LUANDA: Angolan President Joao Lourenco praised security forces Friday for quelling unrest that claimed 30 lives over two days but rights groups accused them of killing “defenseless people.”
Dozens of shops and warehouses in Luanda were looted and vehicles attacked on Monday and Tuesday when a strike against a fuel price hike descended into some of the worst violence in the oil-rich country in years.
The unrest spread to several provinces and police said that by late Thursday they had confirmed 30 deaths, including of a police officer, with more than 270 people injured, among them 10 members of the defense and security forces.
The police did not say what caused the deaths but civil society groups and opposition parties blamed the security forces, who are regularly accused of using excessive force against demonstrators.
In his first public comment on the situation, Lourenco said “law enforcement acted within the framework of their obligations and therefore the order was promptly restored.”
“We send our thanks to the law enforcement, the justice authorities, the health professionals...,” he said.
More than 1,500 people were arrested, 118 businesses vandalized and 24 public buses attacked, according to police.
“We strongly condemn such criminal acts, we regret the loss of human lives...,” the president said, announcing the government would help looted businesses to replenish their stocks.
Lourenco, from the MPLA party in power since independence from Portugal in 1975, made no mention of the July 1 hike in heavily subsidised fuel prices that has led to a series of demonstrations in a country with a high level of poverty despite its vast oil wealth.
The state is “doing its best” to address Angola’s social problems, he said, citing investments in health, education, housing and job creation.
Opposition and civic groups also condemned the vandalism but accused security forces of using excessive force.
The looting reflects “the hunger and extreme poverty affecting the majority of Angolans,” said the Human Rights Monitoring Working Group of various NGOs late Thursday.
The “legitimate expressions of the population’s indignation should not be used as justification to kill defenseless people,” it said.
The platform urged Lourenco to order the security forces to “refrain from killing defenseless people” and create an independent commission to investigate the killings as well as compensation for the families of the victims.
Details of some of the people killed in the unrest have circulated on social media, with the case of Silvia Mubiala, a mother of six children allegedly shot and killed by police while trying to protect her son in Luanda, causing particular outrage.
