Gilles Cistac

Gilles Cistac (* 1961 in Toulouse , France ; † March 3, 2015 in Maputo , Mozambique ) was a French-Mozambican constitutional lawyer .

Gilles Cistac (left) at the Landsgemeinde Appenzell 1986

Life

Gilles Cistac was born in 1961 in the city of Toulouse in the south of France. He also studied public law in Toulouse, where he also received his doctorate in 1998. From 1985 to 1986 Gilles Cistac was a fellow of the Helvetic Confederation at the University of Geneva, where he dealt in particular with questions of international law. In the spring of 1986, he and other scholarship holders took part in an excursion from the University of Geneva to the rural municipality of Appenzell, where every year the voters present vote by show of hands on current applications.

Moved to Mozambique

In 1993 Cistac first came to Maputo as a consultant on behalf of the French Foreign Ministry , where he worked for Universidade Eduardo Mondlane , among others . After a short return to France, he permanently moved to Maputo in 1995, where he has since been teaching law at the state Universidade Eduardo Mondlane. Until his death he was deputy head of the research department of the law faculty. In 2008, at his instigation, the Centro de Estudos sobre a Integração Regional (CEDIR), a small research center dedicated to the harmonization of law within the SADC , was set up.

In 2009 Cistac received the Ordre des Palmes Académiques in the rank of knight (Chevalier) for his services to the decentralization of the country, the highest award in France for services to the French education system. In 2010, Cistac also took on Mozambican citizenship.

death

Memorial march in honor of Gilles Cistac in Maputo on March 7, 2015, in the front row Ivone Soares , RENAMO group leader in the national parliament

Cistac died on the morning of March 3, 2015 after being shot from a passing car while getting into a taxi in front of a sidewalk café in the Polana district . A few hours later, Cistac succumbed to his injuries in Maputo Central Hospital . The opposition party RENAMO as well as the opposition media accuse radical FRELIMO forces of having shot Cistac, which the FRELIMO leadership denied. Several commemorative and demonstration parades commemorated the constitutional lawyer, embassies from various countries, including France, the EU and the United States, condemned the murder and demanded that the background be clarified quickly.

The murder of Cistac is another sign of the worsening political crisis in Mozambique, which has existed since 2013.

Cistac's body was transferred to France on March 12, 2015.

In the course of the investigation, the Mozambican police arrested two suspects, but they were released. The murder remains unsolved to this day, human rights activists complain that the police are very slow to investigate "not at all".

Public work

Cistac was seen as a critic of the FRELIMO party, which had ruled since 1975, and often gave interviews in opposition media, even if he described himself as non-party. He criticized, among other things, the constant violation of human rights, the appropriation of the state apparatus by the party, the power of the executive and the weak, partisan Mozambican public prosecutor.

After the parliamentary and presidential elections in 2014, the largest opposition party, RENAMO, protested against the results, according to which FRELIMO won by a huge margin. In particular, RENAMO demanded that it be allowed to govern the provinces in which it was able to gain the most votes - so far, the provincial governors have been appointed by the central government in Maputo. Opposition leader Dhlakama called for the introduction of “autonomous provinces” and thus a federalization of the centrally governed country. FRELIMO, in particular President Nyusi , rejected this on the grounds that this was not constitutionally possible. Cistac contradicted Nyussi that the constitution did provide for the possibility of introducing federal structures under the central government, and drafted a legislative project for RENAMO that was to be discussed in the Assembleia da República .

In particular, media close to FRELIMO criticized Cistac for his statements. The spokesman for FRELIMO, Damião José, accused Cistac of lies and dishonesty, and that he was ungrateful to the Mozambican people, even though they had received him "friendly".

Private

Gilles Cistac was a widower and left one child.

Works (selection)

Gilles Cistac has published more than 50 papers and works on Mozambican law.

