In a letter, dated Tuesday, addressed to João Lourenço, to which Lusa news agency had access, survivors of May 27, the date on which an alleged coup attempt occurred in the country, state that, although the purpose of reconciliation has been presented, "Angola has followed a wrong path, with the clear intention of making the past forget.
The signers of the letter also consider that the path being followed is wrong because the government wants to "close what was one of the darkest periods of its history: the 27th of May 1977, which killed thousands of Angolans.
They recall that in July of last year, the 27 of May Platform presented to the Commission for the Implementation of the Reconciliation Plan in Memory of the Victims of the Political Conflicts (CIVICOP) a set of essential measures for a true reconciliation, namely that the historical truth be sought, with an impartial and fast investigation.
The 27 of May Platform also asked the CIVICOP to define as an objective the identification of those responsible for the crimes committed, the only way to know who is forgiven, preceded by a request for forgiveness, that agents of repression who committed crimes are no longer considered "victims", and to define as a central objective of the Commission of Investigation and Certification of Deaths, the location of the remains of victims, their certification with DNA testing, the issuance of death certificates and their return to the families.
"He also mentioned that a request for forgiveness from you, as the highest magistrate of the nation and President of the MPLA [Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola], was necessary," they add in the letter, noting that "Pope Francis did so in relation to the massacres in Rwanda, only because the Catholic Church had shown passivity."
For the survivors, "in the case of Angola, it is more justified, because there was authorship of political leaders, with direct responsibility of Agostinho Neto [first President of Angola, between 1975 and 1979], who gave the green light to the massacres, with the incendiary phrase "We will not waste time with trials.
"Instead of following up on such measures demanded by us, CIVICOP is promoting a theatrical staging for next May 27, which goes to the caricature of laying a wreath next to the statue of the first person responsible for the slaughter of so many Angolans, certainly honoring him for having ordered the barbarism," the survivors write.
Another criticism in the document is directed at the 27 de Maio Foundation, "of supposed survivors, chosen as the only interlocutor."
"The survivors appeal to you, with your authority, to reverse this senseless path and promote a true reconciliation, achieving the goals we have set and satisfying the longings of the families of the disappeared and of the long-suffering Angolan nation," urge the signatories.
According to the survivors, by following this path, the President "will assume a relevant place in the country's political history, acquiring the stature of a true statesman, who broke with barbarism.
For the first time in 44 years, the Government will hold a ceremony to mark the 27th of May, in a ceremony that is expected to be attended by survivors and orphans.
The government program headed by CIVICOP provides for this day, two moments, the first in the cemetery of Santa Ana, and the second in the Plaza of Independence, where the statue of Agostinho Neto is, with the deposition of a wreath in both spaces, speeches and the delivery of two death certificates to two orphans.
On Sunday, after the Platform to have announced, in March, the suspension of its participation in the CIVICOP, declared its disengagement from the commission, in letter sent to its coordinator, Francisco Queiroz, equally minister of Justice and Human Rights.
In statements to Lusa last week, the president of the 27 de Maio Foundation, Silva Mateus, considered the tribute to be paid to the victims "a sign of reconciliation between the parties.
In May 27, 1977, an alleged attempt of coup d'état, in an operation apparently led by Nito Alves - then former minister of the Interior since the independence (November 11, 1975) until October 1976 - was violently repressed by the regime of Agostinho Neto.
Six days earlier, on May 21, the MPLA had expelled Nito Alves from the party, which led the former minister and several supporters to invade the Luanda prison to free other sympathizers, taking control of the national radio station at the same time, becoming known as "fractionists".
The troops loyal to Agostinho Neto, with support from Cuban military, eventually established order and arrested the insurgents, followed, then what was known as "purge", with the elimination of factions, having been killed about 30 thousand people, mostly without any connection to Nito Alves, as stated by Amnesty International in several reports on the subject.
In April 2019, the President ordered the creation of a commission (the CIVICOP), to draw up a general plan to honor the victims of the political conflicts that occurred in Angola between November 11, 1975 and April 4, 2002 (end of the civil war).
