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beginning of this year the Portuguese army has started to use chemical weapons in the liberated areas of Cabo Delgado with the aim of destroying the people's means of subsistance. The testimony of our militant, Atanasio Saidi, an agricultural technician, emphasises that the following crops were affected and destroyed: cassava, sweet potatoes, bananas, pawpaws and pumpkins. This is confirmed by an article which appeared in the London Sunday Times on 9th July, 1972. According to the very precise details given in the article, the herbicide used is Convolvotox which is produced in South Africa, and it was sprayed by South African planes protected by Portuguese aircraft. This illustrates the increased collusion between the racist powers of Southern Africa against our people's right to life and freedom. Through you, we address an urgent appeal to the United Nations Organisation and to world opinion in order that they do everything in their power to stop these geno- cidal practices which defy the fundamental principles and international conventions aimed at protecting human life and which can only be termed as a scorched earth policy, if not ecocide. Finally, we wish to draw your attention to the legalised and institutionalised form terrorism has taken on within the Portuguese army in Mozambique. Indeed, despite the detailed testimonies on the crimes committed by the Portuguese army, testimonies not only from our people, but also from objective foreign observers, no measures have ever been taken against those responsible for the crimes. On the contrary, it is those who protest against them who are thrown into prison. This happened recently to four priests (2 Portuguese, the Rev. Fathers Sampaio and Mello, and 2 Spaniards), who are now being tried by a Portuguese military court in Mozambique for having denounced the crimes of the Portuguese army at Mkum- bura. The 2 Spanish priests were arrested in Rhodesia by the police of that country and transferred to Mozambique. In this connection we recall the overwhelming evidence given by the White Fathers Missionary Congregation who decided to leave Mozambique in May last year, appalled by the crimes and tortures inflicted on Mozambicans. We also wish to voice our indignation over the abominable atrocities committed by the Portuguese army. It was the South African paper, The Star, which reported in its issue of 6th November, 1971, that in Tete Province Portuguese soldiers forced mothers to crush their Another testimony A 31-year-old Portuguese missionary, who was given the choice of leaving Mozambique or going to prison there, has arrived in Rome with a documented report of massacres, torture, and concentration camps, in the province of Tete, where he served for two years. Father Luis's report, which deals only with «about one-tenth of the province of Tete,» in Northern Mozambique, gives the dates and in most cases the names of the 92 people killed by Portuguese troops between May, 1971 and March 20 of this year. He confirms that, between September 3 and 9, 1971, «the Rhodesian Army came to the aid of the Portuguese in Mucumbura massacring 18 people and then burning their bodies.» Five of the victims were men, whom he names. Four were women, including one who was pregnant, and the others were children. His report describes in detail the forms of torture used by his fellow Portuguese. He children in mortars. The same paper also reports that the Portuguese ordered civilians to leave their villages and the following day, when they were on their way to another place, they were attacked by helicopters and savagely massacred. None of these facts has ever given rise to a denial, an enquiry or a trial, which proves that far from being isolated acts, they are well and truly a systematic and deliberate practice. In any event, one does not have to look far to find the justification for these acts. It is sufficient to put the words of the Commander- in-Chief of the Portuguese army in Mozambique, General Kaulza de Arriaga. In his «Lessons of Strategy)) from the High Command courses 1966 - 1967 Vol. XII, he declared that «the Portuguese strategy in Africa should be aimed at the realisation of an equilibrium between the black and white population)). Within this perspective, after having hailed ((the exportation of African slaves to Brazil as a good thing», he explains the present aims of the Portuguese action: ((On the one hand the growth of the white population; on the other, the limitation of the black population)). He couldn't be more explicit.. . Before introducing our witnesses, we wish, on behalf of our people and our movement to reaffirm our belief in the principles of respect for human life, freedom and justice between men, which constitutes the corner-stone of our political line and our activity and, we believe, says that apart from prolonged physical torture during interrogation, castration and mutilations are common in the prisons. lather L.uis came under the authorities' eye when he was one v>i' two missionaries chosen by an assembly of 36 priests and nuns in his province to tour other missions in Mozambique to inform them o\' the situation in the nortli of thc country. He says the new barbed-wire enclosed compounds in Tete called «aldeamentos», are nothing but concentration camps and that soon all Africans will be enclosed in them, with about 250 people to a camp. Permission to leave can be obtained in theory, but it is not easy in practice. When the guerrillas cause any trouble in the Tete area, thc Portuguese seize 10 to 20 people from thc camps and torture them - or worse - as reprisal. M THK GUARDIAN, Aug. 5, 1972 " of the existence and development of the world community itself. Through you, we also appeal to world opinion to intensify its activity to safeguard these essential values, in order to help us in our struggle for the liquidation of Portuguese colonial rule and for the freedom and independence of our people. We also wish, through you, to convey to the Human Rights Commission our desire to see denunciations that you have undertaken, develop and become more sustained in order to achieve the systematic and powerful denunciation of the crimes to which the Portuguese colonialists are increasingly resorting. We would also like the attention of the Commission and consequently the mandate of its Ad Hoc groups, to bear more precisely on the acts of collective repression, massacres and war crimes in general committed by the Portuguese repressive forces. We think that in this way you are contributing to stay the criminal hands of the colonial army and lessen the suffering of our people. We also wish that arrangements be made to enable us to contact the Commission under any urgent circumstances which require its intervention, in addition to the contacts already established, which are certainly fruitful, but still sporadic and sometimes too few and far between when it comes to urgent situations. In conclusion, we wish to reaffirm, despite all the suffering and sacrifices, our certainty in thc final victory. 10
Object Description
Title | Mozambique revolution, no. 52 (1972 July-Sept.) (copy 2) |
Description | Contents: Editorial - The opening of a new front (p. 1); We value Africa's aid - FRELIMO at the conference of East and Central African states (p. 3); War review - Developments over the past 12 months (p. 4); FRELIMO's women envoys - In Africa, Europe and Asia (p. 7); The crimes of colonialism - Testimony to the un human rights commission (p. 9); Visitors in free Mozambique - British solidarity group; Canadian lecturer; Italian delegation; Bulgarian doctor (p.11); A soldier escapes from Caetano's war - A Portuguese deserter speaks (p.17); FRELIMO's new recruits - Mozambicans desert the colonial army and join FRELIMO (p.18); O.A.U. Secretary-General visits FRELIMO (p.19); War communique - Latest report from the front (p. 20); Economic development in the liberated areas - Report to the economic commission for Africa (p. 22). This is an issue reprinted and distributed by the LSM Information Center in Richmond, Canada. |
Subject (lcsh) |
Nationalism -- Mozambique Self-determination, National Mozambique -- History Portugal -- Politics and government -- 1933-1974 |
Geographic Subject (Country) | Mozambique |
Geographic Subject (Continent) | Africa |
Geographic Coordinates | -18.6696821,35.5273474 |
Coverage date | 1964/1972 |
Creator | Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) |
Publisher (of the Original Version) | Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO). Department of Information |
Place of Publication (of the Origianal Version) | Dar Es Salaam, U.R. of Tanzania |
Publisher (of the Digital Version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
Date issued | 1972-07/1972-09 |
Type |
texts images |
Format | 28 p. |
Format (aat) | newsletters |
Language | English |
Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
Part of collection | Emerging Nationalism in Portuguese Africa, 1959-1965 |
Part of subcollection | Mozambique Collection |
Rights | The University of Southern California has licensed the rights to this material from the Aluka initiative of Ithaka Harbors, Inc., a non-profit Delaware corporation whose address is 151 East 61st Street, New York, NY 10021 |
Physical access | Original archive is at the Boeckmann Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies. Send requests to address or e-mail given. Phone (213) 821-2366; fax (213) 740-2343. |
Repository Name | USC Libraries Special Collections |
Repository Address | Doheny Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189 |
Repository Email | specol@usc.edu |
Filename | CENPA-355 |
Description
Title | CENPA-355~12 |
Filename | CENPA-355~12.tiff |
Full text | beginning of this year the Portuguese army has started to use chemical weapons in the liberated areas of Cabo Delgado with the aim of destroying the people's means of subsistance. The testimony of our militant, Atanasio Saidi, an agricultural technician, emphasises that the following crops were affected and destroyed: cassava, sweet potatoes, bananas, pawpaws and pumpkins. This is confirmed by an article which appeared in the London Sunday Times on 9th July, 1972. According to the very precise details given in the article, the herbicide used is Convolvotox which is produced in South Africa, and it was sprayed by South African planes protected by Portuguese aircraft. This illustrates the increased collusion between the racist powers of Southern Africa against our people's right to life and freedom. Through you, we address an urgent appeal to the United Nations Organisation and to world opinion in order that they do everything in their power to stop these geno- cidal practices which defy the fundamental principles and international conventions aimed at protecting human life and which can only be termed as a scorched earth policy, if not ecocide. Finally, we wish to draw your attention to the legalised and institutionalised form terrorism has taken on within the Portuguese army in Mozambique. Indeed, despite the detailed testimonies on the crimes committed by the Portuguese army, testimonies not only from our people, but also from objective foreign