Tag: Alves Kamulingue

Military Police Uses Pliers to Torture Victim

Victória Jamba Sequesseque is upset but she is very proud of her 22-year-old son, Emiliano Catumbela. He has been in police custody since the May 27 for having taken part in an attempted vigil in Independence Square, which was violently squashed by the National Police. The vigil, organised by the Revolutionary Youth Movement, sought to peacefully mark the first anniversary of the disappearance of the activists Alves Kamulingue and Isaías Cassule, who were kidnapped in Luanda. The young man, currently being held in the district of Viana, gave details of his torture to his mother and Member of Parliament Leonel Gomes, during a visit on Saturday. “It was the provincial commander of the National Police [in Luanda], Commissioner Elizabeth “Bety” Rank Frank, who personally gave orders to the police officers on duty to beat the young detainees, and to make sure to hit them in the head, Emiliano told us,” […]

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Demobilized Soldiers Protest in Luanda

Up to 3,000 demobilized soldiers staged a surprising protest today, in the capital Luanda, marching towards the presidential palace. They went to claim disability pensions and the dues owed to them for years of military service. Initially, the group departed at around 9 am from the general headquarters of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA), and walked almost three kilometers to the gates of the Ministry of Defense, which is just a few hundred meters from the presidential palace. With remarkable organizational and tactical skills, the former soldiers pushed through three barriers strongly manned by the presidential guard and riot police, and fought off the police batons and the canine brigade with kicks. At least two protesters were reported injured by the dogs. For up to an hour, a standoff ensued in front of the Ministry of Defense, where the presidential guard, the riot police, the canine brigade, strongly armed military […]

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The Presidency’s Military Bureau and the Kidnappings

It is now two weeks since Alves Kamulingue, 30, was abducted while walking around downtown Luanda at midday on May 27. Kamulingue was on his way to a demonstration that had been scheduled to bring together former members of the Presidential Guard Unit (UGP) and war veterans to demand the payment of their pensions. On May 29, his friend Isaías Cassule, 34, one of the organisers of the protest, was also seized at dusk in the Cazenga district of Luanda. Kamulingue’s wife, Isa Rodrigues, has received anonymous phone calls that have claimed the missing men are in a police unit somewhere on the outskirts of Luanda. These rumours have started to circulate, including among journalists, contradicting other rumours that have spread on the internet claiming that the men have been executed. The calls come from unknown numbers and are then switched off so that the families cannot call back and […]

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Political Kidnappings in Angola

A group of former presidential guards had planned to march towards the presidential palace, on May 27, in protest against the social and economic conditions in which they were living. The date is filled with symbolism. In 1977, a march towards the presidential palace was used to justify the massacre of tens of thousands of people by the late president Agostinho Neto and his supporters, as a purported measure against a coup attempt. The tragedy of May 27 is still an open wound in Angolan society and a traumatizing event for many families who never recovered the bodies of their loved ones or knew what happen to them. The protest of last week did not materialize as the Military Bureau of the Presidency (Casa Militar) and the Presidencial Guard Unit (UGP) met with the leaders to address their concerns. But, on the same day, a local FM broadcaster, Radio Despertar, […]

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