Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Luanda (Agenzia Fides) – One year after Angola began its program for the disarmament of the population, they have collected over 50,000 firearms.
This is what was revealed in a public meeting entitled: “Arms and Munition Management and Control,” presided by Angolan Prime Minister Cassoma Paulo and attended by the Provincial Vice-Presidents, members of technical committees, and Brazilian experts who have been following the program.
According to declarations made to the Agency “Angopo” by Paulo de Almeida (Vice-Commander of the Angolan National Police and Coordinator of the National Commission for Disarmament and Collection of Arms, “there has been a positive impact on the perception of public security.” The leader of the police highlighted that one of the most important aspects of the program is that of reducing the number of crimes committed with the use of firearms, although there has been an increase in crimes committed with other weapons.
The process of disarmament of civilians, which should be completed in two years, calls for two phases. The first, which will last a year, will be for voluntary consignment of illegal weapons on the part of the population. The second phase, which now begins, calls for the forced confiscation of arms that have not been voluntarily consigned, although the citizens may continue turning in their weapons on a voluntary basis.
The Angolan authorities have also announced the revision of several laws in matters of the use of arms and new laws for private security.
The great quantity of arms of small caliber and hand-held weapons in the hands of the Angolan population comes as a result of the civil war that broke out in 1975 and ended in 2002. Another result of the war are the mines that today continue to kill and wound people.
Angola is, in fact, the third country in the world with the most mines and other undetonated explosives, after Afghanistan and Cambodia.
In spite of efforts made since 2002 to clear out the mines in Angola, 15% of the population continue to be at serious risk in the mine zones, according to the international organization Landmine Monitor.
The NGO has published a study they did on the impact of mines in Angola, after 5 years of research. The report estimates that there are nearly 80,000 Angolans who are victims of explosive decives, many of which result in immediate amputation. Nearly 240 sq km of the territory are still filled with mines, and the problem has been aggravated by the fact that it is not only a certain area, but various areas throughout the entire country.
Huambo, the province in which the war was most violent, in terms of the fighting between the Angolan Army and the UNITA (National Union for Total Independence of Angola), continues to be one of the areas with the most mines in the country. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 21/4/2009)
