Letter of allegation Concerning human-rights abuses in

the village of Cateme, Mozambique

Introduction

We, Justiça Ambiental are writing to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to

Adequate Housing, Mrs. Raquel Rolnik, due to the human rights abuses that

have occurred in the village of Cateme, Tete Province, Mozambique. Cateme is a

community that has been resettled by the Brazilian mining company Vale. The

way in which this resettlement has been organized has multiple flaws, in which it

severely degrades the living standard and violates basic human rights of the

population in Cateme. With the resettlement, their right to adequate housing,

food, access to water, access to means of subsistence, work, the right to culture,

freedom of expression and peaceful assembly have been violated. The

community has made several attempts of defending their rights by sending

numerous petitions, letters and notices to Vale and to the Mozambican

government, but the response has been weak. 716 families have been resettled

to Cateme from four different areas of their original village, Moatize.

Submitting the communication: The non-governmental organization Justiça

Ambiental (‘Environmental Justice, JA,) / Friends of the Earth Mozambique

The alleged victims: The resettled community of Cateme, District of Moatize in

Tete Province, Mozambique

Perpetrators: A) Vale mining company and B) the Government of Mozambique

Background

Vale gained the DUAT-certificate (Direito de Uso e Aproveitamento de Terra,

Right to Use and Profit from the Land) from the Mozambican government in

2007, and was finally approved by the government to start extracting coal in

Moatize in 2011. Vale occupied 22096 hectares of land. This area in which the

coal was going to be extracted was inhabited by 1365 families, which had to be

fully, or in part, resettled by the company. In 2009 the four “bairros” or

neighborhoods of Mithete, Bagamoyo, Chipanga and Malabwe were

subsequently relocated to either the village of 25 de Setembro, or Cateme. The

division of the communities was made due to the profession of the inhabitants.

People regarded by Vale as farmers were to be relocated to Cateme to get

access to farmland. The employed persons were going to live in 25 de Setembro,

in order to be able to maintain employment since the village is situated close to

the city of Moatize.

The resettlement process started in November of 2009, and 716 families were

moved to Cateme. Even before the resettlement started the affected

communities raised complaints on being insufficiently consulted by Vale. One

critique that was forwarded was that Vale only addressed the male Community

leaders through their negotiations. Thus, the women have been excluded from

the negotiating-processes and their needs have been neglected. Since women

are considered the largest group of users of the land, their participation in such a

negotiation-process is essential.

The hardships experienced by the resettled community in Cateme since 2009 are

extensive. The machambas (farmland) that Vale provided in Cateme are highly

infertile and unproductive. The lack of access to arable land consequently leads

to poverty and threatens the food security of the community. The access to

potable water is not sufficient in amount, and there are problems of shortage

during times when the electricity is out of order in Cateme. The houses are

constructed in a poor manner without adequate foundations and the walls have

cracks, hence it rains inside the houses. A majority of the people that we spoke

to in Cateme said that there has been a loss of living space with their new

houses, which puts constraints on the way the families manage to sleep and

organize their life. Furthermore, Vale promised that the resettlement would entail

food-support every three months for the first five years, but this has happened

only three times since 2009, one of the times was as payment for work done on

projects in Cateme. Apart from this, the resettlement has contributed to a

disempowerment of the women in Cateme, since they are more dependent on

their husbands now due to the lack of access to arable farmland and alternative

activities for income and subsistence. Cultural traditions and religious practices

have also been infringed upon with the resettlement, and this demands attention

especially since a part of the resettled community could be claimed to be

indigenous.

The landscape of Cateme is very dry, dusty and experience extreme heat

especially during the months of summer, when temperature normally rises above

40°C. There are very few trees because Vale chopped them down before

relocating communities, thus the access to shade in the community is scarce.

Furthermore the location of Cateme, around 40 km from the city of Moatize,

makes it very difficult to access markets and alternative sources of income,

adding to this is the limited means of transportation to and from Cateme.

Until January 2012, the Cateme community had tried to raise the concerns

through their communal leaders and by working with civil society organizations.

