By ARNALDO VIEIRA

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Lobby Human Rights Watch (HRW) has appealed to Angolan President João Lourenço to investigate past rights abuses by state security forces.

“President Lourenço should ensure justice for the victims of past abuses by Angola’s security forces,” HRW said in a statement.

The lobby group quoted Mr Dewa Mavhinga, its Southern Africa director, as saying: “Those responsible for serious human rights violations should not escape justice."

President Lourenço on Wednesday marked his one year in office, following an election that ended Jose Eduardo dos Santos's 38-year reign.

HRW acknowledged that his first 12 months had resulted in significant reforms and visible actions against corruption.

Past grave abuses

“Several former government and ruling party officials, including relatives of former President José Eduardo Dos Santos, are either under investigation or in detention for alleged corruption,” the lobby group said.

But HRW noted that the president had remained silent over the role of the military and police in past grave abuses, including the Huambo massacre of 2015, and alleged extrajudicial killings.

On April 16, 2015, clashes erupted when the Huambo police sought to detain a sect leader, Julino Kalupeteka, for allegedly encouraging civil disobedience by his followers.

Kalupeteka led a breakaway faction of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, that believed the world would end in 2015. He encouraged his followers to abandon everything else and retreat to a secluded camp.

The Angolan authorities claimed that Kalupeteka’s bodyguards attacked police officers.

HRW added that the police had also been implicated in several extrajudicial killings across the country.

Angola. FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Mr Rafael Marques, an investigative journalist and human rights activist, has documented dozens of alleged extrajudicial executions by Angolan security forces.

A February report, published on the site Maka Angola, describes 50 cases of killings of young men suspected of gang activities or petty crimes by “death squads” linked to the Criminal Investigation Service.

The authorities promised to investigate the cases, but the outcome, if any, has not been made public.

President Lourenço has fought against corruption and sacked government officials linked with his predecessor.

Those sacked so far include Ms Isabel dos Santos, the predecessor's first daughter, as director of Sonangol, the state-owned oil company, and her half-brother José Filomeno dos Santos "Zenu”, from the leadership of the sovereign wealth fund.

His performance

The Attorney-General Office's said in a statement Monday that Mr José Filomeno dos Santos was being held at the São Paulo Prison for alleged involvement in criminal activities, following his arrest on the same day.

However, the opposition Casa-Ce MP, Mr Makuta Nkondo, said Mr José Filomeno dos Santos was only a scapegoat as it was his father who deserved to be arrested.

“José Eduardo dos Santos authorised the cash outflow from the reserve bank, he is the true guilty one,” said Mr Nkondo.

He also said that President Lourenço did not deserve "our' round of applauses for his performance in the first year in office.