On the 6th of April, officials of a branch of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) – the Rapid Intervention Force (FIR) – used violence to put an end to a protest by the employees of the private security firm Group Four Security (G4S). Allegedly [pt] G4S has been illegally discounting employees’ salaries, and they were now complaining about an worsening situation since June 2010. At the demonstration, workers appealed for payment of unreasonable discounted pay by the employer, as well as for the payment of holiday bonuses and overtime. Screenshot from the video featuring FIRs violent intervention. Available on Youtube by verdadetruth. On Facebook, the jurist Hbro Chipas says that the workers strike was illegal, for not having been convened according to “what the law calls for”. Chipas analyses the case, claiming that there are “two perspectives” [pt] on the attack: a da violência gratuita protagonizada pelos agentes da FIR, e a outra, os estragos perpetrados pelos seguranças In a comment on the Facebook page of the newspaper @Verdade, photographer Hugo Costa corroborates Chipas’ observation. Uns acham que “fazer greve” significa que têm o direito de agir como selvagens e vandalizarem tudo o que encontram pela frente destruindo propriedade privada e agredindo quem não tem nada a ver com o que reivindicam; e os outros acham que “intervenção policial” significa ter luz verde para demonstrações de violência gratuita e abuso de autoridade gozando de plena imunidade!! Independent of the “two perspectives” presented, Chipas found the police action against the strikers to be brutal and added: espero que as autoridades competentes nao fiquem impávidas e serenas perante essa situação deveras chocante. Aquele senhor nao constituía nenhum perigo futuro nem iminente, não fornecendo qualquer tipo de resistência. In one video of TVM, one sees the violent reaction of the officers of the Rapid Intervention Force who set upon a G4S security guard who has already been subdued and put into the police truck. The video unleashed a number of reactions of disgust in the citizen media, and it was principally via Facebook that numerous Mozambicans, and foreigners, showed their indignation with such acts of violence. Referring to the statement [pdf] of the Liga Moçambicana de Direitos Humanos (LDH) [Human Rights League] – that demands the investigation into those responsible for the attack and the firing of the commander of the Rapid Intervention Force, General Binda – psychologist Linette Olofsson wrote: inaceitável num Estado de Direito! Faz-me lembrar dos tempos da ditadura em Moçambique, 1975-1994 onde não se respeitava os Direitos Humanos; (ainda hoje são violados com se vê) O comandante da FIR deve ser demitido imediatamente. Segundo a LDH, este mesmo Comandante fez estragos na Província de Nampula. O nosso Estado ainda é dominado por militaristas camuflados de democratas! São horríveis estas cenas. "People are more scared of the police than of criminals", Amnesty International report "License to Kill – Holding the Police Responsible in Mozambique" (2008) .pdf In Mozambique violence by police officers who should be upholding law and order is nothing new, as showed a report published in 2008 by Amnesty International – License to Kill. A year later, in 2009, another report by Amnesty – I don't Believe in Justice Anymore (Já não acredito na Justiça [Pt])- documents various “cases of homicide committed by the police in Mozambique”. A similar case to that at the G4S workers protest occurred in April 2009, when a policeman fired on striking construction workers [Pt]. Also during the popular revolt of September 1 and 2 of 2010 (reported by Global Voices) the police fired against protesters, killing 11 people, according to a report [Pt] by the Center for Public Integrity. Oflia Macie, a student, commented: Estes polícias pensam que podem fazer o que quiserem e nada é feito por eles…eu pessoalmente ja vi 2 polícias em Tete agora em fevereiro batendo em dois miudos dos seus 12 e 13 anos de idade so porque não tinham BI, aí sairam chapadas, murros, pontapés e ate bateram-lhes com a própria AKM, quando viram que os miudos ja estavam a sangrar levaram-nos para a 1ª Esquadra… eu pergunto eles estao para proteger, fazer justiça? ou para pôr terror a população?? E estes da FIR são os piores selvagens!! During the police intervention against the G4S workers, 24 protesters were detained and are imprisoned in the cells of the 18th precinct of the Police. Unconfirmed reports [Pt] indicate that one G4S worker lost his life during the violent blows he suffered during the brutal intervention. To date, all of the FIR officers remain free.