AFRICA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

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months, the authorities rarely reject applications from new associations. The law
forbids the organization of political parties based on religious, ethnic, or regional affiliation;
however, there were no reports of government attempts to impede the right
of association for political purposes during the year (see Section 2.c.).
c. Freedom of Religion.—The Constitution provides that all citizens have the freedom
to practice or not to practice a religion and gives religious denominations the
right to pursue their religious aims freely; the Government generally respects these
rights in practice.
The 1989 Law on Religious Freedom requires religious institutions and missionary
organizations to register with the Ministry of Justice, reveal their principal
source of funds, and provide the names of at least 500 followers in good standing.
No particular benefits or privileges are associated with the registration process, and
there were no reports that the Government refused to register any religious groups
during the year.
In January the Supreme Court acquitted an imam who was arrested in 1999 in
connection with a murder; in July the court found two other men guilty of the murder
and sentenced them to 9 and 16 years’’ imprisonment.
The law governing political parties specifically forbids religious parties from organizing,
and any party from sponsoring religious propaganda. In late 1998, the Independent
Party of Mozambique (PIMO), a predominantly Muslim group without representation
in Parliament, began arguing for the right of political parties to base
their activities on religious principles. The Government has tolerated PIMO’s activities,
although it has criticized the group. PIMO and some members of the legislature
argued that the Movimento Islamico, a parliamentary caucus of Muslims from
the ruling FRELIMO party, was tantamount to a religious party.
The Constitution gives religious groups the right to own and acquire assets, and
these institutions are allowed by law to own and operate schools. While virtually
all places of worship nationalized by the State in 1977 have been returned to the
respective religious organizations, the Catholic Church and certain Muslim communities
complained that some other properties such as schools, health centers and
residences unjustly remain in state hands and continued to press for their return.
In 1982 the Ministry of Justice founded the Directorate for Religious Affairs to address
the issue of the return of church properties. Government sources stated that
the majority of property was returned, with a few cases still being examined on an
individual basis, including two cases in Maputo. Provincial governments have the
final responsibility for establishing a process for property restoration. The return of
church property is perhaps most problematic when the facility is in use as a public
school, health clinic, or police station, as funds for construction of new facilities are
in short supply.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation.—The
Constitution provides for the right to live anywhere within national
territory and to travel within the country and abroad; however, at times authorities
infringed on these rights.
Police traffic checkpoints occasionally affected freedom of movement, sometimes
for security concerns. In an effort to reduce harassment and confiscation of travelers’
possessions at the borders, customs supervisors levied disciplinary fines and
fired abusive customs agents. In large cities, the police often stop foreign pedestrians
and order them to present original passports or resident papers, sometimes
refusing to accept notarized copies, and fining or detaining those who failed to show
proper documents (most persons do not like to carry the originals of documents due
to the risk of theft). Police also detained local citizens routinely for failure to carry
identity papers and demanded bribes (see Section 1.d.).
The law includes provisions for the granting of refugee and asylee status in accordance
with the provisions of the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. In cooperation with the U.N. High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR), the Government offered shelter to approximately 2,000 refugees,
the vast majority of whom came from other African countries. The UNHCR
planned to phase out its operations in the country during the year; however, the
increasing number of refugees, especially from the Great Lakes region, prevented
this from happening. By early August, there were approximately 400 refugees in the
Bobole camp in Maputo province. In August approximately 100 refugees from the
Bobole camp, most of them from the Great Lakes region, demonstrated outside the
UNHCR office and a foreign embassy for better living conditions, employment and
education opportunities, and resettlement abroad. The Government operates two
refugee centers near Maputo. Niassa and Tete provinces have scattered groups of
refugees, many of whom arrived from the Great Lakes region and had not settled
in existing refugee centers during the year. Due to the heightened conflict in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, there were additional refugees in Niassa prov-
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