Africa-Press – Angola. The Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Marcy Lopes, Friday assured the credibility of the technical and scientific work carried out in memory of the victims of the political conflicts that occurred between November 11, 1975 and April 4, 2002 .
The official, who was speaking at a meeting to assess the activities carried out by the Commission for Reconciliation in Memory of the Victims of Political Conflicts (CIVICOP), repudiated comments that have been circulating in recent days “that seek to attack the credibility of the process and work of this commission “.
Marcy Lopes clarified, on the occasion, that the Angolan Executive is the first and main interested party for this process to take place in a credible manner, complying with all legal technical procedures, so that the results are suitable.
He assured, by the way, that the Executive acquired state-of-the-art equipment that allows the Central Laboratory of Criminalistics to carry out credible forensic medical examinations, having carried out work that culminated in the identification of the victims and the consequent holding of proper funerals.
According to the minister, the forensic examinations were responsibly handed over to the families of the victims, who also have the possibility of carrying out parallel examinations.
“This particular is important, since families have the option, if they wish, to look for other specialists to obtain results compared to those presented by the Criminalistics Laboratory”, he pointed out.
Requests for death certificates
The minister revealed that, so far, 4,234 requests for death certificates have been received, of which 2,787 death certificates have been issued, mostly related to the events of May 27, 1977.
On the other hand, the coordinator of the CIVICOP Technical and Scientific Group, Cornélio Calei, said that, so far, they are only aware of a complaint from family members residing in Lisbon (Portugal), for whom this does not affect the credibility of the process in question. yes.
Cornélio Calei emphasized that the Executive raised this process precisely to calm the souls of people and families.
“We ask that the victims be with us because the process is not easy. If there is a matter that did not go well, we will sit down and find ways to make everything go well. We are aware of a complaint from family members who live in Lisbon. of the country, we don’t have any complaints”, he informed.
Regarding the memorial to the victims of the political conflicts, Cornélio Calei did not set a date for its completion, noting only that the amounts for financing the project have already been included in the General State Budget (OGE).
He added that the construction of the memorial will be an indication of all those who perished in the country in the armed conflicts. A large statue, where their names will be inscribed.
certified laboratory
Sandra Morais, from the Central Laboratory of Criminalistics, made it known that the complaint that is known was not made directly to the Laboratory of Criminalistics.
“It was the media that reported this mistake, but we are completely sure of our results. The certainty of the identification is complete, because our equipment and reagents are duly certified, we have full confidence in our results”, he stressed.
According to the expert, the results from that laboratory “cannot be invented or altered, because they have to be the same ones that have to be obtained by other countries and other laboratories”.
Silva Mateus, president of the 27 de Maio Foundation, gave a positive note to the activities carried out by CIVICOP.
He said there was no contradiction in relation to the process. “As an integral part of this committee, we follow and are on the subject, everything is going well”.
Created by Presidential Decree in April 2019, CIVICOP’s mission is to draw up a general plan to pay homage to the victims of the political conflicts that took place in Angola from 11 November 1975 to 4 April 2002.
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