OMUNGA, a non-governmental organization (NGO), states, in its report on the events of June 5, 2023 in the province of Huambo (protests against the increase in fuel prices), that among the fatal victims was a child under 12 years old.
In the report made public on Thursday and consulted by Lusa, OMUNGA says it carried out work in that province from 23 to 25 June 2023, days after the protests, having found that the police intervention “was once again disproportionate with the objective of preventing the demonstration.”
“According to the information we obtained on the ground, there were eleven deaths and one seriously injured, hit with two bullets in the abdomen and immediately taken to the hospital. Among the deaths, we highlight that of a 12-year-old child”, states the report.
The organization for the defense and promotion of human rights in Angola highlights that the victims' families are calling for justice and are willing to take the case to court, in order to hold criminally responsible the agents involved in the deaths that took place on the day of the protests and the following days. .
The police's final report on the riots recorded on June 5, 2023, in the province of Huambo reported, at the time, five dead, eight injured and 34 arrested following protests over the granting of fuel subsidies.
In a press release, the National Police of Huambo regretted the deaths that it was “not possible to avoid” due to “acts of violence and affront to the police forces”.
OMUNGA, which writes in its report all the names of the victims, mostly young taxi drivers and motorcycle taxi drivers, and the respective causes of death, insisted that the police used force disproportionately to disperse protesters and “ended up hitting innocent people who had nothing had to do with the demonstration.”
For the NGO, the police must always act in favor of the people and not the other way around, highlighting that a large part of the families who lost their loved ones, “as a consequence of the poor performance of the forces and security”, did not benefit from any type of support from the institutions to carry out the death and those who benefited "the support was negligible”.
It also advocates that the government of the province of Huambo create a multisectoral team to deal with issues linked to the June 5th protests, especially to guarantee assistance to the families of the victims, also asking for the opening of disciplinary proceedings against agents with the police command.
“Because there were many scattered bullets that fatally hit the population”, highlights the NGO.
In this report, which appears nine months after the protests, OMUNGA also recommended that state institutions respond to the families' outcry, stating that “it is in everyone's interest to investigate the facts that led the police to use excessive force”.
The need for criminal liability for the agents involved is also defended by the non-governmental organization.
