Country
Modern slavery in Mozambique
9 documented cases recorded in Mozambique, 2007–2010. Locations are deliberately generalized to protect survivors.
Ressano Garcia Village, Ressano Garcia District, Maputo Province, Mozambique
A woman tried to smuggle the head and genitalia of a 10 year old boy across the border, hidden inside a plastic bag within a cooler full of food.
Maputo, Mozambique, Mozambique
"Over the past three weeks City Press visited Maputo twice to infiltrate the syndicate. On our first visit the syndicate paraded six Chinese women (four had already been sold) and three Mozambican women for sale for between R5000 and R10000. When we returned last week only one Mozambican woman was still for sale. The others had already been brought to South Africa. The syndicate members said they could find more Mozambicans in a few days and that two Chinese women were arriving in the country that Saturday. We provided this information, with more details, to the police during a meeting with a top Home Affairs official. Three Chinese men and a Chinese woman were arrested at the airport on Saturday morning as they entered the country. A second woman was collected by a local man and they managed to evade the police. The four arrested are all allegedly linked to the trafficking syndicate. This week another Mozambican, a bank official, was also arrested for alleged links to the syndicate. All eight suspects are in custody and are being questioned."
Maputo, Mozambique, Mozambique
Had 15 children locked in a house, lacking proper conditions for children to live. The trafficker claimed that he was running a house for religious instruction, though it is not registered with the government.
Ressano Garcia Village, Ressano Garcia District, Maputo Province, Mozambique
When border police searched a woman’s bags, she got upset. The police then searched further and found adult male genitalia hidden within the bags of manioc.
Ressano Garcia Village, Ressano Garcia District, Maputo Province, Mozambique
A woman attempted to cross the Mozambique/South Africa border with several children’s heads inside plastic bags in the car trunk, hidden under capulanas (traditional clothing, ed.).
Magude, Mozambique, Mozambique
Interview with the Police Officer in Xinavane District, Maputo Province LDH: We would like to talk about the child’s case. Police: [...] they had found a body of a child in the Tsatsimbe River. [...] It was late afternoon. We had some difficulties like transportation, [...] we went there and […] we saw that it was a body of a child. The body was taken from the water […]. Then we tried to follow the story and we found out that it was a boy that was going to a house to watch a movie. When he went back home and entered his house, someone, who was already following him, grabbed him and pulled him out of the house. He killed him and threw his body into the water. [...] LDH: Was that when you arrived there to see the body? Police: Yes. […] We saw that the body had been opened, didn’t have the heart and didn’t have almost all the organs. [...] Then the Police worked and managed to arrest a suspect. LDH2: Regarding the child’s case, do you know the destiny of the organs? The reason why they extracted the organs? Police: No. We didn’t find the organs. They were already gone.
Ressano Garcia Village, Ressano Garcia District, Maputo Province, Mozambique
A woman tried to smuggle female and male genitalia which were wrapped up in matapa leaves across the South African/Mozambique border. She was caught on the South African side of the border.
Ressano Garcia Village, Ressano Garcia District, Maputo Province, Mozambique
A couple (male 40, female 30) attempted to go across the border with the head and the genitalia of an adult man and the ribs of an adult. They hid them within three bags of vegetables.
Nampula City, Mozambique, Mozambique
http://www.ldh.org.mz/index.php/en/projects-and-research/trafficking-body-parts The LDH (Liga Moçambicana dos Direitos Humanos or Human Right’s League, Mozambique) conducted an interview in Nampula City with the family of a victim. The victim, “Mary” disappeared on a Friday in March, 2007. Her family found her uniform and scarf hanging on a shrub and discovered her body in the bushes nearby. The body was severely mutilated and had started decaying. It is believed the killers grabbed her while she was walking on the road, carried her about 300 meters inside the bushes, cut her throat, opened her stomach and took her genital organs, eyes, heart, tongue and breasts. The family has no opinion about the motives for this murder. Excerpt from the Interview: LDH1: And afterwards, did you have any information about the person that did that, was he or she caught?? Victim’s Brother-in-Law: We had no information.