Luanda, Aug. 14, 2025 (Lusa) – The Standing Committee of the Political Commission of UNITA, Angola's largest opposition party, has criticised the fact that the country's president has not spoken out in his public addresses about "the summary executions" in the riots at the end of July.
The communiqué from the 21st extraordinary meeting of this body of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), to which Lusa had access on Thursday, states that the meeting, which took place under the guidance of the party's leader, Adalberto Costa Júnior, analysed the political, economic and social situation in the country, highlighting “the serious situation” experienced in Angola between 28 and 30 July.
At issue was the stoppage of taxi services, in protest at the increase in fuel prices and public transport fares, which escalated into a riot, characterised by acts of looting, violence, with a death toll of 30, 277 injured and more than 1,500 arrests, according to police figures.
According to the communiqué, the protests against the rise in fuel prices also served to demonstrate that the “already precarious social and economic situation of the population, exposed to hunger and poverty” as a result of “bad policies” has worsened.
"The standing committee of UNITA's political commission recognises the legitimacy of the taxi drivers' representative organisations in resorting to a constitutional right in defence of their members, by decreeing a stoppage of taxis in response to the rise in fuel prices," says the note.
The body of the country's second largest political force deplored "the deaths of defenceless citizens, many of which were the result of summary executions by some the police and security forces officers, which occurred during the popular protests", and also deplored the death of a police officer during the riots, while also condemning the assaults on public and private property "causing major damage to the domestic economy".
"The Standing Committee of UNITA's Political Commission draws attention to the attitude of the country's president, who in his public speeches and elsewhere (...) has at no time commented on summary executions, which violate the right to life enshrined in article 30 of the CRA [Constitution of the Republic of Angola]," the statement emphasises.
It also regrets the lack of a statement from the Angolan head of state on the “arbitrary detentions”, as well as on the “disproportionate use of force, widely denounced by citizens and human rights organisations”.
Internally, the Standing Committee of UNITA's Political Commission strongly condemned ''all attempts to interfere in the party's ordinary XIV conference", scheduled for this year, "conditioning it to serve the interests of power, as happened before the 2022 elections".
NME/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
