Uploaded April 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Human rights and elections in Mozambique by
Dr David Matsinhe, Lusophone researcher at Amnesty International Southern Africa. Former senior lecturer at the University of Johannesburg, he is an Adjunct Professor of African Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.
On 15 October 2019, Mozambique will hold its 6th general election since the end of the civil war in 1992. In October 1994, two years following the signing of the peace agreement, Mozambicans cast their ballots for the first time in multi-party presidential and parliamentary elections. While the government committed itself to uphold human rights, the country is facing a gloomy period with respect to the authorities’ obligations to respect, protect, promote and fulfil human rights. The 1990 Constitution recognises various human rights instruments: “The constitutional principles in respect of fundamental rights shall be interpreted and integrated in harmony with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and with the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.” Despite the lofty statements, there are worrying signs of a rollback on human rights, a precarity casting a shadow over the approaching election.
Human rights and elections in Mozambique by
Dr David Matsinhe, Lusophone researcher at Amnesty International Southern Africa. Former senior lecturer at the University of Johannesburg, he is an Adjunct Professor of African Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.
On 15 October 2019, Mozambique will hold its 6th general election since the end of the civil war in 1992. In October 1994, two years following the signing of the peace agreement, Mozambicans cast their ballots for the first time in multi-party presidential and parliamentary elections. While the government committed itself to uphold human rights, the country is facing a gloomy period with respect to the authorities’ obligations to respect, protect, promote and fulfil human rights. The 1990 Constitution recognises various human rights instruments: “The constitutional principles in respect of fundamental rights shall be interpreted and integrated in harmony with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and with the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.” Despite the lofty statements, there are worrying signs of a rollback on human rights, a precarity casting a shadow over the approaching election.
