Africa-Press – Angola. The Secretary of State for Social Communication, Nuno Caldas Albino, called on Friday in Luanda for the involvement of families of victims of armed conflicts in identifying remains, through the donation of samples for DNA testing.
The official, who made the statements to the press at the end of the formal ceremony for the handover of the remains of 11 victims exhumed from the mass grave at the Mulemba Cemetery, said the participation of families is important, as the initiative represents another step in the national reconciliation process and the reparation of historical memory.
According to the official, many families waited 47 years for the opportunity to provide a dignified funeral for their loved ones.
“Embracing and forgiving are fundamental for national reconciliation and the reparation of historical memory,” he said.
The Secretary of State explained that, within this process, specific conditions were created for holding funeral ceremonies, including the provision of an area in the Benfica Cemetery in Luanda, without prejudice to the freedom of families to choose other locations in any province of the country.
Nuno Caldas Albino appealed, in particular, to the families of missing victims belonging to the former Women’s Battalion of the FAPLA (People’s Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola, then the Angolan State Army) to collaborate with the authorities in order to collect genetic material that will allow the identification of the remains and their subsequent delivery to the families.
DNA samples can be collected by the Commission for the Implementation of the Reconciliation Plan in Memory of Victims of Political Conflicts (CIVICOP) and the National Directorate of Criminalistics.
Nuno Caldas said the process is inclusive and non-discriminatory, encompassing victims of different political persuasions.
He added that the authorities continue to count on the collaboration of all those involved for the success of the initiative.
The remains delivered Friday are part of a total of 620 that were discovered in a mass grave at the Cemetery of the 14 in Luanda. The first nine were buried last month.
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