NGO says victims were hit by stray bullets when police tried to calm tempers in Quissimajulo neighborhood. Police action strongly condemned.

The Centre for Democracy and Development, a non-governmental organization (NGO), on Tuesday condemned the police action it holds responsible for four deaths during a riot in Nacala, in the north of the country, last Thursday.

"We strongly condemn [the actions of the police] and demand accountability from the agents and also from the state itself," Emídio Beúla, a member of the Center for Democracy and Development (CDD), told Lusa.

According to reports from local people heard by the NGO and information published by the local media, the victims were hit by stray bullets when the police tried to calm tempers in the Quissimajulo neighborhood, on the outskirts of the city of Nacala-Porto, in an uproar caused by rumors about people spreading cholera, a disease that has caused several deaths in Mozambique.

Although far-fetched and unfounded, it is a common rumor in some parts of the country and in the case of that neighborhood, it led people to vandalize various public services.

"They burned and destroyed the houses of the district secretary, the police station and part of the Quissimajulo health center," reports local radio station Watana.

Mozambican daily Notícias reported the death of four people "hit by stray bullets" during the uprising triggered by the death of three children from cholera.

The CDD condemned the Mozambican police for using weapons of war against civilians, saying that the force could have used other means, including "rubber bullets, dogs and various other techniques" to contain the popular uprising.

"The police are going to confront civilians, unarmed people, so they can't carry weapons of war," knowing that "if they shoot, they could kill," said Emídio Beúla.

For the organization, the "recurring" argument that these are stray bullets cannot be accepted, arguing that the Mozambican police are trained to contain mass uprisings using proportional force.

"It's becoming the norm for the police to go to a small riot, shoot and then say it's a stray bullet. No, it's not a stray bullet," said the CDD researcher, suggesting that the state compensate the victims' families and prosecute the officers involved.

Lusa contacted the Mozambican police, but received no reply. (Lusa)