Nun 'forced to leave' Moz

2004-05-12 14:29

Lisbon - A Brazilian missionary who denounced alleged human organ trafficking in Mozambique left the southeast African country late on Tuesday, saying she had been "pressured" into doing so by local authorities.

Maria Elilda dos Santos told Portuguese news agency Lusa she had received a letter from the governor of the northern province on Nampula, where she has worked for nine years, asking her to leave Mozambique.

"I have suffered various methods of very strong pressure", she said, adding: "There no longer exist conditions for me to stay in Mozambique."

Dos Santos, who said she would return to her native Brazil, was one of four Roman Catholic nuns who in February alleged that a network of organ traffickers was operating near their convent and orphanage in Nampula.

The four nuns said they had gathered testimony from would-be victims of the network who managed to escape and had photographs of dead children with missing organs.

But the Mozambican attorney general's office has said a subsequent probe into the allegations had found no evidence that human organs had been removed from bodies and sold.

Assistant Attorney General Rafael Sebastiao said a team of forensic specialists had spent two weeks in the area and examined 14 cases of violent death or disappearances allegedly linked with the sale of organs, but concluded these were not the work of an organ trafficking network.

Government found no evidence

Last month human rights activists in Mozambique questioned the government's capacity to probe the allegations, a view which was shared by the four nuns who have said they had received death threats since going public with their claims.

In February a Protestant Brazilian missionary, Doraci Edinger, who also charged organ trafficking involving children was taking place, was found dead in front of her home in Nampula.

Local authorities in Nampula, Mozambique's third largest city, said her death was related to a financial scandal at her church but Dos Santos said it is linked to the organ trafficking allegations.

"Sister Doraci knew too much and this is why they silenced her", she said, adding Mozambican authorities had arrested innocent people as part of their investigation into Edinger's murder.

Six people have been arrested so far in connection with her death.

Body parts, including sexual organs, are commonly used in may parts of Mozambique in traditional rituals believed to bring good fortune and wealth.

The European Commission said last week it would give Mozambique, a former Portuguese colony, $11.9m to help it fully investigate the organ trafficking allegations.

- AFP