The community sent several petitions, letters and notices to Vale and various

governmental institutions, and called for the Mozambique National Assembly to

intervene in order to resolve the situation. The government responded that they

noted the concerns and will verify the situation. But there was no response from

them. Because of the lack of response from Vale and the government, on 10

January 2012, the community organized a peaceful protest in Cateme against

the way in which they had been treated by Vale, for their poor living conditions

and for the constant violations of their rights. The Mozambican government

responded to the protests by sending an armed police force, which shut down the

protests with violence and arbitrarily arrested 14 youngsters. Two of the detained

persons who remained for two days in detention were victims of torture and

degrading treatment by the prison personnel during their time in custody. The

events surrounding the January protests breached the fundamental right to

freedom of expression, the right to peaceful assembly and the protection from

arbitrary arrest.

The situation did not improve. JA along with partner organizations held meetings

with the Cateme community members in October 2012 and March 2013.

Communities were outspoken about the difficulties they continued to face, as

described below. Just last week again, on 16 and 17 April 2013, over 700 people,

mostly potters and the relocated communities paralyzed the activities of Vale, in

protest of poor living conditions that they are enduring as a result of their

relocation. However, their situation is yet to be resolved.

About Justiça Ambiental

Justiça Ambiental (JA!) is a leading Mozambican non-governmental organization

that raises awareness and campaigns against development that has damaging

environmental and social impacts in Mozambique. We support communities

faced with social and environmental threats, through capacity building,

information, technical advice and strategic assistance in order to strengthen their

voice in the Mozambican society, and to elevate awareness of the public and the

government of Mozambique.

JA has been monitoring the resettlement of Cateme since 2009. We have worked

intensively with the community on several occasions, and over the years JA have

developed a close relationship with the community, and key-actors within the

community. During 2012, JA made visits and worked in Cateme on occasions in

January, March, April, September and November. Already in 2013, we have

made visits to the communities in early March and in mid-April. We worked and

built trust with the communities.

A study on human rights abuses in Cateme

From 27 September until 8 October 2012, JA performed a field-study in Cateme

in order to collect information to compile this allegation. We monitored the

situation in the community and conducted 14 individual and group-interviews.

The interviews were semi-structured and entailed questions focused on the living

standard in Cateme. The respondents were chosen at the site with the aim of

acquiring respondents with a variety of age, and at least one household from

each neighborhood. We also aimed to speak to more women than men, keeping

in mind that the women were not adequately addressed in the negotiation-

process before the resettlement, thus we interviewed 6 men and 8 women. The

sizes of the interviewed households range from 4 persons up to 11 persons, with

8 persons being the most common size of the households interviewed.

At that time, JA also held a public meeting in partnership with the civil society

organizations “Liga de Direitos Humanos” (LDH, or Human Rights League),

“Associação de Apoio e Assistência Jurídica ás Comunidades” (AAAJC, or

Association of Legal Support and Assistance for Communities) and “União

Nacional dos Camponeses” (UNAC, or National Farmers Union). The meeting

was held on 6 October 2012 from 07:30-12:00 and the room was packed. About

200 people, including women, men, children, babies, seniors, teachers and

students, from Cateme attended the meeting held in the secondary school of

Cateme. During the meeting, the organizations provided information about

human rights and the constitution of Mozambique. We also held a discussion

where the participants gave their opinions on the resettlement process and of

everyday life in Cateme. Apart from the interviews and previous knowledge about

the situation in Cateme, the meeting adds to the information that is the basis of

this allegation.

On this visit, JA was accompanied by a German photographer, Gregor Zielke,

and a German film-maker, Peter Steudtner. Zielke’s hard-hitting photos of

Cateme appeared in The Guardian UK on 21 January 2013, available online at:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/21/mozambique-promised-land-photography.

Steudtner’s film is not yet complete, in fact he returned to Cateme with JA in mid-

April 2013 for more filming. But on our request, he has graciously prepared three

small video clips to accompany this allegation letter, available on the links below:

https://vimeo.com/64707620

https://vimeo.com/64881862

https://vimeo.com/64914457

International Day of Rivers commemorated with Cateme

communities

On 14 March 2013, the International Day of Rivers, JA once again along with our

partners LDH, AAAJC and UNAC organized a meeting in Tete. We brought

together community members affected by Vale (from Cateme and 25 de

Setembro), Rio Tinto and Jindal, along with communities that are threatened with

displacement from the Mphanda Nkuwa Dam planned on the Zambezi River. The

organisations and communities talked about human rights, mega-projects and

false promises, challenges with the Land Law and the Mines Law, dams and the

case of Mphanda Nkuwa, and climate risks for the Zambezi River. But in the

most important part of the meeting, the community people shared their own

experiences with each other. The people that are to be displaced by Mphanda

Nkuwa Dam heard directly from Cateme communities struggling to get their

rights. The people of Cateme were outspoken about the injustices they continue

to face.

