Amnesty International on Thursday called on Mozambique and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to launch an independent probe into an incident in which soldiers allegedly burned human bodies in the insurgency-hit north of the country.In a video that went viral this week, soldiers believed to be members of the SADC Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) are seen throwing dead bodies onto a pile of burning household items in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province. 

Amnesty International regional director for East and Southern Africa, Tigere Chagutah described as deplorable the “burning of what appears to be dead bodies by soldiers” and said this “is likely a violation of international humanitarian law, which prohibits the mutilation of corpses and requires that the dead be disposed of in a respectful manner.”

“Mozambican authorities and SAMIM must launch a prompt, thorough and independent investigation into the circumstances of these killings and the burning of the bodies and anyone against whom there is sufficient admissible evidence should be prosecuted in fair trials,” Tigere said. 

He said the incident gives a glimpse into what is going on away from the attention of international media “in this forgotten war in Cabo Delgado.”

“Tragically it appears that incidents of violence against civilians, extrajudicial executions and other human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law are still occurring, as previously documented by Amnesty International.”

The incident is believed to have taken place in November 2022 in Cabo Delgado, where the SAMIM regional force has been fighting Islamic State-aligned insurgents since 2021 alongside Mozambique government forces. 

SAMIM announced on Tuesday that it had launched an internal probe of the incident.