Mozambique : the Process of Peace

04/10/1992
General Peace Agreement for Mozambique

Protocol I
Basic principles

On 18 October 1991, the delegation of the Government of the Republic of Mozambique, headed by Armando Em�lio Guebuza, Minister of Transport and Communications, and composed of Aguiar Mazula, Minister of State Administration, Teodato Hunguana, Minister of Labour, and Francisco Madeira, Diplomatic Adviser to the President of the Republic, and the delegation of Renamo, headed by Raul Manuel Domingos, Chief of the External Relations Department, and composed of Vicente Zacarias Ululu, Chief of the Information Department, Agostinho Semende Murrial, Deputy Chief of the Political Affairs Department and Jo�o Francisco Almirante, member of the President�s cabinet, meeting at Rome in the context of the peace talks, in the presence of the mediators, Mario Raffaelli, representative of the Government of the Italian Republic and co-ordinator of the mediators, Jaime Gon�alves, Archbishop of Beira, Andrea Riccardi and Matteo Zuppi of the Community of Sant� Edigio,

Determined to secure the higher interests of the Mozambican people, reaffirm that dialogue and collaboration are the indispensable means of achieving a lasting peace in the country.

Accordingly:

1. The Government undertakes to refrain from taking any action that is contrary to the provisions of the Protocols to be concluded and from adopting laws or measures or applying existing laws which may be inconsistent with those Protocols.

2. Renamo, for its part, undertakes, beginning on the date of entry into force of the cease-fire, to refrain from armed combat and instead to conduct its political struggle in conformity with the laws in force, within the framework of the existing State institutions and in accordance with the conditions and guarantees established in the General Peace Agreement.

3. The two parties commit themselves to concluding as soon as possible a General Peace Agreement, containing Protocols on each of the items of the agenda adopted on 28 May 1991 and to take the necessary steps to that end. In that connection, the Government shall endeavour not to hamper international travel by representatives of Renamo and external contacts of Renamo in connection with the peace negotiations. Contacts within the country between Renamo and the mediators or the members of the Joint Verification Commission shall likewise be permitted for the same purpose. Specific arrangements for such contacts shall be made on a case-by-case basis in response to requests by the mediators to the Government.

4. The Protocols to be concluded in the course of these negotiations shall form an integral part of the General Peace Agreement and shall enter into force on the date of signature of the Agreement, with the exception of paragraph 3 of this Protocol, which shall enter into force immediately.

5. The parties agree on the principle of establishing a commission to supervise and monitor compliance with the General Peace Agreement. The commission shall be composed of representatives of the Government, Renamo, the United Nations and other organisations or Governments to be agreed upon between the parties.

For the delegation of the Government of the Republic of Mozambique:
Armando Em�lio Guebuza

For the delegation of Renamo:
Raul Manuel Domingos

The mediators:
Mario Raffaelli, Jaime Gon�alves, Andrea Riccardi, Matteo Zuppi

Done at Sant� Edigio, Rome, on 18 October 1991.