Extrajudicial killings carried out by the police are a regular occurrence in many countries, including the southern African country of Mozambique. In a new report, Amnesty International documents at least 45 murders committed by the police in the past three years.

One of the most horrific cases involves Abranches Penicela. In August 2007, he was abducted, tortured, shot and set on fire. What makes his case so special is that he survived all of this long enough to be able to tell his story and name the policemen involved.

Abranches Penicela’s first brush with the law dates back to 1997. Police raided two of the houses in which he and his brothers lived, claiming to be searching for weapons. They did not have a search warrant and found nothing. But they took all of the Penicela brothers in and held them for 12 days while they carried out an investigation. They also stole all of the Penicelas’ possessions, including cars, cameras and cell phones.

Human rights
After their release, the Penicelas decided to file a court case against the police. The judge ordered the police to return their possessions or compensate them. This never happened. After a few years, the other brothers decided to drop the matter, but Abranches persevered. He had spent time in Europe and he kept repeating, “I know what the rights of citizens are. They can’t steal my belongings and accuse me of being a thief when I am not.”

His perseverance earned him many enemies in the police force, including Alexandre Balate, a policeman who had been involved in the raid on the Penicela’s houses in 1997. The police regularly accused Penicela of being a thief and he spent several periods in jail.

In August 2007, the police staked out Abranches’s home. When Abranches went out, Balate and seven other policemen followed him. They stopped him, threw him to the ground, tied him up, put him in the trunk of their car and gave him toxic injections. They then bought five litres of petrol, threw him in a ditch, shot him, and set him on fire.

Miraculously, Abranches survived and managed to get someone to take him to a medical centre. Despite having fourth degree burns on 75 percent of his body, he was able to recount what had happened and identify the perpetrators. His brothers recorded his story on a cell phone.

International outcry
Despite this evidence, it took two years to take the case to court. In June of this year, the ringleader, Alexandre Balate, was found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to 22 years imprisonment and ordered to pay nearly 14,000 euros in compensation to the Penicela family. The judge also ordered that proceedings be launched against the seven other policemen involved in the murder of Abranches Penicela. But five months later, they are still free.

The Abranches case and the international outcry that it caused have led to pressure on the Mozambican authorities to stamp out extrajudicial killings. “I think my brother had to die for the system to change,” says Abranches’s brother, Constantino. “Because my family had the courage to demand justice, the number of people being killed is falling. We have to keep on fighting.

After Abranches's death, a picture was taken of his remains. You may find this photo disturbing.

This story is featured in the 14 November 2009 edition of The State We're In.