EX.CL/717 (XX)
Page 159
Communication 361/08: J.E Zitha & P.J.L.Zitha (represented by Prof. Dr. Liesbeth
Zegveld) v Mozambique
Summary of Complaint
1.
The Communication is submitted by Prof. Dr. Liesbeth Zegveld (Attorney at Law)
(hereinafter called the Complainant) on behalf of Mr Jose Eugency Zitha (herein after
called first victim) and Prof. Pacelli L.J. Zitha (herein after called second victim). The
Respondent State is the Republic of Mozambique a State party to the African Charter on
Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Charter or the Charter)57.
2.
Mr. Jose Eugency Zitha was a citizen of Mozambique, born on 15 April 1939 in
Magude, Mozambique and lived in Matola. Prior to his arrest and detention on 26
October 1974, he was a medical student at the University of Lourenco Marques in
Mozambique, where he was enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine from 1968 and 1974.
3.
The second victim, Prof. Pacelli L.J. Zitha, the son of the first victim, is a citizen of
France, born on 19 October 1961 in Mozambique. He is currently living in The
Netherlands and by profession, he is a Professor of Oil and Gas Production with the
Delft University of Technology.
4.
It is alleged that on 26 October 1974, the first victim was requested by the
Minister of Home Affairs of the Transition Government of Mozambique58, Mr. Armando
Guebuza, to join a meeting of the members of the grupos dinamisadores. He was taken
to the meeting in a military vehicle, accompanied by armed FRELIMO59 soldiers. When
he entered the meeting room, under the escort of heavily armed militia, he was
humiliated and accused of being a betrayer.
5.
It is alleged that Mr Guebuza ordered his arrest and detention at the head
quarters of FRELIMO Armed Forces in Boane. He was not informed about the reasons
for his arrest. His family, including his son, the second victim, were not informed nor
notified of these events. After five days of thorough search by second victim and his
family, they discovered that the first victim was detained at the prison of Boane.
6.
A few weeks later, the first victim suddenly disappeared from the prison in Boane.
After a few days the second victim found out that his father, the first victim, had been
transferred to the former Cadeia Judiciaria in Maputo. Around the beginning of 1975, the
second victim met the first victim for the last time at Cadeia Judiciaria in Maputo. After
that visit, the first victim suddenly disappeared from the prison in Maputo.
7.
The Complainant alleges that an article from the Tanzania Daily News of 23 April
1975 indicated that the first victim was paraded in public on 21 April 1975 at the
57
58
59
Mozambique ratified the African Charter on 22 February 1989.
The Transition Government of Mozambique was formed after the Lusaka Agreement in 1974
The ruling party of Mozambique.