22 January 2008
Maputo — The Mozambican police began disciplinary proceedings against 182 policemen of the Maputo city police command in 2007, according to a report in Tuesday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias".
86 of these cases concern crimes allegedly committed by the policemen concerned, and so should also result in criminal proceedings.
A source in the Maputo police command said that the remaining 96 cases concern disciplinary matters, which is a reduction on the 2006 figure of 106 disciplinary cases.
The most common offence is disobedience (32 cases), followed by abandoning one's post (21 cases). The other offences include extortion, theft, drunkenness, and unauthorized removal of police firearms.
In the 21 most serious disciplinary cases, the command is proposing that the offenders be expelled from the police force.
As for deaths within the police force, the source said that 69 policemen died in Maputo in 2007, compared with 44 in 2006. The causes of death range from HIV/AIDS, assassination while on duty (five cases), and suicide. Some policemen were also among the 107 people who died as a result of the 22 March explosions at the military arsenal in the neighbourhood of Malhazine.
The paper's source said that in 2007, the police received complaints of 2,130 cases of domestic violence - which is a 13 per cent increase on the 1,899 cases reported in 2006. 1,271 of the victims were women, and 492 were children. But there were also 367 cases of domestic violence against men.
57 murders were reported in the capital last year - an increase of over 100 per cent, compared with the 28 murders reported in 2006. There were 47 attempted murders, and 538 armed robberies.
Over the year, 6,752 people were arrested, 54 of whom were foreigners. The great majority of those arrested in Maputo - 4,992 - were unemployed. Of particular concern is the fact that 34 policemen, 36 members of the armed forces, and 178 private security guards were among those arrested.
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