The position was expressed by the leader of the parliamentary group of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), Liberty Chiaka, when he gave, at a press conference, an x-ray of the state of human rights in Angola.
According to the leader of the UNITA parliamentary group, "the main violator of human rights in Angola is the State itself", because despite the country's adherence to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, "authoritarianism" prevails which "conflicts with respect for citizens' political and civil rights."
"Instead of respecting the supremacy of the Constitution and the law, the Police bodies choose to combat crime by committing other crimes", said the deputy, stressing that "the Republic of Angola is governed by a Constitution, and not by the principle of eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth".
Liberty Chiaka highlighted that these practices are incompatible with the limits imposed on police activity by the democratic rule of law, also arguing that "it is necessary to increase training and make public the processes of accountability of agents, at all levels, to avoid tragedies such as the one that happened last week, in Rangel, on Dona Amália's street".
The UNITA deputy was referring to the death of a woman by the police and the injury of a police officer by the population, following an incident in which the police were called to intervene in that neighborhood.
"The UNITA parliamentary group considers that, in order to comply with the Constitution and the law, in particular the principles of legality, proportionality, justice, good administration and accountability, the police need to improve their working methods and better train their agents", he said.
"We all have to internalize, once and for all, that in the Republic of Angola the police do not have the authority to execute anyone, as there is no death penalty in Angola", he added.
According to Liberty Chiaka, "the regime knows who the criminals were who were recruited to join the police", further highlighting that "the roots of abuse and corruption in the police are old and known".
"It is necessary to clean up, restructure and reinvent the police. The General Command of the National Police cannot continue to tolerate drunkenness, corruption and abuses of power among its agents," he declared.
In his speech, the leader of the UNITA parliamentary group also spoke about arbitrary detentions and offenses against physical freedom and official security, whose rights of Angolans "have also been violated with impunity by bodies of the State itself", citing some cases in the public domain, from lawyers, activists and ordinary citizens.
"For example, in the months of April, May and June, in the provinces of Luanda, Bié and Lunda Sul, the State violated this right, among others, with the arbitrary arrests of citizens Zola Ferreira Bambi, António Chimbuambua Martins, Mabiala Kimuana, Oswaldo Nzila and others", he indicated.
The x-ray also included cases of persecution of political opponents, activists and journalists, accusing "the regime" of promoting this environment "with the purpose of conditioning society's stance, with regard to the realization of fundamental rights, freedoms and guarantees".
"The most recent situations involve General Kamalata Numa, accused of the crime of outraging the State, its symbols and organs, and the activist Dito Dali, the latter accused of committing the crimes of rebellion, attack against the President of the Republic, outraging the State, its symbols and organs, and disruption of the functioning of sovereign bodies.
