Twenty MEPs from various countries and political persuasions have written to the European Union’s head of diplomacy demanding that recent events in Angola publically should be condemned.
The detention without charge of a group of activists, alleged to have been plotting a coup, led to a march by family members.
In a letter to Federica Mogherini, Europe’s High Representative for Foreign Policy, the MEPs described the events of August 8th in Luanda when there was a march organised by the families of 15 young activists, held since June.
“On August 8th, mothers and relatives of the 15 young political detainees in Angola defied a prohibition by the authorities for a duly notified peaceful protest in Luanda to demand the release of their children and friends” according to the MEPs letter which explained that the youths, detained as they were thought to be planning a coup, “have not been formally charged yet.”
The MEPs, including members from Portugal, said that the march was met with ‘extreme police brutality’ and that some protestors were beaten by the authorities and attacked by police dogs.
The MEPs are calling on Mogherini to express Europe’s concern over the continued detention of the youths.
President dos Santos, (pictured) should he be subject to 'expressions of concern' will continue as usual in a country he has ruled as a dictator for 36 years.
Dos Santos has justifiably been accused of leading one of the most corrupt regimes in Africa which ignores the country's economic and social needs while he amasses incalculable wealth for his family. Suppression of any opposition, real or perceived, is brutal.
Comments
So much of Portugal's problems today stem from this period that no-one likes to talk about - its Inner State within a State.
Which mirrors Angola's State within a State. The same bribing and corruption needed to get access to the high level decision makers. The same placemen in high level positions in the judiciary, the police, the military to keep a lid on things.
And the safety blanket of inadequate laws to punish anyone in the Inner State for anything. As with ex-PM Socrates in Evora Jail who is bizarrely casting his own shadow over the forthcoming election. But how can any of the major Portuguese politicians in any of the parties distance themselves from what Socrates is accused of doing - when it is custom and practice for them?
Nothing has moved on in either country.