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Title: Mozambique Human Rights Practices, 1995
Author: U.S. Department of State
Date: March 1996
MOZAMBIQUE
Mozambique has a constitutional government headed by President Joaquim
Chissano who was elected in the country's first multiparty elections in
October 1994. President Chissano and the leadership of his party, the
National Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO), which has
ruled the country since independence in 1975, control policymaking and
implementation. The National Assembly, while providing a forum for
reconciliation and public airing of issues, did not exert significant
authority or independence from the executive. The extremely weak
judiciary continued to be unable to implement constitutional provisions
safeguarding individual human rights or provide an effective check on
the power of the executive branch. Although the foundations of
democracy remain fragile, Mozambique's political transition continued to
be largely successful, with far fewer human rights problems than before
the end of the war in late 1993. The country remained stable following
the departure of the last elements of the United Nations peacekeeping
force (ONUMOZ) in early 1995. Reintegration of areas controlled by the
Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO) during the war remained
contentious but limited to only a few districts. Tensions between the
ruling FRELIMO party and RENAMO abated somewhat as the two parties began
to work together in the newly elected multiparty legislature.
Mozambique's internal security forces, which include the State
Information and Security Service (SISE), the Criminal Investigation
Police (PIC), the Mozambican National Police (PRM) and the Rapid
Reaction Police (PIR), were a focus of controversy, with RENAMO leader
Afonso Dhlakama repeatedly charging that they continued to act as arms
of the ruling party. Members of the security forces committed human
rights abuses.
Approximately 80 percent of the population is employed in agriculture,
mostly on a subsistence level. A slow transition to a market economy
continues in the small formal economy. Major exports are shrimp, sugar,
cotton, and cashew nuts. While the absence of war has caused economic
output to expand, extensive corruption at all levels of government and
halfhearted acceptance of the principles of a free market hamper longer
term economic development. The Government has not yet fully implemented
major economic reforms. Starting from an extremely low base, the gross
domestic product grew an estimated 5.4 percent in 1994 and was forecast
to grow 5.5 percent in 1995. However, a high inflation rate continued
to plague the country, and Mozambique's economy and the Government's
budget remain heavily dependent on foreign aid. The annual per capita
income of $90 remains one of the lowest in the world. Near normal rains
and continuing peace meant that many Mozambicans, including returning
refugees and the internally displaced, were able to farm their lands
again, reducing dependence on food aid.
Continuing the postwar trend of recent years, the status of political
and civil liberties in Mozambique improved again, but the country's
overall human rights record was marred by a pattern of abusive police
behavior and the corrupt and ineffective judicial system's inability to
serve the average citizen. Ill-trained and undisciplined police forces,
private security forces, and local officials continued to commit human
rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings and excessive use of
force. Security forces and police routinely beat or otherwise tortured
or abused detainees. Extremely poor prison conditions resulted in the
deaths of dozens of inmates. The media remained largely owned by the
Government and manipulated by a retrograde faction within the ruling
party. With increased press scrutiny, more abuses by security forces
came to light than in previous years, and in some instances the
Government investigated and punished those responsible. However, due to
the common perception that the police force is inept and corrupt, many
citizens resorted to mob justice. Arbitrary arrests, lengthy
detentions, discrimination and violence against women, and violence
against children remain problems.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
There were no known or suspected cases of political killings, but there
were reports of extrajudicial killings. According to the government-
owned press, a district administrator in the northern province of
Nampula was accused of ordering executions by firing squad. The
administrator was suspended pending an investigation. In August in an
outlying Maputo suburb, rather than halting a mob from lynching two
suspected thieves, a policeman fatally shot the two men. The local
police station declined comment. Also in August, according to an
independent news facsimile, the PRM in Maputo allegedly extorted money
from the families of two suspected bandits but then summarily executed
the men anyway. Witnesses claim that in July police called in to settle
a dispute between neighbors over a chicken instead shot and killed one
of the disputants, Fern Macongue Sitoe. According to the press, the
policemen continue to work in the local police station. In February
Rapid Reaction Police in Inhambane opened fire on a crowd of unarmed
protesters, killing two.
