The World Council of Churches and ACT Alliance has expressed concern over the number of violent attacks involving armed groups in the country’s northern and central provinces in recent years and urged Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi to intervene and “put an end to these atrocities”.
In a letter to the President, the WCC, which represents more than 560 million Christians in 350 members churches worldwide, and aid coalition ACT Alliance said the northern and central provinces of Cabo Delgado, Manica, Sofala and Nampula Mozambique had suffered “an increasing incidence of armed attacks targeting the civilian population, commercial transportation, and properties” during the past three years.
“People have been killed, homes and livelihoods destroyed, and thousands of people displaced without the basic resources for survival, making them even more vulnerable particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the organisations said in the letter, signed by Rev Prof Dr Ioan Sauca, interim general secretary of the WCC, and Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, general secretary of the ACT Alliance.
Condemning the violence in the “strongest possible terms”, the two organisations appealed to the President and other authorities to “fulfil your duty to the people of Mozambique, for the protection of their lives, properties and livelihoods from the threat of violent attacks, displacement, compounded by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic”.
“We urge you and your government to intervene, ensure protection against rights violations, put an end to these atrocities, and ensure security for the affected communities, to intensify efforts towards peace and lasting solutions to the violence through dialogue.”
Incidents of violence in Mozambique in recent weeks have included the burning of churches and mosques and beheadings and seen tens of thousands displaced from their homes.
Bishop Luiz Fernando Lisboa, of Pemba Diocese, has been quoted as saying that the rest of the world looked upon this crisis with “indifference”.
“The world still has no idea what is happening, because of indifference,” Lisboa said.
