Information in English
PRESS RELEASE – 16th April 2016
Human rights activism under attack?
Civil society organizations question the arbitrariness and police repression on human rights defenders
For Portuguese version, click here
Recent developments, since the police repression of a street action, to the detention of five activists, culminating in the expulsion of Eva Anadón Moreno (March 30), Spanish activist of the World March of Women, let us worried. Indeed, not they only acted in a manner totally illegal, as well as they slandered the intentions of people who organized a street action (Theatre), that did not happen.
The police spokesperson presented a version of the facts that put down the essentials: what is at issue is violence suffering by girls at school and the solution found by the Ministry of Education and Human Development, which is to cover the girls, forcing them to wear long skirts.
Our fellow activists were portrayed as “crazy” people (to use the term less insulting), who want to corrupt the kids at school. The attacks that rained down from everywhere probably originated in the misleading and defamatory version conveyed by the police.
This escalation of repression and calumny reached its height with the expulsion of the companion Eva, presented as the leader of the street action (who they insist on calling manifestation) and corruptor of minors. As if not enough irregularities were committed in the process of their expulsion from the country and the violence involved in the process, it was necessary to also denigrate the image of an honest and dedicated person to the cause of human rights.
The situation is neither innocent nor seems to have happened by chance and leads us to reflect. With the country living very tense moments in a political and military point of view, it is the intention to suspend the civil and political rights of citizens? Does all this apparatus and police repression aims to pass to the civil society a message that now we can no longer make use of our right to disagree with the decisions of the Government and its institutions?
We, civil society organizations, that act under the law, we know our rights and we are aware of our duties as citizens: the duty not to shut in the face of injustice, the duty to denounce corruption and the duty to demand justice for all and everyone.
Even if the country goes through a tense atmosphere of the political and military point of view, we think that the political authorities and law and order may not arbitrarily suspend or curtail the constitutional freedoms of the citizens. To do so, they violate every rule of law and the Constitution they sworn to defend and protect.
We, civil society organizations, we want to tell our police that no “higher order” that violates constitutional principles deserves any kind of obedience. It is necessary for any police officer of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) learn that obedience to arbitrary decisions weakens the rule of law that all Mozambicans and Mozambique we want to build, as well as being a serious blow to our Constitution.
So, we, civil society organizations, we are entirely ready to cooperate with all agents of the State in the sense of building together a nation of rule of law, with the supremacy of Constitution and where the rights of all citizens are respected.
We, civil society organizations, we want to recognize the efforts of all the citizens that right from the beginning agreed to defend women’s human rights, and showed their faces to disavow the intimidating acts suffered by human rights defenders.
Finally, we, civil society organizations, we want to extend our solidarity with the class of legal experts and attorneys who have undergone disrespect when played their roles, in order to put an end to violations of law and legality.
For a Mozambique of social justice and the rule of law.