From all indications, mob/vigilante killings continued to be common. In
April a policeman was beaten to death in Maputo by
a mob protesting police brutality. In August a mob chased and burned
alive a man who had allegedly robbed a delivery truck. There were
numerous but unverified reports during the year that regulos
(traditional chiefs) and curadeiros (traditional healers) had imposed
and carried out death sentences against persons accused of witchcraft.
b. Disappearance
There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances. The fate
of thousands of Mozambicans who disappeared during the civil war still
remains unresolved.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment
The Constitution expressly prohibits torture, but the Mozambican police
forces carried out serious abuses during 1995. The police often used
excessive force, and there were continuing reports that, as a matter of
routine, detainees were often beaten and whipped. Corruption in the
police forces extends throughout the ranks, and the PRM used violence
and detention to intimidate people from reporting abuses. In August the
Mozambican League of Human Rights reported that police in Nampula commit
torture in jails, police stations, and public places.
According to a 1995 investigation by the Mozambican League of Human
Rights, security forces employed by the Commercial Bank of Mozambique
beat and tortured (including use of electric shocks) employees of that
institution during 1994. According to a press report in February,
members of the "Proteg" private security force beat Gabriel Jose Stefane
and two of his relatives and detained them for 2 days in the firm's
headquarters. In March police in Mutarara detained and beat two RENAMO
members of the National Assembly. This lead to a parliamentary inquiry
and disciplinary action against the police involved. RENAMO leader
Dhlakama charged on numerous occasions that members of his party were
being harassed, detained, and beaten by police. He also charged that
police, under the guise of civilians, continue to steal from and
intimidate his constituency in Manica Province. In June the Mozambican
League of Human Rights reported that the "Lightning Brigade" of the
Mozambique Armed Defense Force (FADM), sent to the Moamba area west of
Maputo to deal with armed banditry, had detained, beaten, and tortured
suspects without due process.
The rise of criminal activity, combined with the ineffectiveness of the
police forces and a weak judicial system (see Section l.e.), led to
increased instances of popular justice and vigilante activity. The
local press frequently reported instances of suspected thieves being
severely beaten or even lynched by angry mobs. Confiscating people's
possessions under flimsy pretexts is a common police practice. On
occasion, the Government has taken action to counter the abuses arising
from police corruption and excessive use of force. In February Nampula
Province Governor Rosario Mualeia called on police in the province to
stop beating citizens and confiscating their possessions. There were
isolated instances of disciplinary actions in other parts of the
country.
Prison conditions throughout the country posed a serious threat to
inmates' life and health. Medical and food supplies are more often than
not insufficient, and it is estimated that some prisons hold up to four
times their intended prisoner capacity. According to Justice Minister
Jose Abudo, illnesses prevalent in the prison population include
diarrhea, malaria, scabies, and tuberculosis. Abudo made a highly
publicized visit to Maputo jails in August and drew attention to the
terrible conditions. He noted that with the exception of Niassa central
prison, all other prisons in the country were overcrowded.
According to a report by the Mozambican Legue of Human Rights, the
central prison in Maputo houses nearly twice its capacity--1,575 rather
than 800 inmates. The civil prison in Maputo is currently housing 550
prisoners rather than its stated maximum capacity of 250. In Nacala
City, in Nampula Province, the prison is housed in the basement of the
only hotel in town. As the Nampula Provincial Director of Prisons,
Basilio Augusto, explained, the province does not have adequate
buildings to house prisoners. Thus, prisoners, ill or not, are all
placed in the same cell in inhumane conditions. For example, Nampula
central prison, with a capacity of 90 persons, currently houses 400
prisoners.
In September Radio Mozambique reported that 31 inmates had already died
in Chimoio central prison in 1995 from illness, lack of food, and lack
of sanitary conditions. According to the report, prisoners in Chimoio
receive only one meal per day, and the prison authorities rarely provide
inmates with medical attention. August press reports stated that 25
prisoners died in Manica central prison. In May the press reported that
the Director of the Nampula prison had been accused of stealing
prisoners' food and that 12 prisoners had died in the first 3 months of
the year from malnutrition. In July 3 former detainees at the First
Police Station in Nampula stated that at least 10 people died there over
a 3-month period. The three men attributed the deaths to food shortages
and lack of medical assistance. However, they also charged that police
beat inmates as punishment for disobeying orders. They further alleged
that some police guards asked for money in exchange for freedom.
