"The European Union delegation in Luanda, on behalf of the EU and the Heads of Mission, addressed a letter to the Angolan Minister of Justice and Human Rights deploring the events, recalling the importance of international human rights standards, and requesting a meeting to address the issue directly with the minister," the spokesperson revealed to Lusa.
The same spokesman also noted that "the EU maintains a regular dialogue on human rights with the Angolan authorities, and police violence is among the topics discussed.
The mining town of Cafunfo was the scene of incidents between police and people on January 30, resulting in an undetermined number of deaths and injuries.
On that day, according to the police, about 300 people linked to the Movement of the Portuguese Protectorate Lunda Tchokwe (MPPLT), which for years has defended the autonomy of that region, tried to invade a police station, forcing the forces of order to defend themselves, resulting in six deaths.
The police version is contradicted by MPPLT leaders, opposition political parties and local civil society, who claim that it was an attempt of a demonstration, previously communicated to the authorities, and that the demonstrators were unarmed.
Last Tuesday, deputies from the National Union for Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), the Broad Convergence for the Salvation of Angola (CASA-CE) and the Social Renewal Party (PRS) announced that the incidents in Cafunfo resulted in 23 deaths, 21 wounded and 10 people missing, claiming that the police forces "fired indiscriminately against citizens."
On Wednesday, UNITA revised these figures, when it released a report by the five deputies of that party who went to Cafunfo but were prevented by the forces of order and security from entering the mining town, stating that at least 28 people died in a "barbaric, hideous and cold" way and 18 were wounded.
In the document, which contradicts the version of an act of rebellion and speaks of a protest with 93 demonstrators, the UNITA deputies demanded "responsibility from the actors of the massacre.
