February 9, 1999
His Excellency Joaquim Alberto Chissano
President
Avenida Julius Nyerere 2000
Caixa Postal 285
Maputo, Mozambique
Your Excellency:
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) writes to express its deep alarm over the 23-day detention of Fernando Quinova, Cabo Delgado province correspondent for the Mass Communications Institute, in retaliation for the journalist’s critical reporting.
According to local press reports, in December 1998, Radio Mozambique broadcast a report by Quinova, in which he criticized police conduct in the arrest of Cabral Manica, a larceny suspect who died in police custody, allegedly as the result of torture. After the broadcast, police detained Quinova without charge at a local jail, where he was held incommunicado. Police reportedly stole 400,000 meticais (US$32) from him while he was in detention, and demanded that he pay them 100,000 meticais (US$8) from Quinova in return for “the privilege of seeing the sun.” Quinova escaped from the jail, and walked through the bush for two weeks before reaching Pemba, the provincial capital, on January 25, where he was able to call for help.
As a nonpartisan organization dedicated to the defense of our colleagues worldwide, CPJ condemns the unlawful detention and mistreatment of Quinova for his work as a journalist. The attack violates journalists’ rights to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds, as guaranteed by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Article 9 of the African Charter of Human and People’s Rights, to which we respectfully remind Your Excellency, Mozambique is a signatory.
CPJ strongly urges Your Excellency to ensure that there is an impartial and thorough investigation into the attack on Fernando Quinova, and that the police who abused their powers are brought to justice.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter. We welcome your comments.
Sincerely,
Ann K. Cooper
Executive Director
Join CPJ in Protesting Attacks on the Press in Mozambique
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His Excellency Joaquim Alberto Chissano
President
Avenida Julius Nyerere 2000
Caixa Postal 285
Maputo, Mozambique
VIA FAX: 011-258-492068