In January the Tanzanian Embassy requested that the Government
investigate reports that 13 Tanzanian citizens had died of diseases
caused by poor conditions in the jail in Beira. International human
rights groups are given access to prisoners.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
The law requires that most detainees be charged or released within 30
days. However, persons accused of the most serious crimes, i.e.,
security offenses or those requiring a sentence of more than 8 years,
may be detained for up to 84 days without being formally charged. With
court approval, such detainees may be held for two additional periods of
84 days while the police complete their investigation. In practice,
however, these rules, as well as a detainee's constitutional right to
counsel and to contact relatives or friends often are ignored. The
Government has broad latitude to determine what constitutes a security
offense.
Most citizens are unaware of their rights, particularly those granted
under the 1990 Constitution, and detainees can spend many months, even
years, in pretrial status. In some cases, detainees may be released
from prison while the investigation proceeds, but the bail system
remains poorly defined, with police and prison officials usually taking
bribes to effect the release of those who can afford to pay. The law
provides that if the prescribed period for investigation has been
completed and no charges have been brought, the detainee must be
released. In practice, however, this law is often ignored, in part
because of the severe lack of administrative personnel, trained judges,
and sufficient lawyers to monitor the judicial system (see Section
1.e.). A large backlog of prisoners continues to await trial. In March
the Deputy Minister of Justice acknowledged that between 20 and 30
percent of some 4,000 detainees held in jails had been held without
charge beyond the period stipulated by law, but in July, the Minister of
Justice stated that of 2,572 detainees awaiting trial, 1,451 had not
been charged. In July it was reported that of 174 prisoners in the Xai
Xai jail, only 25 had actually been convicted of crimes. The same month
long-time detainees at the Gaza provincial prison in Xai Xai rioted,
demanding that their cases be tried; 11 detainees were injured when
police intervened.
According to the Mozambican League of Human Rights, of the 1,575 people
detained in Maputo central prison, 1,009 were awaiting trial. The
League discovered that one person who was arrested for stealing cement
has been jailed in Maputo central prison since September 1992 but has
yet to be taken before a magistrate. In another documented case a man
in the central prison accused of stealing a kilogram of onions in 1989
still awaited trial at year's end.
The 1990 Constitution expressly prohibits exile, and the Government does
not use exile as a form of political control.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The 1990 Constitution formally established an independent judiciary and
specifically states that the decisions of the courts take precedence
over all other authorities and individuals and must be obeyed.
Nevertheless, the executive, and by extension the FRELIMO party,
dominates the judiciary. In general, judges are beholden for their
positions to the ruling FRELIMO party, which continues to exercise
significant influence on all aspects of public life through the
executive and party organs. Moreover, the President appoints the
members of the most important tribunal, the Supreme Court, and prior to
the October elections, these were automatically ratified by the FRELIMO-
appointed National Assembly. The President also appoints the Attorney
General, and after a delay of almost a year, in December, the President
filled this long-vacant position. The new multiparty National Assembly
has yet to assert its prerogatives in the judicial area.
Mozambique has two complementary formal justice systems: the
civil/criminal, which includes customary courts; and the military. A
1991 law empowered the Supreme Court to administer the civil/criminal;
it also hears appeals, including military cases, although the Ministry
of Defense administers the military courts. Civilians are not under the
jurisdiction of or tried in the military courts. Local customary courts
handle matters such as estate and divorce cases. In regular courts, all
accused persons are in theory presumed innocent and have the right to
legal counsel and the right of appeal, but the authorities do not always
respect these rights, and in fact the great majority of the population
does not possess the means to obtain any form of legal counsel following
the disintegration of a government organization previously responsible
for providing counsel for indigent defendants. The President of the
Supreme Court has acknowledged that the judicial system is plagued by
bribery and extortion.
The Government, with international assistance, has developed a
comprehensive plan for improving the professional level and efficiency
of the judiciary. However, in 1995 little action was taken to put this
plan into effect. The military is also discussing new judicial
institutions.
Since the establishment of the Supreme Court in 1988 and the abolition
of the Revolutionary Military Tribunal, persons accused of crimes
against the State are tried in common civilian courts under standard
criminal judicial procedures. A judge may order a trial closed because
of national security interests or to protect the privacy of the
plaintiff in cases concerning rape.