The human rights-situation in Cateme

In this section we present the result and findings in detail from our field-study,

and of previous as well as continuing knowledge till date on the situation of

human rights in Cateme. The different aspects of an adequate living standard are

presented separately to make the information more clear, although we recognize

that the different features are connected and affect each other.

There is also a section concerning the situation of freedom of expression and the

right to peaceful assembly, due to the events of the protests in January 2012 and

the continuous violations of these rights in Cateme.

Inadequate housing

The houses that have been built in the resettlement are constructed in a poor

manner, in the sense that they have cracks in the foundations and in the walls.

None of the persons that we interviewed were living in a house without cracks.

One of the responding families have had reconstruction on their house twice but

the cracks reoccurred each time, another household had reconstruction done

once but had the same problem with cracks reappearing. One of our respondents

also told us that their house shakes when cars drive by on the road close to the

house, which demonstrates the fragile construction of the buildings. (See Annex

picture 1)

The foundations of the houses are very low, and all of our respondents named it

as one of the primary reasons why water leaks into the house when it rains. The

foundations are about 25cm thick, and set on a plastic sheet on top of the soil

(see Annex picture 2). When the rain falls and accumulates on the flat ground

surrounding the houses, it enters underneath the doors of the houses. One of our

respondents told us that when this happens during the night, she has to get up to

clean and put her children to sleep on top of the table so they would not get wet.

Some of our respondents also complained about the poor isolation of the

windows, since water leaks through the windows as well. One respondent that

had complained about the problem with water-leakage to government officials

received the response that the school building could offer additional sleeping

space when this occurs. Depending on where you live, it could be quite a walk to

take to reach the school given the fact that the total area of Cateme is 3800

hectares.

Concerning the temperature inside the houses, all of our respondents said that

the temperature inside the houses rises significantly during the day and even

during the night especially during the summer months (between October and

March). To cope with the heat, people have to sleep outside instead of in their

houses. During the winter months our respondents claimed it to be chilly inside

the houses during the night, and that they did not experience this in their

previous houses from where they were resettled. The houses are constructed

with thin roofs, which are most likely why they get very heated during hot periods

and cold during the cooler periods. Another disadvantage of the tin-roofs is that

when it rains it creates a deafening noise, which in turn makes it hard to sleep as

our respondents told us.

Eleven of our responding households perceived that there had been a loss of

living space due to the resettlement, and that the space in the house is

insufficient. One respondent said that they had two houses before the

resettlement, and after the resettlement only one house. One family had

constructed a barrack in their backyard to have more sleeping-space, and

another family's 16-year-old pregnant daughter sleeps in the kitchen building of

the house due to insufficient space in the main house.

Concerning the kitchen of the houses, it was initially constructed with an open

front with the same type of foundation as the main-house building. 6 out of 14 of

the interviewed households said that the kitchen leaks with rainwater as well, and

that they were not satisfied with the construction of the building. Many families in

Cateme have chosen to close the open front of the kitchen, by building a brick

wall and installing a door. (See Annex picture 3) This is to keep the kitchen from

entering rainwater, dust and to keep the livestock from walking into the kitchen.

Some of our respondents said that they rather cook outside the kitchen, since it

becomes full of smoke inside when cooking. Thus, the kitchen is constructed in

an insufficient manner since it leaks of rainwater if the open front is not closed up

with bricks, yet on the other hand it gets very heated and does not let the smoke

out if the front is closed up. Access to electricity is poor in Cateme and for the

households who had electricity before the resettlement their new houses in

Cateme have electricity installed. However, the residents themselves have to buy

and mount the electric cable in order to have electricity. Due to the poverty and

lack of money in Cateme many households cannot afford to purchase the electric

cable, thus they are without electricity.

