Wayzata World Factbook 1996/The World Factbook - 1996 Edition - Wayzata Technology (3079) (1996).iso/pc/text/humanrts/mozambiq.txu

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TITLE: MOZAMBIQUE HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE: FEBRUARY 1995



Section 3  Respect for Political Rights:  The Right of Citizens
           to Change Their Government

During 1994 the President, the FRELIMO leadership, and the
Council of Ministers continued to control policymaking and to
influence implementation of the Rome Peace Accords.  The 1992
Accords established a timetable for elections and an
independent monitoring system to ensure their fairness.  On
October 27-29, Mozambicans freely exercised for the first time
their right to vote in multiparty elections.  President
Chissano and FRELIMO won the presidential and legislative
elections, gaining 53 percent of the presidential vote and 129
seats in the 250-seat National Assembly.  RENAMO defeated
FRELIMO in 5 of the country's 10 provinces, including in the
2 most populous provinces, Zambezia and Nampula.  Dhlakama took
33.7 percent of the vote, and RENAMO won 112 legislative
seats.  A third party coalition, the Democratic Union, won the
remaining 9 seats.  While RENAMO charged that the Government
had engaged in ballot-rigging, Dhlakama accepted the outcome,
and the U.N. and other observers declared the election results
free and fair.

While there are no legal restrictions hindering women's
involvement in the political process, cultural factors have
inhibited women's participation and advancement.  At year's
end, there was one female minister (for Coordination and Social
Action) and four female vice ministers in the Government.  The
21-member National Elections Commission included 2 women to
oversee the elections.  Of the 250 newly elected National
Assembly deputies, 62 are women (48 of 129 for FRELIMO, 13 of
112 for RENAMO, and 1 of 9 for the Democratic Union.

Section 4  Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
           Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
           of Human Rights

There are no legal obstacles to the formation of local human
rights groups, and two groups formed in 1993 continued to
operate throughout the year.  The Mozambican League for Human
Rights focuses particularly on the rights of prisoners.  On at
least one occasion in 1994 it openly criticized the Government
in the press for judicial delays affecting prisoners' rights.

The Government was receptive to visits by international human
rights monitoring groups, including the ICRC and Amnesty
International.

Section 5  Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
           Disability, Language, or Social Status

The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, sex,
religion, or disability, but the Government does not ensure in
practice that citizens may exercise all these rights.

     Women

Despite constitutional prohibition of discrimination based on
sex, women suffer both legal and societal discrimination.
Mozambique has civil and commercial legal codes which predate
independence and frequently contradict each other and the
Constitution.  Among these laws are discriminatory measures
based on traditional African practices which limit widow's
inheritance rights, with estates reverting to the deceased
husband's relatives.

Women continue to be underrepresented in the professions and
have less access than males to educational institutions at all
levels.  Discrimination against women is most apparent in rural
areas where over 80 percent of the population live, and where
women are engaged mainly in subsistence farming and
child-rearing, with little opportunity for schooling or access
to health care.

According to medical and other sources, violence against women,
especially wife beating and rape, is fairly widespread in
Mozambique, especially in rural areas.  The police do not
normally intervene in domestic disputes, and cases are rarely
brought before the courts.  The Government has not specifically
addressed the issue of violence against women.  While rape can
theoretically be prosecuted in the courts, cultural pressures
would make it difficult for most women to do so.

The Justice Ministry and an NGO organization, the Association
of Women, Law, and Development (MULEIDE), which aims to promote
and defend the legal rights of women, are collaborating to
identify those outdated laws that conflict with rights granted
women by the 1990 Constitution.  However, at year's end MULEIDE
had not taken concrete action on the problems with the legal
code.  In addition to MULEIDE, a Zimbabwe-based group, Women in
Law and Development in Africa, opened a Mozambique chapter in
1994 to focus on women's legal rights.

     Children

The Government has not made children's rights and welfare a
priority.  It has made little attempt to reintegrate into
society the large numbers of child soldiers that served in the
military and RENAMO forces or alleviate the plight of the
increasing numbers of urban street children, many of whom were
orphaned by the war.  During the year, RENAMO began allowing
the ICRC and other NGO's greater access to children in its
custody, some of whom had been forced to be soldiers.  Of the
3,500 children who had been in RENAMO custody, approximately
500 had served as soldiers.  At year's end, all but a minority
of problem cases (where parents were no longer alive or could
not take their children back) had been resolved, and the ICRC
announced plans to close its operation.

     National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities

There is no systematic persecution or discrimination on the
basis of race, but the FRELIMO Government included at all
levels a disproportionate number of southerners, mostly from
the Shangaan ethnic group.  RENAMO leadership is predominantly
Shona-ethnic.  There is no indication that the conflict between
the FRELIMO Government and RENAMO was primarily motivated by
ethnicity, although ethnic and regional factors played some
role and explain some of the civil war violence.

