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Mozambique went through 16 years of seriously nasty civil war. [Mozambique walking out of a party]

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On the one side was Frelimo the socialist party that was trying to govern

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the country.

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Making that nearly impossible to do was Renamo, the rebel movement that originally [Renamo throwing Frelimo off a podium with a gun]

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came out of Rhodesia.

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About a million people died as the two powers bashed away at each other. [Soldier is knocked down by an explosion]

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And about four million said “peace out”…and ditched their home country. [People protesting]

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For many, life as a refugee was better than a brutal death back home.

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Thankfully, the sides finally signed a peace treaty in 1992 at a Catholic nonprofit charity

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in Rome.

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Way to go, Rome.

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Now…Frelimo had a slight moral high ground. [Renamo and Frelimo playing baseball]

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They were guilty of some war crimes and forcing men to join the army… but at least they

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didn’t get into the child soldier game like Renamo. [Umpire sending Renamo off the field]

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To get the peace treaty signed, they had to totally gloss over everybody’s war crimes

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and human rights abuses.

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…but in Mozambique things weren’t so simple.

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If Frelimo said that Renamo was full of war criminals, then they would have to, ya’ [Frelimo bringing the police to Renamo]

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know… arrest some of those war criminals.

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This would include many of the head honchos of Renamo.

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It’s kinda hard to get people to sign a treaty that includes their own trial and execution. [Guy reading an agreement in court]

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So Frelimo chose to forgive many monsters…at least on paper… in hopes of a permanent [Frelimo rubbing a yellow monster]

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peace.

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Another reason for all this was that Mozambique had never had a legal definition of human

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rights.

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Their colonial history was 100 years of corporate rule, followed by 50 years of fascism.

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No government had ever admitted that humans even had any fundamental rights. [Guy in a suit sat on a desk]

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So you can’t really punish people for violating rights that don’t legally exist…

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Also, a bunch of the soldiers who committed war crimes were kids or conscripts who were [Firing squad]

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forced to fight.

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Were they responsible for what they did if they were forced to do it?

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It was all pretty murky…

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So in the name of peace, the government gave everybody amnesty, meaning that [Government giving away boxes of amnesty]

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all was forgiven.

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It was basically like giving the whole country a do-over.

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But a lot of people didn’t believe in the magic amnesty dust the government sprinkled [The government throwing dust over people and Mozambique]

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over Mozambique.

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It’s hard to move on from being abducted, tortured, and transformed into a brainwashed

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killing machine.

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It’s even harder if the guy who did it to you is your next-door neighbor. [Kids with guns]

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So… many people took justice into their own hands.

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Vigilante mobs attacked former Renamo commanders and ripped up their property. [Mobs in the street]

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Many Renamo soldiers have been dragged before illegal juries of civilians and sentenced

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to beatings or death.

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The bad blood between Frelimo and Renamo had a violent flare-up in 2013…and nobody will

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be surprised if it happens again in our lifetimes. [Soldiers fighting in a field]

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The government chose peace over justice, but increasingly people are choosing justice over [The government choices peace, another person chooses justice]

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peace.

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Let’s hope Law and Order marathons don’t start airing in Mozambique...

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