The lack of access to fertile soil and means of subsistence

Vale promised the communities that were to be resettled that each household

would get 2 hectares of farmland in Cateme. Instead, they received only 1

hectare each. Another far bigger problem relating to the distribution of land is that

with the resettlement they were only compensated for individual land-plots, and

not the community land that one used to have. The community land is an

important part of a community since it acts as a “buffer zone” between

communities. It is sometimes mistaken as “surplus land”, but in reality the land is

used by communities for various reasons. When the soils of “machambas” or

farms are exhausted, the community land can be used for shifting the

machambas in order to access fertile soil, it can also be used for grazing. Apart

from the agricultural activity, the community land might also be used as a place

used for cultural, spiritual and religious ceremonies. The area of Cateme was

already inhabited before the resettlement started. Since the resettled community

was only compensated for their individual-land plots, they lost their community

land and thus the “buffer zone”. This has led to conflicts over land between the

previous inhabitants in the area, and the communities resettled from Moatize.

The terrain in and around Cateme is very dry and full of stones (see Annex

picture 4). The sunshine is very strong and the conditions to grow anything in

Cateme are close to non-existent. All of our respondents said that they had not

succeeded in growing anything in their machambas during the past three years.

Four of the respondents had managed to arrange other machambas that are

located further from Cateme, but the rest of our respondents had no alternative

machamba. This is the most prominent problem in Cateme; causing a lack of

access to food. When evaluating the access to food and fertile soil five years ago

all of our respondents claimed that it was better before the resettlement, both in

terms of access to food-crops for subsistence and access to food-crops to sell.

The lack of access to potable water

All of our respondents complained about the lack of access to potable water. The

main problems with the water that we identified were that it is not sufficient in

amount, and that there is a lack of water-security. The water is only functioning

during fixed hours, approximately 3 hours in the morning and 2-3 hours in the

afternoon. During times when the electricity is out in Cateme the energy-driven

well goes out of function, and it can be out for as long as 2-3 days. Our

respondents perceived the water as insufficient in terms of amount because

there are too many people using the same wells, which leads to water-scarcity

especially during the dry periods. In each neighborhood there is one electrical

well and one hand-pumped well. The hand-pumped well does not function at

times because of the drought, as told to us by our respondents and contacts in

the community.

The households received some livestock from Vale, such as goats, chicken and

pigs. However due to poor access to water it is hard to keep the cattle alive and

well in Cateme and many eventually die prematurely.

The lack of access to transportation and markets

Cateme is located around 40 km from Moatize. Before the resettlement, the

neighborhoods Bagamoyo and Chipanga were located in closer connection to

Moatize, hence people living in these areas would go to Moatize by foot to sell

food-crops, fruits, firewood, vegetable coal or other products that the household

produced at the former site. With the resettlement the community's access to

markets has decreased immensely. There is a small informal market in the

center of Cateme, however only a few of the people that we spoke to managed to

sell something at the market, the rest of our respondents did not have anything to

sell nor do they have the money to purchase the goods. All of our respondents

perceived that their access to markets had lessened with the resettlement, and

that it is very difficult to reach the market in Moatize.

There are two bus-trips per day from Cateme to Moatize, one in early morning

and one in the afternoon. One of or respondents told us the bus usually is full

when reaching Cateme, since it passes the community of Mwaladzi on its way to

Cateme. The lack of space on the bus also makes it difficult to bring items for

sale on the bus. Furthermore, our respondents argued that the price of the bus-

ride was too high and that the cost of the bus-ticket was one of the causes

preventing them from going to Moatize.

After the January protests the government promised the community two

machibombos (large buses), but until now they have only received one. The

distance to Moatize and the lack of access to markets makes the community of

Cateme isolated, vulnerable and deepens the economic poverty that people

suffer.

The health-situation in Cateme

During our interviews we asked questions on how the respondents perceive their

well-being and how, or if, their well-being had changed during the past five years.

A unanimous answer was that they are suffering from the lack of food and water,

and that they worry a lot about their ability to persist. The only positive remark of

the life in Cateme was one respondent telling us that with the resettlement she

could spend more time with her family, friends and neighbors, since there is

nothing else for her to do in Cateme.

Four of the respondents told us that they or their family members do not sleep

well at nights, and that they did not use to have this problem five years ago. As

been stated, many people choose to sleep outside due to inadequate space in

their houses and because of the heat. An effect from this could be a heightened

exposure to Malaria, but there is still no conclusive data on this. However,

malaria was the one disease that all of our respondents anecdotally claimed had

become more frequent with the resettlement.

Everyone we spoke to felt that they cannot provide enough food for their children.

