Human Rights Watch (HRW) deplores the occurrence of authoritarianism on the part of military personnel deployed to fight terrorism in Cabo Delgado province.

In its annual report, HRW states that members of SAMIM have been implicated in abuses during their operations in the province.

The document refers to a video in which South African troops, part of SAMIM, shoot at corpses piled up in burning rubble.

"International humanitarian law prohibits mutilation and other ill-treatment of the dead," reads the document quoted by RTP.

However, HRW points out that the Southern African Development Community has yet to comment on the investigations it has launched into the case.

The criticism extends to the government's authorization of a militia force made up mostly of demobilized soldiers. HRW says that the militia operates "without supervision, responsibility or legal mandate".

The report also focuses on the violence related to the local elections of October 11, which were "marked by violence and serious irregularities, leading the district courts to order a repeat vote or a recount of the votes in many municipalities".

"After the elections, the police clashed with opposition party members all over the country," says HRW, highlighting the police's use of "excessive force" and tear gas "against opposition crowds of Renamo [the largest opposition party] supporters".

"State security forces continued to use lethal force and arbitrary measures, arrest and detention to limit people's right to peaceful protest throughout the country," HRW points out, recalling the police intervention during the funeral of `rapper' Azagaia in March, with several arrests, not only in Maputo.

It also mentions that in the last year "freedom of peaceful assembly and association" has been "under pressure" in Mozambique and recalls that the executive submitted for parliamentary approval a bill on non-profit organizations, "which would allow excessive government interference in NGOs, including the authority to close down an organization", claiming that the legislation was intended to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.