Africa-Press – Angola. The ombudsman, Florbela Araújo, showed up Thursday, in Lubango, concerned about the situation of prisoners with expired sentences, excesses of preventive detention and overcrowding in the country’s jails, a flagrant violation of Human Rights.
Even without giving numbers, the official said a large number of complaints related to the matter reached the body, as well as prisoners waiting for a certificate of sentence, processes that have been very lengthy.
Speaking on the sidelines of a lecture on “The mandate and role of the ombudsman and the duty to cooperate with public, central and local state administration bodies”, in Lubango, the official declared that as a result of this there have been meetings with the courts, because even deprived of liberty, citizens do not cease to have rights.
“If we go just to see the places, we will not be doing anything, we have to appeal to those who have the responsibility, to the competent authorities to be quicker in the treatment of these processes and avoid cases of violation of the rights of the citizen”, he continued
He also referred to being concerned with issues related to education, as Huíla is the second most populated province in the country, after Luanda and lacks more educational institutions so that more people have access to education.
“That is why we expressed this to the governor of Huíla to see if it improves, as well as to review the issues addressed to hospitals because since the previous visit there has been a great demand at the level of the central hospital in Lubango and the population still does not have access to all health services”, he continued.
Ombudsman receives 300 to 400 complaints/month
He referred that in 2022 the Ombudsman received 4,286 complaints and this year almost 2,000 complaints, with the most frequent cases being procedural delays, land and labor conflicts, and issues of survivors’ pensions.
“We would like to be able to receive more cases, if any, or think that the bodies of the General Administration of the State are moralized and that there is not so much violation of the citizen’s right, in addition to the complaints that are presented to us, we also have those cases of initiative of the ombudsman”, he said.
Asked about the capacity to respond to complaints, Florbela Araújo said that the Ombudsman does not have a decision-making nature, but one of appreciation and mediation.
He added that because they belong to the commission that deals with cases of excess of preventive detention, the intervention was more beneficial for the release of prisoners at the level of prisons and also in the resolution of several cases at the level of the State Administration.
The ombudsman defends the freedom and guarantee rights of citizens violated by the bodies of the Central and Local Administration of the State.
The Ombudsman currently has representations in 10 provinces of the country, namely Bengo, Cunene, Namibe, Cabinda, Cuanza Sul, Malanje, Lunda Norte, Benguela and Cuando Cubango.
The Ombudsman who is on a two-day visit to Huíla with the aim of publicizing the function of the ombudsman and visiting hospitals, prisons, old people’s homes, growing centers, meeting with the Attorney General of the Republic, the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeal and the Court of the Comarca of Lubango, the Criminal Investigation Service and others.
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