Efforts to reintegrate RENAMO-controlled zones into central
administrative structures continued, but RENAMO still administers a
number of areas through a rudimentary form of civil administration and
traditional courts, with extensive use of traditional authorities as
judges. In a June Focus on Africa report, traditional chiefs were
accused of sentencing to death persons accused of witchcraft and
throwing them to the crocodiles.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
The 1990 Constitution provides for the right to privacy and expressly
forbids the use of surveillance techniques. By law, police need a
warrant to enter homes and businesses. Although there are fewer reports
of such activity, incidents of illegal telephone wiretapping by
government intelligence agencies allegedly still occur. In July
RENAMO's Dhlakama accused the SISE of spying on him during a visit to
Gaza Province.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The Constitution, the 1991 Press Law, and the 1992 Rome Peace Accords
provide for freedom of expression and the press but with restrictions in
cases involving national defense considerations. In practice, however,
the Government restricts these freedoms. While criticism of the
President is not legally prohibited, the 1991 Press Law holds that, in
cases of defamation against the President, truth is not a sufficient
defense against libel. Although this law had not been tested in court,
it resulted in considerable self-censorship and almost no direct
criticism of the President.
The Government dominates the media through direct control of, and
subsidies to, the most important means of reaching the public. The
Government owns the country's only two daily newspapers (Noticias in
Maputo and Diario in Beira), the largest weekly newspaper (Domingo), the
main radio station, the only weekly news magazine and one of the two
television stations. The Government also has its own wire service (the
Mozambican Information Agency--AIM), which local journalists regard
largely as an outlet for propaganda.
While control of the media is not word-by-word and day-by-day, the
official media know their limits and generally do not criticize
government officials or policies. Two ministers did become the target
of press campaigns, but this was less a break with past practice than
evidence that they were out of favor with the retrograde faction of
FRELIMO that has the most influence on the press. The government-
controlled media not only avoids stories critical of the Government but
also finds ample space for items that support it or that portray the
opposition in a bad light. Recently, such activity included
disinformation campaigns regarding RENAMO activities and exaggerated
reports on the degree of food shortages in the country. Abolition of
the Ministry of Information in late 1994 did not result in greater
independence for the media as the Ministry's functions were taken over
by the Prime Minister's Office.
Notwithstanding the dominance of the official media, the small,
independent press carry opposition viewpoints and generally have far
more credibility. However, the influence of the independent press and,
for that matter, of the official press as well, is limited largely to
Maputo and the provincial capitals because of the logistical difficulty
of distribution of any publication in rural areas.
The independent media consist of two weekly newspapers (Savanna and
Demos), two daily fax newsletters (Mediafax and Imparcial), the second
television station (RTK) and a few limited-range radio stations. RTK
began its third year of broadcasting in 1995. While independent of the
Government, the station is owned by a FRELIMO Central Committee member,
and programming has not taken an independent political line. Both RTK
and the government station broadcast only in Maputo and two other major
cities, leaving the vast majority of the country without television
coverage.
Journalists of the independent as well as the government-controlled
press who even obliquely criticized high-level officials were subject to
threats and intimidation. In March Mediafax editors quickly were
summoned to the prosecutor's office (even though such legal processes
usually take months) after publishing a story about a vice minister's
actions relating to a stolen car. Interior Minister Manuel Antonio made
public threats against journalists of Diario de Mocambique, after that
paper published reports linking the Minister's brother to a stolen car.
In June a journalist with the government-owned AIM was detained by
police for 8 hours, apparently in retaliation for press articles
critical of police behavior.
There are no formal restrictions on academic freedom, but, in practice,
teachers routinely adhere to self-censorship since their employment
depends on the State.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The Constitution provides for freedom of assembly and association.
Legislation enacted in 1991 provided guidelines for the registration of
political parties, and 18 registered political parties were active
during the 1994 election campaign, including RENAMO and FRELIMO.
Throughout 1995 political groups were free to hold congresses and press
conferences.
Other groups and associations also have organized or become more active.
For example, in mid-February the Order of Lawyers of Mozambique was
established with the announced purpose of reorganizing the legal
profession and redefining the national standards for accreditation as an
attorney. The Mozambican Christian Council has undertaken a project to
collect arms throughout the country. It has held several rallies where
people were able to exchange arms for agricultural equipment. The
rallies were well-attended and faced no governmental obstacles or
harassment.
Under new legislation approved in October 1992, a political party must
demonstrate that it has no racial, ethnic, or religious exclusiveness
and secure at least 2,000 signatures of support from within the country
in order to be recognized legally.
