At least 7 young teens killed by Angolan police enforcing virus curbs

<p>Amnesty International stated seven young men have been shot dead between May and July by Angolan security forces intending to uphold the country’s coronavirus restrictions.</p> <p>A joint investigation by Angolan rights group OMUNGHA and the UK0 based watchdog resulted in the groups stating security forces used “excessive, unlawful force” in tracking down breaches.</p> <p>The government in March declared a state of emergency and soldiers and police were deployed to enforce the curfews and gathering bans.</p> <blockquote><p> “One teenage boy was shot in the face while he lay injured; another was killed when police fired on a group of friends practicing at a sports field. A state of emergency is no excuse for such outrageous human rights violations” stated Deprose Muchena, Amnesty’s director for East and Southern Africa. </p></blockquote> <p>One young man with pre-existing health problems dies during an incident where police intimidated and humiliated him, asking him to perform a somersault while pointing a gun at him when he said he felt ill and could not the officer fired and he later died.</p> <p>The youngest confirmed victim was 14-years old and was allegedly killed in May when police fired into the air to disperse a crowd of people working in fishing boats.</p> <p>In June, a 15-year-old was shot in the back outside his aunt’s house as police used firearms to disperse a street crowd.</p> <blockquote><p> “The authorities have used emergency measures to impose arbitrary restrictions on human rights. The ultimate aim of combating the spread of COVID-19 should be to save lives” said João Malavindele, Executive Director of OMUNGA </p></blockquote> <p>Amnesty and OMUNGA have verified other similar killings but call for an independent and transparent investigation as they believe the “true death toll” could be “much higher.”</p> <p>Read more from <u><strong><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/08/teens-killed-angolan-police-enfo…">Al Jazeera</a></strong></u> and <u><strong><a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/08/angola-witnesses-describ…">Amnesty International</a></strong></u></p>