Mozambique’s First Transitional Justice Conference Still Sidesteps Root Causes

What was missing mattered just as much. The conference addressed the consequences of violence: victims, reparations, institutional reform, and guarantees of non-repetition. It stopped short of confronting the causes. No senior official acknowledged that the post-election protests were driven by allegations of electoral fraud. No one suggested responsibility for the excessive force used in the state's response.

CDD head Adriano Nuvunga told participants: "There is no reconciliation without truth."

The state's old instinct has been to look forward, not back. The civil war ended without a truth commission. Political violence was managed through negotiated settlements, not public reckoning. In Cabo Delgado and after the 2024 post-election violence, the focus has been on restoring order, not examining responsibility.

This week's conference suggests that may be shifting. The silence on causes remains a gap civil society argues cannot be papered over.