A report by rights group Amnesty International and Angolan campaign group Omunga has revealed that no fewer than seven teenagers have been killed during Covid-19 enforcement by Angolan security forces between May and July.
The report issued on Tuesday reveals that the youngest victim was 14-year-old Mário Palma Romeu, known as Marito, who was shot on 13 May while out on a shopping errand.
“One teenage boy was shot in the face while he lay injured; another was killed when police fired on a group of friends practising at a sports field. A state of emergency is no excuse for such outrageous human rights violations,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa.
All the killings took place in poor neighbourhoods of the capital, Luanda, and in one incident a young man with pre-existing health problems was stopped by police because he was not wearing a mask, he was forced to do a somersault as a punishment, when he refused a policemen fired a gun over his head, the rights groups say.
He was taken to hospital where he died. Neighbours told officers that the young man had problems with his heart and hypertension. The results of the autopsy have not yet been released.
“The ultimate aim of combating the spread of Covid-19 should be to save lives and protect livelihoods. When state agents are responsible for the killing of people, it defeats this purpose,” said João Malavindele, executive director of Omunga.
Amnesty said in a statement that the investigation was done by piecing together accounts of families and friends.
It also alleges that officers from the Angolan National Police and Angolan Armed Forces are suspected to be responsible for the killings.