Some of the families claimed that their children are malnourished and that they

suffer from stomachache and bloated stomachs from starving. One family

admitted that some days they have to keep their children from going to school,

because of the lack of food.

In relation to this, Vale promised to provide food-support for the resettled

community every third month for five years. However, none of our respondents

had received food more than two or in some cases three times during the past

two years, and for some people one of the times being as payment for work done

on plantation projects in Cateme. But strangely enough, these plantation-projects

were carried out by the Mozambican government and not by Vale.

The water-scarcity and the low quality of the water are comprehended as a

contributing factor for the illnesses and diseases that the community suffers from.

Our respondents told us that they often suffer from headaches because of the

heat and the lack of water and that diarrhea is more prevalent now than five

years ago. All of our respondents perceived that the access to water had

lessened with the resettlement, since they used to have more alternative water-

sources at their former sites.

After the protests in January 2012, Vale promised the community that they would

get an ambulance for Cateme. However, they placed the ambulance in Moatize

and not Cateme; hence the access to the ambulance is poor because of the

distance between Cateme and Moatize. There is a health-center in Cateme, yet

this health-center only meets the basic needs and in the case of an emergency in

Cateme it would be crucial to have the ambulance situated in Cateme.

The disempowerment of women in Cateme

All of our female respondents perceived themselves as being more dependent on

their spouses now than before the resettlement. The male respondents also had

the same perception of the situation of their spouses. The given explanation of

the heightened dependency was because of the lack of fertile soil and the lack of

traditional and alternative methods for income. Now the women in Cateme

depend on their husbands to provide income for the family, through for example

seasonal work that are more applicable to men than to women. Thus, the women

are less independent in Cateme and the gender-equality is decreased. Three of

our female respondents also explained to us that have to spend more time now

to collect the same amount of money that they once gained through less time in

their former site. Thus work is more time-consuming, and as an example the

same three respondents told us it is more difficult to pay for the children's school-

fees even though the expense is the same as it used to be.

The right to culture and religious practices

The resettled community could in part be argued to be of indigenous character,

because before being moved they had inhabited their land for centuries and they

were engaged in traditional subsistence agriculture for their survival. They also

speak a local minority language specific to their original site. By “in part” we refer

to the population that were before living in the more rural areas of Moatize, since

those who lived in semi-urban areas would have adopted a more modern and

secular lifestyle. However, to fully understand the impacts of the resettlement on

the right to culture and religion, the state should investigate the resettled

community’s cultural background and traditions, in order to make possible the

continuation of cultural and religious practices.

In their previous site the communities had trees and rocks of a significant cultural

and religious meaning and they had a traditional cemetery that had been used for

generations. With the resettlement the communities have been separated from

their traditional practices and they have lost their cemetery. Some respondents

showed grief and sadness over the loss of sacred spaces, and told us that they

no longer have a place to hold ceremonies and they feel they have lost the

connection to their ancestors, whom they feel that they had to leave at the

previous site. In Cateme they have got a new cemetery but the community is

very skeptic of using it, since no one wants to be the first person buried there.

The new cemetery is also used by the previous inhabitants of the Cateme area,

which enhances the feeling of discomfort from using it.

The right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly

Back in December 2011 the community of Cateme sent a complaint-letter to the

District Government of Moatize, the District Committee of Frelimo and Vale

Mozambique, urging them to resolve the problems of the resettlement before 10

January 2012, or the community of Cateme would organize a protest. The protest

would entail stopping the train carrying coal from Vale's extraction site to the port

in Beira, the train that regularly passes just outside the Cateme community. On

10 January 2012, about 700 of the resettled families in Cateme organized a

peaceful protest because of their dissatisfaction of their situation in Cateme. As

they had informed in their letter in December, the protesters stopped the train

from Vale who had to back up and could not take its normal route. At 10am the

Força de Intervenção Rapida (FIR, or Rapid Intervention Force team) arrived,

after the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) reported not to be able to

dissipate the people holding the manifestations. When the FIR arrived they

brutally shut down the protests and the villagers fled into their houses to take

shelter. The FIR continued their intervention by assaulting several persons and

raided the houses by kicking in the doors. Following these events, 14 youngsters

were taken into custody for about three hours at the local police station. 5 of the

persons where eventually released, while the remaining 9 were transferred to the

Carbomoc Prison (Cadeia da Carbomoc) in Moatize. While they were held in

custody for two days and two nights, they were without adequate food and were

submitted to torture and degrading treatment by the police. After an intervention

by the attorney they were released from custody. Two of the persons detained

showed severe injuries on their bottoms and signs of beating on their bodies (see

Annex picture 5).

