South African journalists detained in Mozambique

Two South African Journalists Bongani Siziba and Sbonelo Mkhasibe of Newscentral Africa TV have been detained in Mozambique.

The two are among foreign journalists covering the ongoing post election protests in Mozambique.

Professor Adriano Nuvunga, Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Network chairperson confirmed the development adding that pess freedom is under attack.

Meanwhile, responding to the apparent police killings of seven people amid post-election protests in Nampula on 13 November 2024, Amnesty International Deputy Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, Khanyo Farisè, said:

“The situation in Mozambique gets worse every day as the death toll spirals, yet the Southern African Development Community remains shockingly silent.

“Regardless of the outcome of the elections, SADC must take a strong stand against the assault on the right to protest and the killing of protesters.

“SADC has been painfully slow to respond to Mozambique’s crisis. The bloc must forcefully speak out now against the ongoing violations of human rights by Mozambican security forces and put human rights and accountability at the center of its upcoming summit in Harare, Zimbabwe.”

Earlier this month, SADC announced an extraordinary summit from 16 to 20 November to be held in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital to discuss Mozambique’s election and other matters.

Mozambican authorities have launched a massive crackdown on protesters following disputed elections on 9 October.

Police have killed dozens of people so far, injured over one hundred and arbitrarily arrested or detained thousands, according to Mozambican civil society organizations.

Last week, authorities deployed the military to stop the protests.

Zwnews