Mozambique’s security forces carried out a violent three-month crackdown on protesters following last year’s disputed election, killing over 300 people and injuring more than 3,000, according to a damning report released Wednesday by Amnesty International.
The rights group, citing local civil society organization Plataforma DECIDE, called on the Mozambican government to investigate the killings and hold those responsible accountable.
Amnesty’s findings detail a wave of violent repression between October 21, 2024, and January 25, 2025, where police and military forces used live ammunition, rubber bullets, and tear gas on mostly peaceful demonstrators and bystanders.
The protests erupted after the October 9 elections, which saw Daniel Chapo of the ruling Frelimo party declared president amid widespread allegations of election fraud.
Opposition candidate Venancio Mondlane, who ran as an independent backed by the Podemos party, became the face of the resistance movement.
Protests escalated dramatically after the October 18 killing of Mondlane’s lawyer and a Podemos official, who were shot dead in Maputo in what was widely condemned as a political assassination.
Mondlane called for 25 days of protest — one for each bullet fired at their vehicle — before fleeing the country for two months over fears for his safety. He returned in January.
Amnesty’s report, based on interviews with victims, witnesses, medical personnel, and legal experts, contradicts the Mozambican police’s claim that 96 people died in the unrest, including 17 officers.
According to Plataforma DECIDE, at least 315 civilians were killed, including children, and more than 4,000 people were arbitrarily arrested, many of them teenagers.
Amnesty also accused the government of suppressing communication by restricting access to Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp during key moments of the protests.
Despite promises of an investigation made by Chapo during a March mediation meeting with Mondlane, justice remains elusive.
Frelimo, in power since Mozambique’s independence in 1975, has repeatedly faced allegations of election manipulation, including ballot box stuffing and voter suppression, as confirmed by European Union election observers.
Though protests have quieted, political violence has continued. On Sunday, gunmen shot Joel Amaral, one of Mondlane’s top campaign organizers, in the port city of Quelimane. He remains in intensive care after sustaining three gunshot wounds, including one to the head.
Mozambique’s long-standing political tensions rooted in a civil war between Frelimo and the now-opposition Renamo; continue to fuel unrest, with the crackdown on post-election dissent marking one of the bloodiest episodes in the country’s recent history.
