Maputo, Mozambique — Graca Machel, former education minister, and chairperson of one of Mozambique's main NGOs, the Community Development Foundation (FDC), said on Friday that society has the right to demand an explanation for the bloody events of last November in the northern town of Montepuez.
Eighteen civilians and seven policemen were killed on 9 November last year in violent clashes between the police and demonstrators organised by the main opposition party Renamo in that town on 9 November.
The police then rounded up anyone suspected of participating in the riot. At least 83 remanded people died of asphyxiation in a grossly overcrowded cell in the Montepuez police command.
Speaking at the launching the second annual report by the Human Rights and Development Association, Machel demanded not only clarification of the responsibilities, both of Renamo and of the police, in the Montepuez carnage, but also a list of names of those who had died.
One of the shocking aspects of the prison deaths is that the police had not even kept a list of the names of the detainees, many of whom were hastily dumped in mass graves.
Those who died all had names, Machel stressed. "People are not numbers", she said - and when anyone dies, their names must be registered so that their relatives, and society at large, can know exactly what happened.
President Joaquim Chissano also attended the launch and lamented the loss of life in the Renamo demonstrations of 9 November. "No human right is higher than the right to life", he stressed.
The defence of human rights was an intrinsic part of Mozambique's struggle against colonial rule, he said. The war for independence was waged "to restore respect for the human rights of Mozambicans, the right of the people to their existence, and the recognition of their right to self-determination".
Chissano praised the work of NGOs on human rights issues. "We need the criticisms of civil society in order to improve the work of each of us", he said. "We need ideas that show all of us the path to follow".
Chissano added that absolute poverty was a hindrance to human rights. "As a matter of principle, all citizens have the right to a decent life", he said. "However, a country with few economic resources will find it difficult to guarantee a decent life for all its citizens".
