YAOUNDE, Cameroon – The director of the Denis Hurley Peace Institute (DHPI) in South Africa has highlighted the dehumanizing treatment that women and children have been suffering in the Cabo Delgado region of Mozambique as the country continues its war on terror.
In exclusive comments to Crux, the head of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) peacekeeping arm said women and children have been sexually exploited in exchange for food they should normally have received for free.
“It is frequent. Since 2020 we have been receiving complaints of women and children being demanded of sex in exchange for food rations. There have also been numerous reports of children being recruited by insurgents to fight. These reports have regularly been included in Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International reports,” Johan Viljoen told Crux.
He said Mozambique’s attorney general, Elda Homo, acknowledged the problem in an interview with journalists and blamed the journalists for failing to report on the atrocities.
“Journalists responded by saying that they could only report if the government allowed them access to IDP camps,” Viljoen said.
In a move welcomed by the Catholic entity, the United Nations has signaled its determination to investigate violations against children not only in the Cabo Delgado region of northern Mozambique, but also in Ukraine and Ethiopia.
A new UN report found that 2,515 children were killed and 5,555 maimed in global conflicts in 2021.
The report, titled “Children and Armed Conflict” and released on Monday, July 11, also indicates that 6,310 children were recruited and used in conflict globally in 2021.
Children, the report says, were also victims of kidnapping, sexual violence, attacks on schools and hospitals, and the denial of aid during conflicts.
“There is no word strong enough to describe the terrible conditions that children in armed conflict have endured,” said the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba.
“Those who survived will be affected for life with deep physical and emotional scars. But we must not let these numbers discourage our efforts. They must serve as an impetus to strengthen our resolve to end and prevent grave violations against children. This report is a call to action to step up our work to better protect children in armed conflict and ensure they have a real chance to recover and thrive.”
In an earlier interview with the Catholic news site Aciafrica, the director described as an issue of “serious concern” the “prostitution, murder and recruitment of 11- and 12-year-old boys as soldiers.”
He said the actual numbers could be much worse, because the UN report is based on reported cases. He told Crux that “the actual scale will only be known once the UN has completed its investigation.”
It revealed that more than 50,000 people have been forced to flee their homes, 35,000 of them children under the age of 18. And many of them have no parents.
“They force them to have sex with adult men; they are being used for child prostitution.”
Viljoen later told Crux that abused children “will be scarred for life. They will have extensive emotional and mental damage. This is likely to last a lifetime, as there are almost no mental health centers in Cabo Delgado.”
He said that once responsibilities are established, the abusers should be sentenced to prison, as well as those they are supposed to supervise.
“However, it is unlikely that anything will happen if the perpetrators are members of the Frelimo party or high-ranking government officials. In all likelihood, some “scapegoats” will be singled out and prosecuted to create the impression that something is being done,” he told Crux.
He blamed the Mozambican government for doing so little to prevent the problem from escalating “to its current levels.” But he welcomed the UN’s plans to investigate.
“We welcome the report on the UN investigation into violations against children in Cabo Delgado,” he said.
“We are glad that the United Nations is investigating. However, it would be even better if the Mozambican government carried out daily investigations.”
His apprehension is based on the failure of the government and the UN to investigate and prosecute similar abuses reported in the area in the past.
The region has been in conflict since 2007 when frustrated youth began protesting government neglect despite the region’s enormous wealth. Their resentment was further fueled by the expulsion of artisanal miners from commercial mining concessions in early 2017.
It was a turning point that led to an armed revolt by militants known locally as al-Shabab (not the similarly named jihadist group in Somalia).
As insecurity in Mozambique poses a significant threat to regional security, integration and development, some 2,000 troops from the eight SADC nations known as the SADC Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) were deployed on 15 July 2021 ). Rwanda, which is not a member of SADC, had previously sent 1,000 soldiers to Cabo Delgado, following an agreement with Mozambique.
But the attacks have not abated, the last one taking place on July 13, causing hundreds of people to flee.
