The Centre for Public Integrity (CIP), a non-governmental organization (NGO), strongly condemns the acts of torture and oppression perpetrated by the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM), on the 18th of this month, against defenceless demonstrators who were exercising their right to demonstrate.

"In view of these findings, the CIP today (21) submitted to the Attorney General's Office (PGR) a criminal complaint against the Mozambican state for acts of violation of human and fundamental rights by the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) during the national marches in honor of Edson Amândio Maria Lopes da Luz (Azagaia), who died on March 9," reads the CIP statement.

The Center for Public Integrity believes that the police used excessive violence, including indiscriminate firing of tear gas grenades, rubber bullets and physical torture, against demonstrators duly "authorized" by the municipalities of Maputo, Beira, Nampula and Xai-Xai.

"In addition to the action against the demonstrators, the police indiscriminately fired tear gas grenades at citizens walking along the various arteries of the aforementioned cities, causing injuries ranging from serious to minor," the CIP said in a statement.

The NGO also says that the violent actions of the agents, who were supposed to be protecting the demonstrators, are not only a violation of the state's duty to protect citizens, but also a threat to citizens' safety.

As for the direct victims of police violence, the CIP demands that "the state assumes its responsibilities, providing medical assistance and medication, and paying due compensation under the terms of the law".

In the document sent to the PGR, CIP reveals that the aggressive and disproportionate actions of the police, particularly in the cities of Maputo, Xai-Xai, Beira and Nampula, violate

The Constitution of the Republic of Mozambique (CRM) and other international normative instruments on human rights, to which Mozambique is a signatory, namely the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which, under the terms of articles 5 and 9, states that no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, or be arbitrarily arrested or detained.

Also in the document, the IPC asks:

The initiation of criminal proceedings against the unidentified police officers of the Republic of Mozambique who carried out the acts of violation of human and fundamental rights, and of the law on the right to freedom of demonstration and assembly,

That the police officers of the Republic of Mozambique, and jointly and severally the Mozambican state, under Article 58 of the CRM, in light of the principle of reparation by the state for unlawful public activity, be held civilly liable for the damage caused;

That the Center for Public Integrity (CIP), duly represented by its Executive Director, Edson Cortês, be constituted as an assistant, under the terms of article 289(4) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, approved by Law no. 25/2019, of December 24.