US embassy cable - 05MAPUTO322

UNCLAS MAPUTO 000322 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
AF/S FOR HTREGER, AF/PD FOR RDANCE, DRL FOR MORONA 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PREL, MZ 
SUBJECT: MOZAMBIQUE: HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT PROVOKES MOSTLY 
FAVORABLE COMMENT BY GOVERNMENT AND MEDIA 
 
 
1. (U) The recently released 2004 Human Rights Report chapter 
on Mozambique has received mostly favorable attention in the 
local press and provoked considerable discussion in the media 
over human rights concerns in the country. On March 4 the 
state-run daily Noticias ran a story over an interview given 
by the Attorney General, Joaquim Madeira, on his reaction to 
the Human Rights Report. Madeira admitted that there were 
certain "weaknesses" on the part of authorities in 
administering Mozambique's justice system, though he 
attributed some of this to lack of resources. He said, also, 
that the lax attitude of the Chissano era was partly to 
blame, though he noted that in the new Guebuza government 
authorities would have to behave responsibly. Several 
prominent local politicians contacted by the newspaper later 
in the week affirmed the accuracy of the reports' 
conclusions, and called for more action on the part of the 
government and the populace to respect human rights. 
 
2. (SBU) The one sour note came from Paul Fauvet, a 
naturalized Mozambican editor of the government news service, 
who wrote a condemnatory article entitled "Omission and 
Incompetence." Starting his piece by blasting the U.S. over 
the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, he then took potshots at the 
Mozambique report for not detailing sources and, in his view, 
for unsubstantiated or exaggerated claims. We've reviewed 
the report carefully, as a result, and feel comfortable that 
Fauvet failed to highlight any real shortcomings in the 
document or in our work. Last year Fauvet made similar 
complaints. 
 
3. (U) Comment: The government and media are largely 
appreciative of the report's findings, and discussion 
prompted by the report invariably ends by concluding that 
much more should be done. We will use the report in upcoming 
meetings with government officials to urge more action on 
human rights concerns. 
LALIME