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Human rights regulator Amnesty International has called for an independent investigation into the murder of a naked pregnant woman by men in military uniform in restless northern Mozambique, an atrocity the government blamed on armed rebels.
Video footage emerged this week showing men in army uniforms beating a woman they accused of being a member of an armed group and then shooting her in the back as she tried to flee.
“Four different gunmen shot him a total of 36 times with a variety of Kalashnikov rifles and a PKM-style machine gun,” Amnesty said, demanding an “impartial investigation into the extrajudicial execution.”
One of the uniformed men hits her on the head and body with a stick before others shoot and, they say in the video, they kill her on the side of the road.
It was filmed in the northernmost province of Cabo Delgado, where soldiers are fighting an armed rebellion.
“This gruesome video is another gruesome example of the serious human rights violations and ruthless killings taking place in Cabo Delgado by Mozambican security forces,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern and Southern Africa.
But Interior Minister Amade Miquidade said Tuesday that the killers were armed fighters dressed in uniforms “identical” to those of government troops.
“The video showing atrocities against a pregnant woman is terrorist propaganda,” he said in an audio statement.
“The video was made by terrorists … to confuse the public and it is not the first time this has happened.”
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In the images, distributed Monday, the group refers to the woman as “al-Shabab,” the name of an armed group that has been operating in the north of the country since 2017.
The Reuters news agency said it was able to verify the location of the video by comparing the landmarks with those visible in satellite images taken in June 2020, which include three trees side by side, poles on the ground, a road connected to the road and two targets. buildings, one with a blue roof.
Reuters could not independently verify the date of the images or who the perpetrators were. Amnesty International said it was likely filmed on September 7, citing sources.
Mozambique’s army, locked in a battle with rebels in the province that also hosts gas projects being developed by oil majors like Total, said it finds the images shocking and gruesome, and “above all, reprehensible.”
“The FDS [Defence and Security Forces] They reiterate that they do not agree with any act of barbarism that supports the violation of human rights, “he said in a statement, requesting an investigation into the authenticity of the video.
He did not specifically deny that government troops were responsible.
After an escalation in the armed uprising, which saw the capture of the port city of Mocimboa da Praia in August, and the response from the security forces, reports and videos of beatings or other abuses by the army have become increasingly common.
Amnesty, citing a local military source, said the men in military uniform killed her because she had cast a spell on the army and refused to show them the rebels’ hideout.
Last week, the human rights group said it had verified videos showing beheading attempts, torture, the dismemberment of suspected opposition fighters and possible extrajudicial killings.
