Update current situation in Cabo Delgado related to the gas developments March 6, 2019 This update is based on media articles and first-hand information gathered by UPC, the provincial farmers union of Gabo Delgado who works with communities in the villages of Palma district. Both ENDS values the opportunity to further discuss with any interested party. Violence in Cabo Delgado and the Palma district Since October 2017, a series of deadly attacks on state structures and civilians has taken place across the province of Cabo Delgado. At least 75 had occurred by the end of August 2018. In the past few months, violence intensified in the Palma district, Cabo Delgado. 1 The last attacks have been the closest to where the gas developments take place since the start of the insurgency in 2017. In the current context, the development of the gas infrastructure in the Cabo Delgado area contributes to raise tensions in the region and puts communities and civil society organizations at risk. The increase of violence highly complicates the work of civil society organizations supporting the community members. With the increasing attacks on transportation vehicles, moving around in the area is highly risky, and protection of civil society groups is very limited. The need to assist communities is urgent, and civil society groups continue their work while risking their lives. On the 22nd of February there was an attack on the road from Mocimba da Praia to Afungi (where the construction for gas infrastructure takes place). This was the first attack where an Anadarko contractor got killed. On the evening of January 20 th the village of Maganja was attacked, it is the closest attack to the Anadarko camp so far. In this attack, according to Joseph Hanlon,2 two people were killed. Hanlon writes that soldiers at the military base 4 km away from the area that was under attack did not arrive until the morning of January 21 st. Their late arrival has cast doubts with the population on whether the soldiers are present to protect the citizens. On January 25th, president Nyusi ordered the defense and security forces to eliminate the attacks in Cabo Delgado.3 Since the start of the insurgency in 2017, the Mozambican government has responded to the attacks with heavy militarization of the region. As a consequence of the militarization, however, resentment has only been growing. Security forces have not been able to stop the attacks, they have ‘arbitrarily detained, ill-treated and summarily executed dozens of people they suspected of belonging to the armed group’. 4 The increase of attacks in the Palma district have led to an increase in community members fleeing to Palma town. Community members are less and less able to sow and work their land. Some community members flee to the town and as a consequence loose access to their land. In another community land was designated for the resettled families. However, since the increasing insecurity, community members do not want to yield their land, as it is the only land that they now feel safe enough to work on. Since the inhabitants of the communities are almost entirely dependent on their agricultural activities for their livelihoods, this poses severe threats. Freedom of expression under pressure In the past months, we have observed a crackdown on freedom of expression in Mozambique, especially in relation to the situation in Cabo Delgado and the gas developments. In the past 1
https://clubofmozambique.com/news/first-attack-in-anadarko-zone-joseph-hanlon/, https://cartamz.com/index.php/politica/item/776-taxa-de-circulacao-noturna-em-palma-50-mts, https://clubofmozambique.com/news/situation-in-northern-mozambique-continues-to-deteriorate/ 2 https://clubofmozambique.com/news/first-attack-in-anadarko-zone-joseph-hanlon/, 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD33J7bHIQU 4 https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/12/04/mozambique-security-forces-abusing-suspected-insurgents
month three journalists reporting on Cabo Delgado have been detained. On the 17 th of December two journalists and their driver, named Estacio Valoi, David Matsinhe and Girafe Saide Tufane were illegally detained for two days. 5 On the 5th of January another journalist, Amade Abubacar, was arrested and charged with espionage activities. The allegations of espionage are heavily contested by his lawyer, and by national and international human rights groups. 6 Agreements with communities not fully implemented Many of the initial agreements with communities have not been implemented. Compensation has not been fully paid as promised, resettlements have been postponed, and fishermen have lost access to their fishing grounds. Projects that had been promised to the community as compensation for rendering their land, have not been implemented. As a consequence of the increasing violence in the region, the project owner engages with community members on an individual level, whereas at the same time access of civil society to assist communities is more difficult. The insurgency and the increase in violence poses many severe threats to the citizens of the Palma district, exacerbates existing tensions on resettlement issues and limits freedom of expression. The response of government and companies raises doubts with the population on their commitments to include citizens in the benefits of the gas developments.7
For further information, please contact: Anne de Jonghe, Program Officer, a.dejonghe@bothends.org, or Niels Hazekamp, Policy Adviser, n.hazekamp@bothends.org
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https://clubofmozambique.com/news/breaking-estacio-valoi-and-two-other-journalists-arrested/, https://www.zammagazine.com/perspectives/blog/808-estacio-valoi-arrested 6 https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/01/mozambique-release-journalist-detained-for-documentingdeadly-attacks-in-cabo-delgado/, https://cpj.org/2019/01/mozambican-journalist-arrested-held-in-military-pr.php 7 Information gathered by UPC during field visits