US embassy cable - 05MAPUTO746

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MAPUTO 000746 
 
SIPDIS 
STATE FOR DS/IP/AF, DS/IP/ITA, INL/AAE 
POSTS FOR RSO, PSO 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC 
SUBJECT: MAPUTO EMPLOYEES ASSAULTED 
 
1. On May 31, 2005, at approximately 1845, one AmEmb Maputo 
AmCit Diplomat and one FSN, were assaulted at gunpoint one 
block from the US Mission Public Affairs Office building and 
half a block from a local police station. The incident 
occurred when AmCit had given the FSN a ride home. After they 
pulled up to the residence, both employees got out of the car 
to retrieve some items from the trunk. As they did so, a 
vehicle pulled up and two armed men got out and robbed the 
victims at gunpoint. Personal items, money, identity 
documents, a Mozambican passport, and cell phones were taken. 
The victims reacted as they have been instructed, complied 
with the direction of the assailants, and were left at the 
scene unharmed. The victims were able to call Post One, but 
insufficient information was obtained about the victim's 
location. The RSO and ARSO responded to the Embassy and 
shortly thereafter, the two victims arrived. Statements were 
taken and the AmCit drove home, while the RSO and ARSO drove 
the FSN home. When the RSO and ARSO arrived at the FSN's 
home, and the scene of the crime, four "guards" were present 
in front of or near the residence. Three were individual 
private guards not associated with a company, and one was an 
employee of Alfa Security company. The guards were questioned 
about the incident, but all stated that they did not see 
anything and did not even know that an assault had occurred 
until after it happened. None of the guards was able to 
provide any descriptive information about the assailants or 
the vehicle used. However, the guards stated that assaults 
such as this were a common occurrence on this street. 
Although there were four guards at the residence when the RSO 
arrived, all of these guards were conveniently absent during 
the time which the crime occurred, only 30 minutes prior. 
 
2. The RSO and ARSO then proceeded to the police station that 
services the diplomatic community to file an incident report. 
After fifteen minutes of preparation on the part of the 
officer, five of which involved finding a suitable chair for 
him sit in, the officer began the police report. During this 
time, one of the suspected perpetrators called the RSO's 
phone. This occurred due to the fact that the RSO had called 
the FSN's and AmCit's phones after she heard of the incident 
and now the current holder of the phone was returning the 
call. The ARSO spoke to the suspect in Portuguese using the 
guise of a person dialing a wrong number, but still trying to 
maintain a conversation. The person on the phone provided a 
name which was passed on to the officer. During this time, 
the officer seemed confused and tried to ignore a situation 
which was beyond "writing a report". The following morning, 
the RSO FSN Investigator accompanied the FSN to the police 
station to complete the report. 
 
3. Since the incident occurred, some of the identity items 
were recovered by Mozambican citizens who contacted the 
Embassy, including the passport and the Mozambican issued 
diplomatic identity card. 
 
4. A security notice was sent out mission-wide to alert 
employees of the incident and remind them of the proper 
course of action if one were faced with a similar situation. 
 
5. RSO Comment: The after-action on the part of the police is 
yet another example of the ineptitude and inability of the 
local police to effectively combat crime and investigate and 
react to a crime after the fact. Although the local police 
regularly complain about a lack of resources to do their job, 
in this situation they did not even pick up the phone to 
follow up on the leads provided. Even though the RSO and ARSO 
offered to transport them or an investigative team to the 
scene to follow up with the guards, the police refused. The 
police were actually reluctant to take a report of the 
incident when they learned that the RSO and ARSO were not the 
victims of the crime, but were simply reporting the crime. It 
is important to note that the RSO office has a good 
relationship with this police station and the fault does not 
lie with officers, but with the training and operational 
management. This is but one of many examples that the RSO 
office has encountered with the lack of the local authorities 
abilities to investigate crime, even though AmEmb Maputo 
regularly sends local police commanders to ILEA training in 
Gaborone and New Mexico (the commandant of this particular 
police station returned from New Mexico one month prior). It 
is uncertain if the elements of training at ILEA are not 
being passed down to the working level, or if there are 
cultural barriers preventing a shift in the operational 
mindset of the police and empowerement of street officers. 
Several weeks ago the daughter of the President was the 
victim of an assault at a local caf, during which her 
bodyguard was critically wounded. Unlike other assualt cases, 
the police moved quickly to apprehend the three assailants, 
demonstrating their capabilities when they are properly 
motivated. Although the recent upswing in crime has been met 
with the response of the Policia da Republica de Mocambique 
(PRM) starting a task force of special officers deployed at 
night on motorcycles (the PRM recently received a donation of 
approximately 300 motorcycles from the Chinese government - 
actual quantity yet to be verified), the effectiveness of 
this force has yet to been seen. 
La Lime