observers, no measures have ever been taken against those responsible for the crimes. On the contrary, it is those who protest against them who are thrown into prison. This happened recently to four priests (2 Portuguese, the Rev. Fathers Sampaio and Mello, and 2 Spaniards), who are now being tried by a Portuguese military court in Mozambique for having denounced the crimes of the Portuguese army at Mkum- bura. The 2 Spanish priests were arrested in Rhodesia by the police of that country and transferred to Mozambique. In this connection we recall the overwhelming evidence given by the White Fathers Missionary Congregation who decided to leave Mozambique in May last year, appalled by the crimes and tortures inflicted on Mozambicans. We also wish to voice our indignation over the abominable atrocities committed by the Portuguese army. It was the South African paper, The Star, which reported in its issue of 6th November, 1971, that in Tete Province Portuguese soldiers forced mothers to crush their Another testimony A 31-year-old Portuguese missionary, who was given the choice of leaving Mozambique or going to prison there, has arrived in Rome with a documented report of massacres, torture, and concentration camps, in the province of Tete, where he served for two years. Father Luis's report, which deals only with «about one-tenth of the province of Tete,» in Northern Mozambique, gives the dates and in most cases the names of the 92 people killed by Portuguese troops between May, 1971 and March 20 of this year. He confirms that, between September 3 and 9, 1971, «the Rhodesian Army came to the aid of the Portuguese in Mucumbura massacring 18 people and then burning their bodies.» Five of the victims were men, whom he names. Four were women, including one who was pregnant, and the others were children. His report describes in detail the forms of torture used by his fellow Portuguese. He children in mortars. The same paper also reports that the Portuguese ordered civilians to leave their villages and the following day, when they were on their way to another place, they were attacked by helicopters and savagely massacred. None of these facts has ever given rise to a denial, an enquiry or a trial, which proves that far from being isolated acts, they are well and truly a systematic and deliberate practice. In any event, one does not have to look far to find the justification for these acts. It is sufficient to put the words of the Commander- in-Chief of the Portuguese army in Mozambique, General Kaulza de Arriaga. In his «Lessons of Strategy)) from the High Command courses 1966 - 1967 Vol. XII, he declared that «the Portuguese strategy in Africa should be aimed at the realisation of an equilibrium between the black and white population)). Within this perspective, after having hailed ((the exportation of African slaves to Brazil as a good thing», he explains the present aims of the Portuguese action: ((On the one hand the growth of the white population; on the other, the limitation of the black population)). He couldn't be more explicit.. . Before introducing our witnesses, we wish, on behalf of our people and our movement to reaffirm our belief in the principles of respect for human life, freedom and justice between men, which constitutes the corner-stone of our political line and our activity and, we believe, says that apart from prolonged physical torture during interrogation, castration and mutilations are common in the prisons. lather L.uis came under the authorities' eye when he was one v>i' two missionaries chosen by an assembly of 36 priests and nuns in his province to tour other missions in Mozambique to inform them o\' the situation in the nortli of thc country. He says the new barbed-wire enclosed compounds in Tete called «aldeamentos», are nothing but concentration camps and that soon all Africans will be enclosed in them, with about 250 people to a camp. Permission to leave can be obtained in theory, but it is not easy in practice. When the guerrillas cause any trouble in the Tete area, thc Portuguese seize 10 to 20 people from thc camps and torture them - or worse - as reprisal. M THK GUARDIAN, Aug. 5, 1972 " of the existence and development of the world community itself. Through you, we also appeal to world opinion to intensify its activity to safeguard these essential values, in order to help us in our struggle for the liquidation of Portuguese colonial rule and for the freedom and independence of our people. We also wish, through you, to convey to the Human Rights Commission our desire to see denunciations that you have undertaken, develop and become more sustained in order to achieve the systematic and powerful denunciation of the crimes to which the Portuguese colonialists are increasingly resorting. We would also like the attention of the Commission and consequently the mandate of its Ad Hoc groups, to bear more precisely on the acts of collective repression, massacres and war crimes in general committed by the Portuguese repressive forces. We think that in this way you are contributing to stay the criminal hands of the colonial army and lessen the suffering of our people. We also wish that arrangements be made to enable us to contact the Commission under any urgent circumstances which require its intervention, in addition to the contacts already established, which are certainly fruitful, but still sporadic and sometimes too few and far between when it comes to urgent situations. In conclusion, we wish to reaffirm, despite all the suffering and sacrifices, our certainty in thc final victory. 10 |
Archival file | Volume23/CENPA-355~12.tiff |