NGO denounces ‘mutilation of corpses’ during construction of new airport in Gaza province

Africa-Press – Mozambique. The non-governmental organisation (NGO) Centro Terra Viva on Wednesday denounced alleged cases of “mutilation of corpses” during the transfer of family graves in a space hosting the construction of a new airport in Gaza province, southern Mozambique.

Construction work on the airport, which began 2018, covers an area of about 140 hectares in Chongane district, a space that used to host some graves of families living around the project.

“To move forward with the process of building this airport, it was necessary to transfer the family graves that were in the area covered and, due to the size of the coffins acquired for the process, at least seven bodies that were buried there were amputated,” Samanta Remane, director of policy and legislation programmes at the Terra Viva Centre, told Lusa.

According to the source from the Mozambican NGO, the amputation was done in the presence of the families, but by unskilled people, who reportedly used machetes, saws and other instruments to mutilate arms and legs of the corpses, so that they could fit into the new coffins.

“Some were people from the community who were hired to cut off the lower and upper limbs of the bodies of these families. This is a situation that creates trauma,” she stated.

The exhumation of the bodies was in charge of a commission set up locally by the government, although it had also appointed a coroner and an official from Gaza’s Provincial Social Welfare Directorate.

“A situation as delicate as the exhumation of bodies cannot be left to the responsibility of community members, who are not experts on the subject,” Samanta Remane said, adding that the organisation asked in subsequent meetings with the authorities for the creation of a commission of enquiry to investigate the case, but the provincial government did not do so.

In total, at least 400 families were affected by the airport construction project, described by the Mozambican head of state, Filipe Nyusi, as an infrastructure that will “promote the development of the local and regional economy,” placing Gaza province in the “air transport network.”

For the Terra Viva Centre, which has been following the process since construction began in 2018, the families affected by the project have not yet been compensated.

“In this process, communities have lost their machambas [agricultural fields] and have not yet been compensated. According to the legislation, compensation should be paid before the communities lose their spaces, which has not happened”.

According to figures released this month by the Provincial Infrastructure Service of Gaza province, 18 million meticais (239,000 euros) are needed for the compensation, and the government is seeking the amount.

The Chongoene airport, with a runway of 1,800 metres, is budgeted at US$75 million (€63 million), provided by Chinese Exim Bank, according to data advanced by the Presidency in 2018.