COMMUNITY COURT REINTRODUCES DEATH PENALTY

Although the death penalty was abolished in Mozambique in 1990, a Community Court in the central province of Manica sentenced a man to be beaten to death for the alleged theft of an ox-cart.To make matters even worse, the court took advice, not from any lawyer or other person recognised under Mozambican law, but from a witch-doctor.According to a report on Radio Mozambique on Thursday, the Community Court in Chirere locality, in the Manica district of Mossurize, after a divining session organised by the witch-doctor, ordered the suspect to be tied to a tree and beaten. He was thrashed until his back was broken – which the Radio described as the cause of death.When the complaint about the stolen cart was made, the court did not seek any assistance from the police. Instead, with the full backing of the head of the Chirere locality, Shupai Samissone, they asked the witch-doctor to cast a spell to find who was guilty.When news of this gruesome execution reached the Mossurize district administrator, Luis Chimoio, he ordered an investigation, which culminated in the arrest of Samissone.Samissone was detained, Chimoio said, because his duty was to prevent the lynching. Instead, by authorizing the use of sorcery by the court, he had contributed to the murder of the alleged thief. ”The investigation is still under way”, said Chimoio, “We want to find out the mentors and real causes of the crime. The judges of the community court and their assistants will have to face justice, but they are not currently detained”.