(Bloomberg) -- An organization in Mozambique asked the nation’s attorney-general to probe “severe human-rights violations” after a jail break, saying security forces killed at least 100 recaptured prisoners and buried them in mass graves.
More than 1,500 prisoners broke out of a maximum-security jail near Maputo, the capital, on Dec. 25, with 33 people dying, police said at the time. By that evening, the authorities said they had recaptured about 150.
“What was initially reported as a prison break culminated in summary executions and severe violations of fundamental rights by the security forces,” the Centre for Human Rights said in a statement Tuesday. “Widely shared videos reveal that many recaptured inmates were killed, with their bodies disposed of in an inhumane manner.”
The organization, known as the CDD, said that while the National Penitentiary Service officially confirmed 37 deaths, the actual number may exceed 130, with more than 100 people allegedly buried in mass graves. It asked the attorney-general to investigate the events, provide the victims and their families reparations, and exhume the buried bodies to ensure dignified funeral rights.
Calls to the National Penitentiary Service’s phone lines didn’t connect. The deputy attorney general didn’t answer a call nor respond to a WhatsApp message seeking comment.
The gas-rich nation has dealt with sporadic unrest since opposition leader Venâncio Mondlane rejected the outcome of Oct. 9 presidential elections as fraudulent and called for peaceful protests that have often turned violent and led to mass looting and arson in Maputo and neighboring Matola city.
The violence has prompted South Africa’s Sasol Ltd. to reduce production at its Mozambique facility and Tesla supplier Syrah Resources Ltd. to declare force majeure at its graphite mining operations.
The government set up a commission of inquiry to probe the jail break, the state news agency reported Dec. 29, citing Deputy Justice Minister Filimão Suaze.
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