Luísa Damião was speaking after visiting the women's wing of Viana Prison, where she also donated some food and materials to support the training of inmates.
The lower number of inmates in this space, according to Luísa Damião, is due to a greater commitment to humanization.
"Despite being inmates, we must respect their rights, because they are human beings like us, we actually came to see what conditions they live in so that we can advocate, in case it was necessary to improve, fortunately, we found a good situation here, we took advantage of this moment to provide solidarity to these women," said the vice president of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA).
According to the vice-president of the party, the MPLA shares the principles of solidarity and humanism, so it wanted to verify the conditions in which the inmates live and offer their solidarity.
"From what I've seen, the conditions are acceptable, and we think that the principles of humanism are here and that's the most important thing, because even though they're recluses, they're human beings," she said.
Asked by Lusa about how the MPLA looks at the issue of overcrowding in jails and the growing number of young people in conflict with the law, Luísa Damião said that the matter is a concern for political education.
"It's a concern and, in fact, for us to be able to advocate, we must verify, that's why we make the verification visits to be able to advocate later. In the specific case, fortunately, there is no overcrowding and we are satisfied with what we have seen here," he added.
In her intervention, the Secretary of State for Penitentiary Services, Bamoquina Zau, said that that penitentiary unit has a capacity for 450 places, but houses 244 inmates, 30 of which are foreigners.
Bamoquina Zau characterized as "good" the relationship between the inmates and the prison staff, despite the immense difficulties that the prison system is facing, "especially in this context of financial crisis that the country has been going through for some time."
"Nevertheless, we have to praise the effort that the executive makes, placing at our disposal the necessary conditions for an increasingly humanized penitentiary system, without forgetting the mission and delivery spirit that guides the herd," he said.
The crimes of homicide, drug trafficking, fraud and theft lead the convictions of inmates in that space, indicated, in statements to the press, the assistant director general for the operational area of the Penitentiary Service, prison commissioner Etelvina Santana.
According to Etelvina Santana, among the foreign inmates, mostly convicted of drug trafficking, are nationals of the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Namibia and Venezuela.
For the re-socialization of the inmates, the chain promotes professional training in the sewing, pastry and beauty fields, and some inmates are also involved in maintenance work at the establishment itself.
Etelvina Santana said that although there is no record of any case of covid-19 since the onset of the disease in the country in 2020 to date, the pandemic has affected the service due to the restriction of family visits.
"It has been difficult to communicate with the family, which is a fundamental object for rehabilitative treatment. The family is everything, they are women who always need to know how the family is doing. Although there is a virtual parlor, [it] has foreign companies benefited the most, but it is for all of them," he indicated.
