1. The Vice-President is fully aware of the abovementioned incident.

2. On several occasions, including during the Political Dialogue session under art. 8 of the Cotonou agreement on 23 June, the EU has raised with the Mozambican authorities the acts of violence that targeted Professor Macuane and the need to carry out a swift and credible investigation into the attack perpetrated on 23 May. The EU also recalled the fundamental right of all citizens to freely and peacefully voice their opinions as enshrined in the Constitution. So far the criminal investigation on this incident has not provided results.

Also, during the art.8 Political Dialogue session as well as directly with the Attorney General's office, the EU further raised the importance to reinforce the independence of the Criminal Investigation Police in the reform under way in order to effectively fight the growing perception of impunity in Mozambique.

3. The EU is supporting the Rule of Law in Mozambique, notably through a support to the Prosecutors office and the Anti-corruption Service, which complements efforts carried out by other donors focusing specifically on civil society organisations' (CSOs) fight against corruption.

The EU is currently supporting local CSOs on participation and good governance, particularly for assuring monitoring of the social delivery services and State budget monitoring. The EU foresees the continuation of its support to the CSOs and is currently formulating a project aimed at providing support to CSOs with three priorities: a) promoting a conducive environment for a strong, diversified and sustainable civil society; b) increasing civil society participation and policy monitoring c) building CSOs' capacity in policy monitoring and service delivery at local level.