Mozambican Civil War

=== FRELIMO ===

FRELIMO soldiers also committed serious war crimes during the civil war.<ref>[https://www.hrw.org/reports/1990/WR90/AFRICA.BOU-07.htm#P403_90345 Mozambique] HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH WORLD REPORT 1990</ref> FRELIMO forced people into its employment and conscription periods often extended beyond what the law allowed. Living in the communal villages became mandatory in certain provinces. However, in some areas, cultural norms required households to live at some distance apart from each other. Therefore, many people preferred living in the countryside despite the risk of RENAMO attacks.<ref name="priory1">{{cite web|url=http://priory.com/psych/traumacult.htm |title=War Traumas in Central Mozambique |publisher=Priory.com |date=10 February 2007 |access-date=4 March 2012}}</ref> Thus people would often be forced into the communal villages at gunpoint by FRELIMO soldiers or their Zimbabwean allies. As a local recalls:<blockquote>I never wanted to leave my old residence and come to the communal village. Even with the war, I wanted to stay where I had my land and granaries. Ever since a long time ago, we never lived with so many people together in the same place. Everyone must live in his own yard. The Komeredes [Zimbabwean soldiers] came to my house and said that I should leave my house and go to the communal village where there were a lot of people. I tried to refuse and then they set fire to my house, my granaries, and my fields. They threatened me with death and they told me and my family to go forward. Inside the communal village we lived like pigs. It was like a yard for pigs. We were so many people living close to each other. If someone slept with his wife everyone could listen to what they were doing. When we went to the fields or to the cemeteries to bury the dead, the soldiers had to come behind and in front of us. When the women went to the river to wash themselves, the soldiers had to go too and they usually saw our women naked. Everything was a complete shame inside that corral. Usually to eat, we had to depend on humanitarian aid, but we never knew when it would arrive. It was terrible; that is why many people used to run away from the communal village to their old residences where RENAMO soldiers were, although it was also terrible there.<ref name="priory1" /></blockquote>Rape also became a widespread practice of FRELIMO soldiers. However, it was far less frequent and lacked the systematic nature of sexual violence perpetrated by RENAMO.<ref>Igreja 2007, p. 150.</ref>

As part of a series of measures following independence, FRELIMO introduced "re-education camps" to which petty criminals, political opponents, and alleged anti-social elements such as prostitutes were sent, oftentimes without trial due to a lack of judges. In 1980, President Machel visited numerous camps and ordered the release of about 2,000 detainees and closure of numerous camps, citing human rights abuses.<ref>Jay Ross, "Mozambican Reeducation Camps Raise Rights Questions", ''The Washington Post'' (United States of America), 7 May 1980</ref><ref>"Machel's Speech on Unjust Detentions in Reeducation Camps" Summary of World Broadcasts, 6 October 1981</ref> These were later described by foreign observers as "infamous centers of torture and death."<ref>Peter Worthington, "Machel Through Rose-Tinted Specs," ''Financial Post'' (Canada), November 1, 1986.</ref> It is estimated that 30,000 inmates died in these camps.<ref>Geoff Hill, "A Crying Field to Remember," ''The Star'' (South Africa), November 13, 2007.</ref> The government was also accused of executing thousands of people while trying to extend its control throughout the country.<ref>Hoile, David. ''MOZAMBIQUE: A NATION IN CRISIS''. Lexington, Georgia: The Claridge Press, 1989. p 89, 27-29</ref><ref>Katz, Susan. "Mozambique: a leader's legacy: economic failure, growing rebellion." ''INSIGHT'' (10 November 1986): 28-30. p 86, 29</ref>