MOZAMBIQUE: JUNE POLITICAL DIGEST

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MAPUTO 000840 SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/S - HTREGER PASS USAID FOR AA/AFR AND AFR/SA PASS MCC FOR GAULL SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM MZ SUBJECT: MOZAMBIQUE: JUNE POLITICAL DIGEST MAPUTO 00000840 001.2 OF 002 Sensitive But Unclassified - Handle Accordingly ¶1. (U) This is a brief summary of significant political developments in Mozambique during June 2006. We provide it as a supplement to our other reporting. The items discussed are: -- Presidential Guards Accused of Murder -- FRELIMO to Elect 1600 Delegates to its IX Party Congress -- RENAMO Claims Tete Detainees are Political Prisoners Presidential Guards under Investigation for Murder -------------- -------------- ¶2. (U) Three members of Mozambique's Presidential Guard, the police unit charged with ensuring the security of President Armando Guebuza, are under investigation for the murder of a 25-year old Mozambican man. According to a June 30 report in the independent weekly "Savana", Abdul Monteiro Daude was pursued by three Presidential Guards after he disobeyed orders to stop after hitting their vehicle as he was leaving a popular local nightclub. Monteiro was eventually pulled over near Maputo Central Hospital, at which time eye-witnesses report that he was handcuffed after voluntarily exiting the vehicle. Monteiro was then reportedly beaten and shot three times by an individual identified as a Presidential Guard. ¶3. (U) Deputy Minister of Interior Jose Mandra defended the guards' actions, stating that it was within rights of police to pursue a car if the driver disobeyed an order to stop. Mandra stated that the guards did not intend to kill Monteiro; however, he did confirm that the matter was now in the hands of the Criminal Investigation Police (PIC),where a case file on the killing has been opened. ¶4. (U) PIC Director Alexandre Cavele confirmed to local press that a member of the Presidential Guard was arrested on July 3, and taken to the top security jail. He did not name the suspect, and gave no further details, other than that the investigation into the incident was continuing. ¶5. (U) Guebuza's office reportedly contacted Monteiro's family after the incident, offering the President's condolences, and guaranteeing that justice would be done in this case. FRELIMO to Elect 1600 Delegates to its Ninth Party Congress -------------- -------------- 
¶6. (U) On June 25 the ruling FRELIMO party began elections for delegates to its Ninth Party Congress to be held in Quelimane, Zambezia province, November 10 - 14, 2006. The FRELIMO Party Spokesperson, Edson Macuaua, announced that 1,600 delegates would be elected during the three-month selection process. The complex, four-phase electoral cycle, which includes elections at the branch, circle, district, and provincial levels, will run from June 25 to September 24, ending with the 11 provincial conferences electing both the final delegates to the Party Congress as well as candidates to the new FRELIMO Central Committee, the powerful 160-member FRELIMO decision-making body. ¶7. (U) At the district and provincial level, new first secretaries and party committees will also be elected. SIPDIS This electoral process is further complicated by FRELIMO's system of "renewal and continuity," which is intended to ensure that new blood enters the party structure, while at the same time guarantees that institutional memory is retained. As per the statutes, 60 percent of all elected party committee members must have served before, while 40 percent should be first- time members. As least 20 percent of the elected members of these party organs must be women. (Note: New statutes will be debated at the Party Congress, and some political observers expect significant changes. End Note.) In addition, FRELIMO branches in countries with significant Mozambican emigrant communities are entitled to elect at least one delegate to the Party Congress. This includes South Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi, Kenya, Portugal and Germany. MAPUTO 00000840 002.2 OF 002 RENAMO Claims Tete Detainees are Political Prisoners -------------- -------------- ¶8. (U) Mozambique's main opposition party, RENAMO, has claimed that ten of its party members are being held as "political prisoners" in Mutarara district in the western province of Tete. Speaking at a June 9 press conference in Maputo, RENAMO spokesperson Fernando Mazanga alleged that the police had arrested RENAMO members "at random" after a May 31 clash between groups of RENAMO supporters and those of the ruling FRELIMO party. The incident occurred during a visit to Mutarara by RENAMO Secretary General Ossufo Momade. Mazanga claimed that a RENAMO convoy of vehicles came under attack by FRELIMO supporters wielding sticks and stones. According to Mazanga, RENAMO supporters retaliated and the ensuing clash resulted in nine injuries, one RENAMO and eight FRELIMO supporters, respectively. Six of the FRELIMO victims reportedly suffered serious injuries. ¶9. (U) In addition to the detentions, RENAMO further claimed that some of its offices had been destroyed and party members' homes looted and burned down in the aftermath of the incident. Mazanga asserted that only due to the urging the party's leader, Afonso Dhlakama, was further violence avoided and warned that should the victims of "these terrorist acts lose control of their emotions," only President Guebuza would be to blame for "doing nothing" do stop the wave of political violence. ¶10. (SBU) Comment: RENAMO has made similar statements regarding Dhlakama in the past, implying that the masses, particularly those in rural areas, remained on the brink of rebellion and that only Dhlakama's words of restraint kept them from acts of violence. However, there is little evidence to support such comments. DUDLEY