In a statement, the Executive Secretariat of the Permanent Committee of the Political Commission of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) states that it became aware through a report broadcast by Public Television of Angola, about the discovery of bones, "which allegedly belong to to former UNITA leaders, victims of internal conflicts".
The document highlights that "Civicop was created in the spirit of forgiveness and with the purpose of reconciling the Angolan family as well as honoring the memory of the victims, which occurred in all provinces of the country, during the fratricidal war and internal conflicts".
"This purpose, at the time, was welcomed and supported by the UNITA management, having, for this purpose, appointed two representatives to the same commission", the statement said.
For UNITA, the "deliberate deviation from the purposes that were the basis for the creation of Civicop is a concern, as it was transformed into a partisan instrumentality for casting and publicly judging political opponents as enemies".
"The Executive Secretariat of the Standing Committee of the Political Commission of UNITA strongly condemns the way in which Civicop displayed the bones of some of the victims, in disrespect for African families, values and traditions, and therefore demands the resumption of the objectives and principles that guided its creation, as urgently as possible", highlights the note.
UNITA informs that its Standing Committee will meet shortly "to analyze the situation" now created "and consider subsequent steps".
In recent days, Civicop announced that it will have located, in the municipality of Cuemba, Bié province, the remains of Ana Savimbi, generals Bock, Perestelo, Tarzan and Antero, through reports published on Angolan public television.
In 2019, the President, João Lourenço, created Civicop, in charge of the general plan to pay homage to the victims of the political conflicts, which occurred in Angola, between November 11, 1975 and April 4, 2002, and two years later he apologized to the families, on behalf of the Angolan State, with the process of identifying and exhuming the bodies that must be handed over to families for dignified funerals underway.
Among the conflicts, the "intentional coup attempt of the 27th of May [1977] or possible crimes committed by movements or political parties in the context of the armed conflict" stand out.
As part of the process, the remains of UNITA leaders killed in the post-electoral conflicts in 1992, namely Salupeto Pena, Jeremias Chitunda, Mango Alicerces and Eliseu Chimbili, have already been handed over to the families.
