Mozambique's journalists will continue to live in fear as long as the murder of investigative reporter Carlos Cardoso remains unsolved. That's the conclusion of a Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) special report last week based on interviews and research conducted during a visit to the country last July. Written by Yves Sokorobi, the report urges the government to step up its inquiry into Cardoso's November 2000 murder and requests an official response from authorities.

Cardoso was an investigative reporter for the daily "Metical," exposing corruption scandals that implicated the highest levels of the ruling Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) government, CPJ says. The report says everyone interviewed in Maputo says Cardoso was killed "because he was the only journalist who had the contacts, skills, and inclination to confront the ruling elite with evidence of its own corruption."

"Eight months after Cardoso's murder, journalists in Mozambique remained afraid to cover sensitive stories, particularly those involving corruption," the report says. This fear had "left a serious gap in investigative reporting in the country."

Despite initial progress on the case, the government has stalled its inquiry into Cardoso's death. Although six arrests have been made, no trial dates have been set and the police's only eyewitness interviewed at the crime scene has disappeared, CPJ says. The organisation says police have not investigated the possibility that Cardoso was murdered because of his journalistic activities.

To read CPJ's full report, see www.cpj.org.