Speaking to Lusa, the director of Omunga, João Malavindele, condemned this Tuesday the attitude of the police that "aimed once again to frustrate and prevent the realization of a fundamental right enshrined in the Constitution".
"It seems that the suspicions that existed after the re-election of President João Lourenço are beginning to be consummated", he stressed, recalling the "completely unnecessary" military parade at João Lourenço's inauguration ceremony, in September 2022.
Since then, he added, "we have only witnessed an environment of intimidation, persecution, assassinations and other evils that jeopardize the rule of law and democracy."
Activists who intended to march on Saturday, in Luanda, for the end of the persecution of zungueiras (street vendors) and freedom for "political prisoners" saw their march repressed by police agents and report scenes of violence, attacks and arrests.
On the same day, the police repressed a march promoted by the political project PRA-JA Servir Angola, led by politician Abel Chivukuvuku.
João Malavindele refers that the demonstration is a right whose exercise does not require any authorization, regretting that even after debates and studies on the subject, the sovereign bodies are unable to stop the "arrogance and arbitrariness" of the police.
But, "until today, both the sovereign bodies and the courts have not been able to put a brake on it, put an end to this arrogance, this arbitrariness that has become our national police", he pointed out.
"So, it's time to start seeing the police as a truly republican institution that ensures the protection of citizens, but what we've been seeing is a role completely contrary to what guides our Constitution when it comes to the police ", he criticized.
For the leader of Omunga, the President of the Republic needs to intervene and give guidelines to put an end to these atrocities, pointing out what he called "misalignment" at the executive level, especially in the ministries of Justice and Human Rights and of the Interior.
Malavindele even questioned the actions to promote human rights by the supervisory body, considering that they "collide" with those of the Ministry of the Interior, "which, in the name of maintaining order, systematically violates human rights".
"This is serious, Angola needs to be discussed seriously so that we have a country that is also serious and good to live in", he concluded.