Yet another example of the brutality of the FIR during these events was a man

who was ill and disabled with blindness, who in spite of this was forced to

accompany the FIR to the local police station. When FIR encountered the man at

his house, they were informed that the man received medical treatment for his

eye-illness at Tete Provincial Hospital and in Malawi, but ignored this fact and

told the man to go with them. When the man rejected because of his limited

ability to move, FIR assaulted the man physically and accused him of faking his

illness. Eventually FIR sprayed the man in his eyes with tear-gas, which made

him faint immediately. The man was then taken to the local Police-station where

he was held for several hours until a relative was able to get there and prove the

man’s medical condition only then was he released.

During our interviews in Cateme we asked questions concerning how the

respondents perceived the freedom of speech in Cateme, and if they felt

confident to speak openly about the issues and hardships in their everyday life.

Generally the answer was that they are not afraid to speak, but the problem is

that they have seldom or never been given the chance to speak to either Vale or

the government about their problems.

The community is currently trying to organize themselves and have formed a

“residents' commission” to forward the interests of the community. This is not well

appreciated by the district government who accuses the commission of

contributing to instability and spreading misinformation. One of the questions that

the commission has brought up is that commission members, mainly living in the

Chipanga neighborhood, do not want more repairs to be made on their houses.

This is due to the fact that it would be the third time their houses would be

repaired, and the previous repairs made have been insufficient due to

reoccurring cracks. Instead the commission is requesting another type of

compensation, either monetary or that the houses would be rebuilt entirely.

However, the Permanent Secretary for the Moatize District government and the

First district Secretary of Frelimo called the commission to a meeting concerning

its activities. The representatives of the government and the Frelimo party

wanted to dismantle the commission, and told the commission that they couldn’t

hold any further meetings without government authorization. Denying the

commission to hold meetings clearly breaches against the right to freedom of

expression and the right to peaceful assembly.

But the people of Cateme are continuing to struggle for their rights. On 16 and 17

April 2013, over 700 people, mostly brick-makers and the relocated communities

again paralyzed the activities of Vale, in protest of poor living conditions that they

are enduring as a result of their relocation. On the morning of 16 April, they

gathered in front of the Moatize district administration, in order to demand

explanations and responses to the various concerns they have raised. They

received no response from the district government, the potters decided to carry

out a peaceful protest along the main routes of the company and its mine,

including the railway line. Yet again they were attacked by the police with rubber

bullets, injuring many. Finally on 18 April, the potters managed to get a meeting

with Vale, and the protest was stopped. The process is ongoing and it is yet to be

seen if Vale pays the remaining money agreed with the brick-makers during their

re-location process.

Vale's broken promises

Before the resettlement started Vale made various promises to the affected

communities concerning the awaiting life at the relocation site. The initial

agreement of the resettlement is from 2004, but until the resettlement was finally

performed in 2009 the situation had changed radically. In 2009 when the

resettlement process started the value of the land and the residencies had

heightened tremendously, due to inflation in the area because of the investments

done by the newly established multinational companies. However, the

compensation that the communities finally received was the value estimated in

2004, and not in regard to what their land was worth in 2009. Thus, the resettled

communities have not received a fair compensation. Adding to this is the fact that

they were only compensated for their individual-land plots and not the vast

community land that they once had at their previous sites.

Most of the promises that Vale gave between the years of 2004 until now are oral

agreements between Vale and Cateme, which makes it hard for the community

to prove what they have been promised. The initial agreement from 2004 is

documented, but not made available to the public.

According to our respondents and other contacts in Cateme the communities

were promised arable land, good infrastructure, transportation and food-support

for the first five years of the resettlement. Vale promised that each household

would get 2 hectares each of farmland, and 1 hectare for their house and yard. In

turn, the households have only received 1 hectare of farmland and 1 hectare for

the site of their house. There would also be various projects in Cateme that could

offer employment. These projects have, according to our respondents, been

limited and one project that we gained information about was a project

administrated by the government with the payment of food-supply for the

workers.