No groups were known to have been denied permission to hold public
marches.
c. Freedom of Religion
The Constitution mandates strict separation of church and state and
provides for the freedom to "practice or not practice a religion." The
Government does not require religious organizations or missionaries to
register, and foreign missionaries are routinely granted visas. The
Constitution gives religious institutions the right to own property and
operate schools. In May a radio station owned by a religious
organization opened in Maputo, and in March a Muslim-owned weekly
newspaper was launched. Relations between the Government and religious
organizations, tense in the early years after independence, began to
improve in 1992 and have improved further as the Government has sought
political support from these organizations in the multiparty system.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation
The Constitution provides for freedom of travel within the country and
abroad. The Government no longer requires citizens to obtain permits
from local authorities in order to travel within the country. The
Government does continue to enforce a law fining foreigners who overstay
their visas $300 per day.
With the end of the civil war and the return of the rains after the
record drought of 1992, internally displaced Mozambicans and those who
had sought refuge in neighboring asylum countries began to return home
at the end of 1992 and throughout 1993 and 1994. Under the auspices of
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and with the
assistance of the International Organization of Migration, by mid-1995
over 1.7 million refugees had returned, and most of the 3.6 million
displaced persons had moved back home. Travel to RENAMO controlled
areas was generally not difficult, although in many cases RENAMO
insisted that in order to ensure safety and prevent misunderstanding,
relief workers and others should carry RENAMO letters.
The numerous soldier mutinies which plagued the country during 1994
largely abated due to the demobilization of most of the former
combatants, with relatively few such protests threatening freedom of
movement. A more significant problem, especially for truck drivers and
foreign tourists, was harassment by police demanding bribes to escape
trumped-up charges of minor infractions.
At the end of 1995, there were few refugees from other countries in
Mozambique. Between October 1992 and December 1994, the UNHCR
registered 383 refugees, but the Government has subsequently lost track
of the whereabouts of 200 of these persons. In January the Foreign
Minister stated that the Government had received 187 requests for
asylum. There were no reported cases in which refugees were forced to
return to countries where they might have a well-founded fear of
persecution.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
Citizens freely exercised for the first time their right to vote in
multiparty elections in October 1994, which U.N. and other observers
declared to be free and fair. President Chissano was elected, with the
ruling FRELIMO party winning 129 of the 250 National Assembly seats.
The newly elected Parliament, with its FRELIMO majority, did not provide
any significant check on the power of the executive branch. The
President and the FRELIMO leadership continued to control policymaking
and implementation, and FRELIMO members were appointed to all cabinet
positions and provincial governorships, even in provinces where RENAMO
had won overwhelming majorities in the 1994 elections.
RENAMO, for its part, in Nampula Province raised money by imposing its
own taxes and also carried out its own census. In other areas, FRELIMO
administrators accused RENAMO officials of running parallel governmental
structures, and harassing and even physically abusing central government
appointed officials. By year's end, there were indications the
Government was establishing itself in some RENAMO-dominated areas.
In March the Government proposed local elections, limited to the 10
provincial capitals and Maputo, for 1996. The timetable and the areas
to participate in these elections were still being debated at year's end
however, and they were not expected to take place in 1996.
While there are no legal restrictions hindering women's involvement in
government, cultural factors and underdevelopment have inhibited their
political advancement. Nonetheless, of the 250 newly elected National
Assembly deputies, 62 are women (48 of 129 FRELIMO, 13 of 112 RENAMO and
1 of 9 Democratic Union Coalition), albeit, these female deputies are
not believed to play a significant role in either the Parliament's or
the individual parties' decisionmaking processes. One woman serves as a
minister in the Government and five as vice ministers.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
There are no legal obstacles to the formation of local human rights
groups in Mozambique, and two groups formed in 1993 continued to
operate. Based on its belief that the great majority of human rights
abuses in Mozambique never come to light, the Mozambican League for
Human Rights has focused efforts on educating the public regarding its
rights, with emphasis on the rights of prisoners. The Government has
permitted the League access to Maputo prisons under the jurisdiction of
the Ministry of Justice. The League has also publicly criticized
widespread abusive behavior of the Mozambican police and the Minister of
Interior himself.
The Mozambique Government has been receptive to international human
rights monitoring groups, including the International Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC).
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Disability,
Language, or Social Status
The Constitution forbids discrimination based on race, sex, religion, or
disability, but the Government does not ensure in practice that such
discrimination does not occur.
