Investigation Reports Journalists and Opposition Members Killed in Mozambique Since 2024 Elections

An international consortium of journalists reported that dozens of opposition members and journalists have been abducted or killed in Mozambique since the 2024 general elections. The reporting found that authorities have conducted few investigations into the violence.

The consortium documented involvement by figures linked to the ruling party Frelimo and Mozambican security forces in identifying and targeting government critics. The findings were published in two articles on 9 and 10 June 2026 by Zitamar, the Mozambican member of the consortium.

Government authorities have imposed an almost total media blackout on Cabo Delgado and the ongoing conflict there. Since the 2023 elections, five journalists have been killed and two others survived non-fatal poisonings. An opposition party filed a complaint with the Attorney General's Office documenting six cases involving "death squads" targeting opposition members.

One incident occurred on 19 October 2024 when unidentified gunmen killed an opposition leader and a party official in what authorities described as a targeted attack.

A reporter and editor of an online community newspaper was abducted on 7 January 2025 while traveling by bus in Pemba. Five men, two reportedly wearing police uniforms, removed him from the bus, beat him, and drove him away in an unmarked car, according to a UN report.

His fate remains unknown nearly a year and a half later. The reporting described how local block leaders affiliated with the ruling party monitor neighborhoods and report opposition activity to authorities. A block chief interviewed by the consortium confirmed that information about activists circulated between local structures and security forces.