     People with Disabilities

Although the Constitution expressly states that "disabled
citizens shall enjoy fully the rights enshrined in the
Constitution," the Government has made few resources available
to assist the disabled and has not passed legislation mandating
accessibility to public buildings or transportation.  In 1991
the Association of Mozambican Disabled (ADEMO) was created to
address the social and economic needs of the disabled.
Although poorly funded, ADEMO provides training, raises public
awareness of the need to integrate disabled persons into
society, and lobbies the Ministry of Labor to initiate
legislation to support the working rights of disabled persons.
The Electoral Law governing the first multiparty elections
specifically addressed the needs of disabled voters in the
polling booths by stipulating that sick or disabled persons
could go to the front of the line and be assisted by another
voter to vote if necessary.

Section 6  Worker Rights

     a.  The Right of Association

The Constitution specifies that all workers are free to join a
trade union.  A labor law passed in December 1991 further
protects workers' rights to organize and to engage in union
activity at their place of employment.  The legislation gave
existing unions the right to register independently from the
then FRELIMO-dominated Organization of Mozambican Workers
(OTM).  Three unions broke away from the OTM in 1992 and formed
the Organization of Free and Independent Unions in 1994.
While still considered to be under strong government influence,
at its third National Congress in May the OTM membership for
the first time elected its President and Secretary General;
previously both were government appointees.  New OTM statutes
call for independence from all influence by companies,
governments, political parties, and religious groups.

The Constitution explicitly provides workers with the right to
strike, with the exception of government employees, police,
military personnel, and employees of other essential services
(which include sanitation, firefighting, air traffic control,
health care, water, electricity, fuel, post office, and
telecommunications).  While no general strikes occurred in
1994, there were numerous wildcat strikes, with workers
protesting low or long overdue salaries.  A downturn in
Mozambique's industrial sector resulted in many factory
closures and employers unable to meet payrolls.  Clashes
between protesting workers and police sometimes turned violent,
as in May in Nampula at the Modemo Wood Company, when police
wounded several workers demanding their unpaid wages.

The 1991 Labor Law forbids retribution against strikers, the
hiring of substitute workers, or lockouts by employers.  There
were no known instances during 1994 of employer retribution
against striking workers.  Specific labor disputes are
generally arbitrated through ad hoc workers' committees,
formally recognized by the Government.

The Constitution and labor legislation provide unions with the
right to join and participate in international bodies.  The OTM
is a member of the Organization of African Trade Union Unity
and the Southern African Trade Union Coordinating Council.  In
1994 Parliament ratified four International Labor Organization
(ILO) conventions, including those on collective bargaining and
protection of trade union rights.

     b.  The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

The Labor Law protects workers' rights to organize and engage
in collective bargaining.  In practice, the Government
dominates the industrial sector through state-owned enterprises
and is deeply involved in the bargaining process, even though
in late 1991, the Government decreed that it would no longer
set all salary levels.  During the year the OTM, the three
independent unions, and business organizations met with the
Government to negotiate a "social pact," which resulted in an
increased minimum wage and the setting of voluntary price
ceilings on certain food staples.  The more activist
independent unions and, to a lesser extent the OTM, utilized
the threat of a general strike to compel the Government and
business organizations to establish a formal tripartite "social
pact" committee to negotiate labor issues.

The Labor Law expressly prohibits discrimination against
organized labor, although antiunion discrimination has not been
an issue since, until recently, unions were
government-controlled organizations.

While Mozambique has enacted legislation for the establishment
of export processing zones, no zones have been created.

     c.  Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

The law prohibits forced or compulsory labor, and there have
been no reports of such labor practices.

     d.  Minimum Age For Employment of Children

Child labor is regulated by the Ministry of Labor.  In the wage
economy, the minimum working age is 16.  Because of high adult
unemployment, few children are employed in regular wage
positions.  However, children commonly work on family farms or
in the urban informal sector, where they perform such tasks as
guarding cars, collecting scrap metal, or selling trinkets and
food in the streets.

     e.  Acceptable Conditions of Work

The Government sets minimum wage rates administratively.  The
minimum wage at year's end was less than $20 (117,500 meticais)
per month.  The Ministry of Labor is responsible for enforcing
the minimum rates in the private sector and the Ministry of
Finance in the public sector.  Violations of minimum wage rates
are usually investigated only after workers register a
complaint.  It is customary for workers to receive fringe
benefits such as transportation and food.  The minimum wage is
not considered sufficient to sustain an average urban worker's
family.  Many workers must turn to a second job, if available,
as well as work garden plots to survive.

The standard legal workweek is 44 hours, with a 24-hour rest
period stipulated.  In the small industrial sector, the
Government has enacted health and environmental laws to protect
workers.  On occasion, the Government has closed firms for
noncompliance with these laws, but the Ministry of Labor
enforces the laws ineffectively.