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The Observatory has been
informed of the arbitrary arrest and physical attacks, and subsequent
release of Sheila
Wilson,
women’s rights defender and journalist working at the communication
and advocacy department of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights
(Centro
para Democracia e Direitos Humanos,
CDD), a member organisation of FIDH.
On
June 4, 2024, Sheila Wilson was violently attacked and abducted by
the Mozambican Police (PRM) in Maputo, the capital city. At the time
of the abduction, Sheila Wilson was doing a live broadcast on the
official Facebook page of CDD’s Executive Director, Prof. Adriano
Nuvunga.
According to the information received, it was possible to hear the
journalist screaming for help during the live broadcast, until she
was taken away by the Police to the 4th police station in Maputo city
in a police car. She was subsequently released hours later the same
day, on June 4, 2024, without any charge against her, although the
police officially seized her smartphone. After her release, Sheila
Wilson had bruises on some parts of her body, resulting from minor
injuries sustained when she was thrown under the seat of the police
car. At the time of publication of this Urgent Alert, the police has
not yet provided a justification for Sheila Wilson’s arbitrary
arrest and the seizure of her mobile phone.
The
broadcast during which she was arrested addressed the issue of the
treatment of former agents of the National Service of Popular
Security (SNASP) who protested for a week in front of the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) premises in Maputo. The former
agents were demobilised under the General Peace Agreement of Rome,
with the intervention of the United Nations, but they didn’t
receive compensation for demobilisation for over 20 years. On the
night of June 3, 2024, the police was mobilised to forcefully evict
the former SNASP agents from the site, an action that caused riots
and led part of the group to take refuge inside the UNDP building to
escape police violence.
The
Observatory recalls that many attacks or arbitrary detentions against
civil society, activists and journalists, perpetrated by security
officers or government officials, were reported in recent years in
Mozambique. As the Observatory and the Mozambique Human Rights
Defenders Network (RMDDH) stated in a report
dating from October 2023, the restriction of civic space in
Mozambique has been accelerating, hindering the freedom of
association and assembly as well as the freedom of expression and
freedom of the press. To name a few examples, in October 2022,
journalist Arlindo
Chissale
was arrested by police officers, and accused of being an “insurgent”
and collecting information for terrorist acts. On January 18, 2019,
journalist
Germano
Daniel Adriano
was arrested without court order while covering the armed violence in
the province of Cabo Delgado, before being released on bail on April
23, 2019.
The
Observatory strongly condemns the arbitrary arrest and detention of
Sheila Wilson, which only appear to be aimed at restricting her
freedom of expression and hindering her legitimate human rights
activities.
The
Observatory calls on the Mozambican authorities to put an end to any
act of violence and harassment, including at the judicial level, and
any act of intimidation against Sheila Wilson, as well as against all
human rights defenders in the country. The Observatory also calls on
the Mozambican authorities to guarantee in all circumstances the
freedom of expression as enshrined in international human rights law,
and in particular Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Mozambique is a party.
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