgents of impersonating soldiers in an attempt to confuse national and international public opinion.
JN/APA