"We demand the creation of an independent commission and a statement from the Mozambican government on the case that is putting the country on the world's lips for the worst reasons," says the Mozambican Network of Human Rights Defenders, in a text published by the NGO Center for Democracy and Development (CDD).

In the same text, the Mozambican Network of Human Rights Defenders takes the view that "it is not satisfactory for the South African Army to investigate acts carried out by its members. An investigation by the South African Army into its members does not provide guarantees of transparency and impartiality",

The human rights defenders also say that "there is, from the outset, a conflict of interest in this endeavor, since we would have South African soldiers investigating their peers". "We understand that the investigation is unlikely to yield results that will lead to the accountability of the perpetrators."

The network is calling for an independent commission to be set up as a matter of urgency to ascertain the veracity of the facts. "The burning of bodies violates international humanitarian law," the defenders point out in a CDD text on human rights.

These defenders go further and also criticize the "sepulchral" silence of the Mozambican government. "We argue that the Mozambican government should make a statement on this case".

The statement comes in the wake of video footage showing military personnel burning bodies at a base somewhere in Cabo Delgado, and the South African government has dispatched a team from the South African National Defense Force to Mozambique to investigate what happened.