France, June 18 -- At 8.40pm on 23 January 2025, Simiao Carvalho was walking through Choupal, a neighbourhood behind the airport in Maputo, Mozambique's capital.

Protests linked to the disputed October 2024 general election had shaken the capital that day, as they had many times in previous months. Demonstrators continued to challenge the results of the vote, which had sparked months of unrest across the country.

"I was accompanying a friend to check that his boss's shop had not been vandalised," Carvalho tells RFI.

Three white and grey Toyota Hilux vehicles suddenly pulled up behind him, and 12 men got out, he recalls. "They were dressed in civilian clothes and had black face coverings."

Three other young men were nearby, also helpin...