The Civil Society Platform for Electoral Monitoring Decide and the Network of Young Human Rights Defenders are monitoring the unfolding protests in Mozambique and call on the international community to "condemn police violence and the use of real bullets to disperse protesters".

In a statement, quoted by RFIThe Civil Society Platform for Electoral Monitoring Decide and the Network of Young Human Rights Defenders call on the international community to "condemn police violence and the use of real bullets to disperse demonstrators".

These Mozambican civil society organizations have been monitoring the protests and helping demonstrators who have been arrested, after also observing the general elections on October 9. They report that after the results were announced by the National Electoral Commission, in the protests on October 24 and 25 "the police fired on more than 30 people, 11 of whom died", "real bullets were used and around 500 people were arbitrarily arrested".

In the statement, in which they list the cases of people hit by police bullets, the Decide Platform and the Youth Network call on the international community to "demand an investigation into the cases reported and the accountability of the agents involved in the murder of demonstrators". They also ask the international community to "call for compensation for the victims of police violence since the start of the demonstrations" and to "exert relentless pressure on electoral and judicial bodies to be transparent and publish the original notices of the voting process throughout the country".

The electoral platform has a hotline where protesters can call to report "any situation of illegal detention and injuries on the march".

The NGO Center for Public Integrity (CIP), which monitors electoral processes, had also indicated that in the protests on October 24 and 25, ten people died, dozens were injured and around 500 were arrested.

This Thursday saw the start of the "third phase" of the electoral protest called for on social media by the opposition presidential candidate, Venâncio Mondlane. It was the first of seven days of protests and a general strike, which should culminate in a rally in Maputo on November 7.

On Monday, the Police of the Republic of Mozambique announced that it had opened criminal proceedings against Venâncio Mondlane for the escalation of post-election violence in the country. Mondlane has been calling for protests via Facebook "lives", is "in an uncertain place" and says his life is at risk. The first demonstrations he called were after the double murder of two supporters, lawyer Elvino Dias and teacher Paulo Guambe, shot dead in an ambush in Maputo on the night of October 18.

On October 24, Mozambique's National Electoral Commission (CNE) announced the presidential victory of Daniel Chapo, supported by Frelimo, with 70,67% of the votes. Venâncio Mondlane would have come second, with 20.32%, but he does not recognize these results, which still have to be validated and proclaimed by the Constitutional Council. In third place in the presidential election, according to the CNE, was Ossufo Momade, president of Renamo, with 5.81%, followed by Lutero Simango, president of the MDM, with 3.21%. Ossufo Momade also said that he does not recognize the election results announced and called for the vote to be annulled. Lutero Simango also rejected the results, considering that they had been "forged in the secretariat" and promised "political and legal action" to restore the "will of the people".

Also according to the CNE announcement, Frelimo strengthened its parliamentary majority, from 184 to 195 deputies (out of 250), and elected all 10 of the country's provincial governors. The hitherto extra-parliamentary PODEMOS elected 31 deputies, dethroning Renamo in the leadership of the opposition, as it fell from 60 to 20 deputies. The MDM retained its parliamentary representation, but saw its total number of deputies fall from six to four.

(Photo Reuters)