General Elections 68 – 07 October 2019
An election observation leader and civil society activist in Gaza, Anastacio Matavel. was assassinated this morning as he left an election observer training sessions in the Titiana Complex of neighbourhood 11, Xai-Xai. Matavel was shot 10 times, our correspondents report.
The hit squad escaped at high speed in a Toyota Mark X car with the ADE 127 MC number plate. The car was then involved in a crash with two other cars on EN1, and two of the gunmen died on the scene. One sustained minor injuries and two others fled. In the vehicle were found pistols and AK47-type assault rifles.
The shooting took place about 11 am and Matavel was immediately transported to Gaza Provincial Hospital where he died at 1 pm.
He had opened a training session for election observers organized by the Civil Society Learning Center (CESC) and the NGO League in Mozambique (JOINT) .
Murder of the most senior civil society observation leader by an organized death squad is a major escalation of attempts to prevent civil society monitoring of the election. Gaza is a particular focus of attempts to prevent observation because of claims that 300,000 ghost voters were added to the electoral roll. The observers want to see if the ghosts vote. In other provinces, thousands of observers have been refused credentials and could be unable to observe.
Anastácio Matavele was Executive Director of the Gaza Non-Governmental Organizations Forum (FONGA) and Coordinator of the Peace Room (Sala da Paz) Crisis Office. He was a well-known active voice of civil society, a defender of the human rights of disadvantaged populations.
Investigative journalist Lazaro Mabunda on his Facebook page alleges that the hit squad was from the FIR (riot police) Special Operations Group. There is no corroboration for Mabunda’s report. But he adds that one of the dead is the son of a Xai-Xai police officer. It will be hard to keep secret the identify of the two dead members of the hit squad.