Women
According to medical and other sources, violence against women,
especially wife beating and rape, is widespread, especially in rural
areas. According to a local women's group, many women believe that
their spouses have the right to beat them. The police do not normally
intervene in domestic disputes, and cases are rarely brought before the
courts. Furthermore, when victims of physical abuse are brought to the
hospital, these cases are rarely registered as caused by domestic
violence. No official statistics exist with reference to the magnitude
of domestic violence. The Government has not specifically addressed the
issue of violence against women. While rape can theoretically be
prosecuted in the courts, cultural pressures would make it highly
unlikely for most women to press for such action.
Despite the constitutional prohibition of discrimination based on sex,
women suffer from both legal and societal discrimination. Mozambique
has civil and commercial legal codes which predate independence and
frequently contradict each other and the Constitution. Among these laws
are discriminatory measures based on traditional African practices which
limit widows' inheritance rights, with estates reverting to the deceased
husband's relatives. Also, the legal domicile of a married woman is her
husband's house, and she may only work outside the home with the express
consent of her husband. A married woman can use property as collateral
for funds only with her husband's consent. The Government has not yet
drafted any measures that would revise and update family law.
Women continue to be underrepresented in the professions; a few women
are active in the leadership of nongovernmental organizations (NGO's).
Women have less access than men to educational institutions above the
primary level. Although roughly equal proportions of male and female
children enter primary school, by secondary school, males greatly
outnumber females. Discrimination against women is most apparent in
rural areas where over 80 percent of the population live and where women
are engaged mainly in subsistence farming and childrearing, with little
opportunity for schooling or access to health care.
In July, in preparation for the U.N. Conference on Women in Beijing, the
Mozambican Association of Women in the Legal Profession held a seminar
which examined discriminatory elements in the law. They questioned
Article 21 of the Constitution, which grants Mozambican citizenship to
the foreign wife of a Mozambican male but normally does not grant
citizenship to the foreign-born spouse of a Mozambican woman. They also
examined several portions of the Civil Code which dictate a woman's
residence and grant decisionmaking power to the fathers and husbands.
In May the Mozambican Association of Demobilized Soldiers noted that
demobilized female soldiers were not being given the same opportunities
as men for reintegration into social and economic projects.
The Justice Ministry and an NGO, the Association of Women, Law, and
Development (MULEIDE), which aims to promote and defend the legal rights
of women, are collaborating to identify outdated laws that conflict with
rights granted to women by the 1990 Constitution. This has been a slow
process with few concrete accomplishments.
Children
The Government has not made children's rights and welfare a priority.
It has made little attempt to alleviate the plight of the increasing
numbers of urban street children, many of whom were orphaned by the war.
In a speech in April, the Minister of Social Action Coordination
suggested that there were hundreds of thousands of abandoned children in
urban areas. Such street children are routinely beaten by police and
are often victims of sexual abuse. The Government appears either
unwilling or unable to deal with an increasingly corrupt and overcrowded
educational system in which it is widely reported that school children
(or their parents) must bribe teachers for passing grades. Reportedly
about half of the country's children do not attend school at all.
People with Disabilities
Although the Constitution expressly states that "disabled citizens shall
enjoy fully the rights enshrined in the Constitution," few resources
were available to make this a reality. In 1991 the Association of
Mozambican Disabled (ADEMO) was created to address the social and
economic needs of the disabled. Although poorly funded, ADEMO provides
training, raises public awareness of the need to fully integrate the
disabled into society, and lobbies the Ministry of Labor to initiate
legislation to support the working rights of the disabled. The
electoral law governing Mozambique's first multiparty elections
specifically addressed the needs of disabled voters in the polling
booths. No special access facilities exist.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
There was no systematic persecution or discrimination on the basis of
race or ethnicity. However, the FRELIMO Government has traditionally
included at all levels a disproportionate number of southerners, mostly
from the Shangaan ethnic group. The Government took some steps to
address this imbalance--in a departure from previous practice, new
provincial governors appointed during 1995 were all natives of the
respective provinces and more nonsoutherners were included in FRELIMO's
parliamentary delegation.
