SUMMARY
As the intratsate armed conflict between RENAMO and the FRELIMO-regime unfolded, RENAMO acquired a reputation for their brutality against civilians. RENAMO's own publicly stated rationale for targeting the general public can be exemplified by the first leader Matsangaissa’s statement that it was FRELIMO’s subscription to communism and the consequent scarcity of goods that made them kill in their quest for food and other supplies. Former RENAMO combatants have also framed the interaction with civilians as centered around the obtaining and transporting of food and looted goods.
However, beyond the violence as a consequence of RENAMO's pillaging, the group’s violent behavior towards civilians manifested in other ways.
One, RENAMO concentrated its military attacks on the symbols of FRELIMO’s achievements, such as schools, health centers and social projects, as a way to weaken FRELIMO and its support base. The extensive civilian causalities were thus a result of this strategy of principally targeting civilian institutions.
Two, the group targeted civilians in excessive and sensational ways to spread fear in general public. Most of the killings were performed without guns; captured RENAMO documents show that it was clearly mandated from leadership not to use ammunition due to its scarcity and instead use fire to burn down villages or use knives and axes to kill. Moreover, RENAMO was known for kidnapping and using child soldiers. The group also systematically perpetrated sexual violence.
RENAMO effectively used the media to spread its fear propaganda by perpetuating the above ostentatious violence. To exemplify, RENAMO was known for targeting public transportation into Mozambique’s towns and cities – in order to rob, but also to kill the majority of passengers while leaving some alive to describe what happened. The attacks against civilians thus served both as a powerful warning, which rendered the population compliant to RENAMO as well as a disincentive to potential FRELIMO sympathizers to become active.
Lastly, analysts have also found that violence against civilians was apart of the RENAMO's recruitment scheme – to retain the coerced combatants they were often forced to perform ‘initiation killings’ which implicated them in the atrocities and made it difficult for them to return to civilian life. While the absolute majority of the victims of these attacks were Mozambicans, some foreign nationals, e.g. aid workers, were also among the causalities.
It is difficult to discern whether the violence committed against the local population was selective or indiscriminate. On the one hand, it appeared as if RENAMO often targeted people associated with the Mozambican government. Common targets were persons who were suspected to withhold information or food. There also appeared to be geographical variations. On the other hand, the violence appeared unsystematic when looking at the type of violence that occurred; it displayed the same characteristics (indiscriminate and large-scale) across time and geography.
While attacks on civilians occurred all over Mozambique and at times also in neighboring Zimbabwe and Zambia (which both supported FRELIMO-government), most observers agree that the level of violence varied considerably in various parts of the country. Attacks against civilians were much more frequent in areas under FRELIMO’s control, particularly in the south where RENAMO had the least support among the population. There were fewer recorded incidents in RENAMO's stronghold areas, in the central and northern provinces.
RENAMO first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 1989, when the one-sided violence resulted in more than 25 civilian deaths. It should be noted that the group conducted one-sided violence prior to this, yet 1989 is the first year covered by UCDP data. The threshold was reached in mid-March of 1989 when RENAMO killed 9 civilians in Chipinge, Zimbabwe - near the south-eastern border with Mozambique.
