Arlindo Chissale, a reporter covering the fighting between government forces and insurgents known as Mashababos in northern Mozambique, has gone missing after police took him into custody over the weekend, Human Rights Watch (HRW) confirms.
Chissale has been out of touch with friends and family and has not been allowed access to legal counsel since Saturday, HRW quotes a family member as saying.
The journalist is a freelancer and editor of an online publication. He was taken into custody while working in the mining town of Balama, the rights group said.
“The Mozambican government should immediately take steps to locate Chissale, inform his family of his whereabouts, and ensure his safe return home,” the organisation added.
Arrests, imprisonment and forced disappearance of local journalists covering the conflict in Cabo Delgado province is common in the country. The last known disappearance was in April 2020 and nothing has been heard from the journalist