• O direito eleitoral moçambicano - Le droit électoral mozambicain (1994)
• O tribunal administrativo de Moçambique (1997)
• Aspectos jurídicos, económicos e sociais do uso e aproveitamento da terra (2003)
• Tourism e desenvolvimento local (2007)
• 10 anos de descentralização em Moçambique: os caminhos sinuosos de um processo emergente (2008)
• Direito processual administrativo contencioso teoria e prática (2010)
• Manual Prático de Jurisprudência Eleitoral (2011), ISBN 978-9896700263
• Aspectos jurídicos da integração regional (2012), ISBN 978-9896700317

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} António Cascais: Murder of constitutional lawyer exacerbates political crisis in Mozambique. Deutsche Welle, March 4, 2015, accessed on March 14, 2015 . 
2. ↑ Daniel Hourquebie: Gilles Cistac, "un homme de dialogue qui aimait la vie". In: La Depêche. March 5, 2015, accessed March 14, 2015 (French). 
3. ↑ ^{a b} UEM exalta feitos do Professor Gilles Cistac em velório. Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, March 11, 2015, accessed March 14, 2015 (Portuguese). 
4. ↑ Professor Gilles Cistac Chevalier de l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques. Ambassade de France au Maputo, January 27, 2010, accessed March 14, 2015 (French). 
5. ↑ Elodie Lanfroy: Mozambique: l'avocat toulousain Gilles Cistac tué par balles en pleine rue. In: La Depêche. March 5, 2015, accessed March 14, 2015 (French). 
6. ^ Adrien Barbier: Un avocat critique du pouvoir assassiné à Maputo. In: Le Monde Afrique. March 3, 2015, accessed March 15, 2015 (French). 
7. ^ Nelson Carvalho: Afonso Dhlakama promete vingar assassinato de Gilles Cistac. Deutsche Welle, March 4, 2015, accessed on March 14, 2015 (Portuguese). 
8. ↑ Guilherme Correia da Silva: Moçambicanos de luto pela morte de Gilles Cistac. Deutsche Welle, March 6, 2015, accessed March 14, 2015 (Portuguese). 
9. ↑ Local statement following the assassination of Professor Gilles Cistac in Maputo on March 3, 2015 (03/03/2015). Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Mozambique, March 3, 2015, accessed on March 14, 2015 . 
10. ↑ Declarations du porte-parole: Assassinat de M. Gilles Cistac (March 3, 2015). Ambassade de France au Maputo, March 3, 2015, accessed March 14, 2015 (French). 
11. ↑ Declaração à Imprensa: Assassinato Gilles Cistac. (No longer available online.) US Embassy in Maputo, Mozambique, March 3, 2015, archived from the original on March 15, 2015 ; Retrieved March 14, 2015 (Portuguese). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
12. ↑ Murder of prominent lawyer presents double threat to Mozambique's new president. (No longer available online.) In: Menas.co.uk. March 11, 2015, archived from the original on April 2, 2015 ; accessed on March 14, 2015 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
13. ↑ Norman Taku: Press release: Center calls for immediate and independent investigation into the tragic assassination and untimely death of Prof Gilles Cistac, esteemed human rights educator and activist. (No longer available online.) Center for Human Rights / University of Pretoria, March 3, 2015, archived from the original on April 2, 2015 ; accessed on March 14, 2015 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
14. ↑ Nádia Issufo: Polícia Moçambicana sem desenvolvimentos sobre caso Cistac. Deutsche Welle, March 10, 2015, accessed on March 27, 2015 (Portuguese). 
15. ^ Mozambique: Concerns over the unsolved murder of Gilles Cistac. (No longer available online.) Club of Mozambique, September 2, 2015, archived from the original on September 23, 2015 ; accessed on September 2, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
16. ^ Raul Senda: Sobre os poderes na ditosa Pátria amada. In: The Delagoa Bay Review. September 20, 2011, accessed March 14, 2015 (Portuguese). 
17. ^ Gilles Cistac: "Projecto da Frelimo é pouco substancial". In: O País. October 14, 2011, accessed March 14, 2015 (Portuguese). 
18. ↑ Emildo Sambo: Gilles Cistac prevê gestão autónoma das províncias onde a Renamo reclama vitória. In: A Verdade. January 30, 2015. Retrieved March 14, 2015 (Portuguese). 
19. ↑ Telio Chamuço: Os equívocos do Prof. Gilles Cistac. In: Jornal de Notícias. February 5, 2015, accessed March 14, 2015 (Portuguese). 
20. ↑ Paul Fauvet: Dhlakama tenta explicar "Provincias autónomas". (No longer available online.) Rádio Moçambique, February 18, 2015, archived from the original on March 3, 2016 ; Retrieved March 14, 2015 (Portuguese). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
21. ↑ AINDA OS PRONUNCIAMENTOS DE CISTAC: Porta-voz da Frelimo deplora. In: Jornal de Notícias. February 19, 2015. Retrieved March 14, 2015 (Portuguese).