United States Department of State

Mozambique: Human Rights United States Department of State

Publisher Marketing: Mozambique is a constitutional multi-party democracy with a republican form of government. In 2009 voters re-elected President Armando Guebuza in an election several national and international observers, including the EU and the Commonwealth, criticized as lacking a "level playing field" and faulted for lacking transparency, integrity, impartiality, and independence. Domestic and foreign observers and local civil society organizations expressed concern about the electoral procedures that preceded the balloting, particularly the exclusion of six of nine presidential candidates and the disqualification of one opposition party's parliamentary candidates from seven of the 11 provinces. Authorities failed at times to maintain effective control over security forces. Security forces committed human rights abuses. Incidents of serious human rights abuse occurred during the year. The three most important abuses were the government's failure to protect political rights and freedom of assembly, unlawful killings and abuses by government and opposition-party security forces, and domestic violence. Other major human rights problems included: lengthy pretrial detention; ruling party influence on an inefficient, understaffed, and inadequately trained judiciary; harsh prison conditions, and political and judicial constraints on press freedom. Corruption was also a serious problem. Societal problems included discrimination against women; abuse, exploitation, and forced labor of children; trafficking in women and children; and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons and persons with HIV/AIDS. The government took some steps to punish and prosecute officials who committed abuses, but impunity remained a problem.