In a note sent this Wednesday to Lusa, the FoA said it was very concerned about the incident that took place last Saturday in Benguela, where the police used excessively disproportionate force against militants, friends and supporters of the União Nacional to the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA, in opposition).
The Benguela march aimed to welcome the XIII Ordinary Congress of the "Black Rooster" and the re-election of Adalberto da Costa Júnior as president of UNITA.
At issue is the death of 41-year-old Eugénio Pessela, who, according to a press release by the UNITA parliamentary group, citing witnesses, "peacefully participated" in a march organized on Saturday by the party's provincial secretariat in Benguela.
UNITA provincial secretary in Benguela, Adriano Sapiñala, shared on his Facebook page that the 41-year-old militant was hit in the chest with a tear gas grenade, and was assisted, but did not resist the wound.
For FoA, the facts that occurred "violate human rights and the Constitution of the Republic of Angola, especially when the Angolan authorities consider that peaceful demonstrations or marches by the MPLA [Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, in power] should be authorized and not of civil society or opposition parties".
The organization's concern for human rights is also based on the "use of force against defenseless citizens, who seek to exercise their right to freedom of assembly and demonstration, on violation of the Constitution through the excessive use of public communication bodies and their use for the demonization of opposition parties and civil society".
A "dignified treatment and respect" for citizens in exercising their rights is what Friends of Angola defends, also appealing to the Government, the governor of Benguela and the President "to defend human life, regardless of party color, belief or ethnicity".
"FoA, at the same time, demands from the Angolan authorities the opening of an inquiry with the objective of verifying the veracity of the facts and bringing to justice those responsible for the aggression and death of the citizen in question", reads the rejection note.
Police announced on Monday that they had opened an internal investigation to investigate the death of Eugénio Pessela, noting that the march's promoters "disobeyed the instructions of the authorities".