Vale’s response to the January-protests was that they would solve the problems

in Cateme within six months. However it has now been a year and three months

since the protests and the situation in Cateme is still acute and little has

changed. One thing Vale agreed upon was to do some fixing work on the houses

to improve the foundations and repair the cracks. This fixing work has been slow

and limited in amount of houses constructed, and as some of our respondents

told us the reconstruction made on their houses have been insufficient, and

cracks have reoccurred. About 142 out of 716 houses have been fixed by Vale

and the company is aiming at finishing the total reconstruction of the 716 lots

sometime in mid-2013.

The response of the Mozambican government

Since the resettlement process started the communication between the

Mozambican government and the affected communities have been insufficient.

The Cateme community, JA and other civil society organizations have sent

numerous petitions and complaints to different governmental institutions in

Mozambique. As been stated, the government have been ignoring these

communications and responded with silence.

Short after the January-protests a public emergency meeting was held with the

governor of Tete, Alberto Vaquina, which JA attended. When asked about the

excess violence that was used by the PRM and FIR, the governor responded that

as far as he knew, the violence that the PRM and FIR used was appropriate to

disperse the protesters. Members of JA and other participants of the meeting did

not perceive the meeting as successful because of the neglect shown by the

government and the lack of a constructive dialogue concerning the situation in

Cateme and the other resettled community, 25 de Setembro.

In addition to this, it became clear during the public meeting held in Cateme on 6

October 2012 that the resettled communities have a limited knowledge about

their rights and in what ways they can seek compensation and claim their rights.

There has been a controversy between the government and Vale, concerning

Vale's distribution of food-support. The government has declined Vale's

distribution, with the claim that such distribution would be the government’s

responsibility. In turn, the government have only provided for food once, as a

payment for people working on a plantation-project in Cateme. This project took

place between June-August 2012 and is called “Comida para trabalho” (food for

work). The main problem with this project is that it really does not solve the long-

term problem of the lack of food for the community since it is only for the duration

of three months.

Legal actions taken by civil society groups

In February 2012 the Mozambican organization Liga de Direitos Humanos (LDH)

filed a complaint to the district prosecutor of Moatize, because of the violence

that the people of Cateme were exposed to by the Police and the FIR during the

January protests. The complaint also concerns the violence and torture that the

persons held in custody at the Carbomoc prison were subjected to between the

days of 10-12 January, 2012. Until now, it is not yet decided if the case is

admissible or not.

A second legal process that was initiated by LDH is directed towards the

Mozambican government. In February 2012, LDH filed a public action concerning

the government’s failure to fulfill their duties of providing for a just resettlement of

the communities relocated to Cateme. The public action is still running its legal

procedures within the first section of the Administrative Court of Maputo with

Case No.79/2012.

Mozambique's obligations according to

International Human Rights law

The state of Mozambique is party to several core international Human Rights

Conventions which oblige the state to provide for an adequate living standard of

its population. Unfortunately, Mozambique does not seem to have signed the

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR),

which is the most comprehensive international legal document that sets the

standards for adequate housing, as a component of the right to an adequate

living standard. The Mozambican government discussed the Covenant in a

meeting on 11 February 2011 and the Mozambican Council of Ministers ratified a

resolution determining the accession of the Covenant (see Annex 6). If the state

of Mozambique has agreed to an accession of the Covenant, this would have

positive implications on the protection of the rights of resettled communities such

as Cateme, amongst others. JA requests that the Special Rapporteur on

Adequate Housing demand clarification on the Mozambican government’s

adherence to the Covenant in light of the 11 February 2011 meeting document,

since there are no available official documents that describe the process after

that meeting.

Mozambique is obliged to follow the provisions of the Universal Declaration of

Human Rights (UDHR), and article 25.1 of the declaration defines the

responsibility of the state in relation to the different aspects of an adequate living

standard.

