Mozambique’s Missing Journalists: A Call for Answers in Cabo Delgado

August 30, 2025 – Mozambique –

Ahead of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances (August 30), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and MISA Mozambique issued a joint call urging authorities to clarify the fate of two missing journalists—Ibraimo Abú Mbaruco and Arlindo Chissale, whose disappearances remain unresolved and distressing for their families.

Arlindo Chissale, editor of the news website Pinnacle News, vanished on January 7, 2025, when a group of eight men—some wearing national security and defense uniforms—ordered him off a public minibus in Silva Macua. Since that day, he has not been seen or heard from.

Ibraimo Abú Mbaruco, whose disappearance was touched on in earlier campaigns, remains equally missing—but both cases share a common thread: a haunting silence from governmental authorities and no credible investigative leads to date.

CPJ Africa Regional Director Angela Quintal condemned the state’s inaction, stating that the implications of possible military involvement are “a further damning sign that Mozambique is not safe for journalists.” She emphasizes that the government of President Daniel Chapo must provide answers and reassure the press that they are protected.

Ernesto Nhanale, Executive Director of MISA Mozambique, denounced the archiving of Chissale’s case—without using all avenues of “technical and independent inquiry”—as an “odd and senseless” move that reveals the state’s indifference toward crimes against journalists.

Moreover, CPJ reiterated in a March letter to the president that journalists will continue to operate in fear unless the government demonstrates meaningful accountability and urgency in investigating these disappearances.

In sum, this campaign underscores the critical urgency for Mozambique’s authorities to respond to the families’ despair, uphold press freedom, and combat the culture of impunity that surrounds enforced disappearances of journalists.

Reference – 

https://africabrief.substack.com/p/missing-not-forgotten-cpj-and-misa

#MissingNotForgotten: CPJ, MISA Mozambique call for investigation into 2 journalist disappearances 

CPJ and MISA demand information about missing journalists