RENAMO leadership is predominantly from the Shona ethnic group. There
is no indication that the conflict between the Government and RENAMO was
primarily motivated by ethnicity, although ethnic and regional factors
may have played some role and explain some of the civil war violence.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The Constitution specifies that all workers are free to join or refrain
from joining a trade union. The Labor Law passed in December 1991
further protects workers right to organize and to engage in union
activity at their place of employment. The legislation gave existing
unions the right to register independently from the then FRELIMO
dominated Organization of Mozambican Workers (OTM). The three
independent unions that broke away from the OTM in 1992 formed a central
union in 1994 but maintain working contacts with OTM. In December 1994,
the National Peasant Union was created, and it specified that it is
autonomous and unrelated to any political party.
While still subject to strong government influence, OTM is seeking to
develop a more democratic image. At its Third National Congress in May
1994, the OTM membership for the first time elected the President and
the Secretary General. Previously both OTM positions had been
government appointments. New OTM statutes call for independence from
any influences by companies, governments, political parties, and
religious groups. The independent unions charged, however, that OTM
still lacked sufficient independence from the Government and called for
the establishment of a new central union structure.
The Constitution explicitly provides for the right to strike, with the
exception of government employees, police, military personnel, and
employees of other essential services (which include sanitation,
firefighting, air traffic control, health care, water, electricity,
fuel, post office, and telecommunications). While there were frequent
calls for a general strike to protest what was seen as an insufficient
minimum wage, no such strike occurred. Some wildcat strikes were held,
predominantly for payment of salaries in arrears.
The 1991 Labor Law forbids retribution against strikers, the hiring of
substitute workers, and lockouts by employers. There were no known
instances of employer retribution against striking workers. Specific
labor disputes are generally arbitrated through ad hoc workers'
committees, formally recognized by the Government. The Constitution and
labor legislation give unions the right to join and participate in
international bodies. The OTM is a member of the Organization of
African Trade Union Unity and the Southern African Trade Union
Coordinating Council. The Mozambican Parliament has ratified four
International Labor Organization conventions on employment policies,
tripartite negotiations, trade union legislation, collective bargaining,
and protection of trade union rights.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
The Labor Law protects the right of workers to organize and engage in
collective bargaining. It expressly prohibits discrimination against
organized labor, although antiunion discrimination has not been an issue
because, until recently, unions were government-controlled
organizations. In late 1991, the Government decreed that it would no
longer set all salary levels. Negotiation of wage increases was left in
the hands of existing unions. During 1994 and 1995, the OTM took an
active role in negotiating an increase in the minimum wage. The OTM,
the three independent unions, and business organizations met with the
Government to negotiate a "social pact," which resulted in an increased
minimum wage and the setting of voluntary price ceilings on certain food
staples. The more activist independent unions and, to a lesser extent
the OTM, utilized the threat of a general strike to compel the
Government and business organizations to negotiate. The resulting
"social pact" committee has since been formalized to negotiate issues
which impact on workers. In September the OTM, the three independent
unions, and the Teachers and Journalists Unions continued to negotiate
with employers' associations and the Government for an increase in the
minimum wage rate. They demanded a 75 percent increase in the minimum
wage and an indexing of wages to the inflation rate. The Government
agreed to a 37.5 percent wage increase.
While Mozambique has enacted legislation for the establishment of export
processing zones, no zones have been created.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
Forced or compulsory labor is prohibited by law, and there have been no
reports of such labor practices.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
Child labor is regulated by the Ministry of Labor. In the wage economy,
the minimum working age is 16 years. Because of high adult
unemployment, few children are employed in regular wage positions.
However, children commonly work on family farms or in the urban informal
sector, where they perform such tasks as guarding cars, collecting scrap
metal, or selling trinkets and food in the streets.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
The Government sets minimum wage rates administratively. The minimum
wage at year's end was less than $21 (218,143 meticais) per month. The
Ministry of Labor is responsible for enforcing the minimum rates in the
private sector, the Ministry of Finance in the public sector.
Violations of minimum wage rates are usually investigated only after
workers register a complaint. It is customary for workers to receive
benefits such as transportation and food. The minimum wage is not
considered sufficient to sustain an average urban worker and family.
Many workers must turn to a second job, if available, as well as work
garden plots to survive.
The standard legal workweek is 44 hours, with a weekly 24-hour rest
period stipulated. In the small modern sector, the Government has
enacted health and environmental laws to protect workers. On occasion,
the Government has closed firms for noncompliance with these laws, but
the Ministry of Labor enforces these laws ineffectively. Workers have
the right to remove themselves from work situations that endanger their
health or safety without jeopardy to their continued employment.
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[end of document]
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