Apart from this, Mozambique is party to the following conventions that entail

articles concerning an adequate living standard:

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against

Women (CEDAW)

International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)

Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)

JA considers that the Government of Mozambique has breached against the

following articles, given the past and current situation in Cateme:

The right to adequate housing, living standard, water and food: UDHR: Art. 25. 1 CEDAW: Art. 14.2 H) ICCPR: Art. 1.2 CRC: Art. 27.1 & 27.3 The right to freedom from torture or cruel and inhumane treatment: UDHR: Art. 5 ICCPR: Art. 7 & Art. 10 The right to religion, culture and minority rights: UDHR: Art. 18 ICCPR: Art. 27 ICRC: Art. 30 The right of freedom of expression and peaceful assembly UDHR: Art. 20.1 ICCPR: Art. 19.1 & 19.2

Conclusion and recommendations

The resettlement of the neighborhoods of Chipanga, Bagamoyo, Mithete and

Malabwe from the district of Moatize to Cateme, has been performed

inadequately and has seriously degraded the lives and well-being of the resettled

people. The houses that Vale provided for in Cateme are inadequate to live in

since they lack of sufficient foundations and leak of water when it rains. There is

no food-security in Cateme, and the population is starving because of the lack of

access to fertile soil. The situation is worsened because people have few

alternative ways that there is few alternative ways to generate income in Cateme.

The community has not received the amount of food-support from Vale that they

were promised with the resettlement, and the government is failing its

responsibility to protect the population from starvation. The access to potable

water is poor, insufficient and plagued by frequent energy-shortages and

drought. Apart from this, the location of the community and the insufficient means

of transportation make it isolated and further increase the community's

vulnerability. The health-situation in Cateme is deficient due to the lack of access

to water and food, the heated climate and lack of access to shade also

contributes to an increased frequency of diseases. An ambulance was promised

for the benefit of the community; however this ambulance is located far in

Moatize and not in Cateme.

The societal structure has been modified with the resettlement, one effect being

that the women in Cateme have been disempowered since the situation in

Cateme makes them more dependent on their husbands.

The community’s cultural and religious rights are also being infringed upon with

the resettlement, since many of the traditional practices that the communities

were engaged in were bound to their previous sites. In part the community could

be claimed indigenous, which would entail further protection of indigenous rights.

Furthermore, the community’s freedom of expression and right to peaceful

assembly have been seriously infringed upon as evidenced by the protests in

January 2012, and the current situation of frequent threats to the community by

government officials and by Vale.

With the situation in Cateme there is a continuous violation on the right to

adequate housing, food and access to means of subsistence, access to water,

work, freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly.

We, Justiça Ambiental, urge the Mozambican government to take the following

actions to compensate for the losses of the Cateme community:

For the government to without further delay resolve the problems in

Cateme, described above in this allegation letter.

Make sure that Vale takes responsibility for the re-construction of the

houses, fixing of the cracks and foundations, and that this is done in an

adequate manner and without further delay.

Provide community members with 1 additional hectare of land as

promised. The land given must be arable and fertile, and with proximity to

their current homes.

Create conditions for alternative ways to attain income in Cateme.

Provide for continuous and regular food-support in order to end the acute

starvation in Cateme. At the same time the government should make up a

long-term plan on how to achieve food sovereignty and self-reliance in the

community.

Improve the accessibility of potable water in Cateme.

The health-situation is worsening in Cateme. Research has to be made in

order to evaluate the impacts of the lack of food and water. The sleep-

deprivation that the community suffers due to inadequate space, elevated

temperatures in the houses and having to sleep out in the open needs

also to be looked into. This is especially urgent to investigate in regard to

the health of the children of Cateme.

Improve and extend the means of transportation to and from Cateme and

make sure that the bus-tickets are reasonably fared.

Investigate the community’s cultural and religious needs, and specifically

look into the situation of the cemetery.

To monitor the situation of human rights in Cateme, and immediately

investigate the case brought about to the district prosecutor of Moatize,

concerning the brutality of the PRM and FIR during the events of the

protests in January 2012. Secondly, we urge the government to proceed

with the public actions that runs with the Administrative court in Maputo

(Case No.79/2012)

Annexes

Annex Picture 1: Cracks in a porch of a house in Cateme

Annex Picture 2: The foundation of a house in Cateme.

Annex Picture 3: A house that is being repaired. The kitchen building (to the left)

is closed up with bricks.

Annex Picture 4: A woman is showing us the machamba she was given by Vale

in Cateme.

Annex Picture 5: One of the men that were severely beaten by the police when

being held in detention from 10 to 12 January 2012

Annex 6: Separately attached. An agenda for the meeting of the Mozambican

council of ministers, 14th of February 2011, where the accession of Mozambique

to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)

were discussed. This document is attached in the original Portuguese as well as

an English translation.