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Angola: Parliament Approves Civilians Disarming Resolution
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Angola Press Agency (Luanda)
23 April 2008
Posted to the web 23 April 2008
Luanda
Angola's National Assembly (Parliament) Tuesday in Luanda approved a resolution on disarming of civilians in illegal possession of firearms and related activities.
The move is intended to consolidate the environment of security and political stability in the country.
The resolution that was approved at a plenary session with 110 votes in favour and six against, urges the Government to continue with actions to disarm the citizens in illegal possession of firearms, and encourages the bilateral mechanism and the concerned commission of the National Assembly to continue following up the process.
In the resolution, the forces and actors that in a way were involved in military or paramilitary actions were also urged to make their contribute, thus helping the Government to locate, detect and seize weapons, ammunitions and landmine fields.
The resolution also appeals to all citizens and organisations of the civil society to keep watchful, in order to avoid the rise in the number of victims, and denounce eventual existence of weapons.
The MPs also underlined the need for a reinforced awareness of the population about the dangers posed by firearms and explosives, both to people in their possession and other parties.
All this, according to the diplomat, aims at instilling urgency in the surrender of firearms to the police, military stations or other concerned institutions indicated by the Government for that purpose.
The National Assembly also calls on the citizens to respect the national symbols and keep obedience to the laws and organs of sovereignty of the Republic of Angola, with a view to the creation of an environment of peace and harmony among the Angolans, particularly at a time elections in the country are in preparation.
Meanwhike, at the end of the audience, the deputy commander of the National Police for Public Order, Paulo de Almeida, said that the approval of the resolution closes a cycle of juridical/legal procedures that gives the power for a transparent and vigorous action in the disarming of the civilian population.
He also said that a plan of action has been approved by the Cabinet Council with the same purpose.
According to the officer, the response of the population to the firearms surrendering call has yielded good results, although an intense operation is till to be carried out.
The officer praised the role being played by such other actors as churches and media organs in sensitising the population to respond to the call.
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Admitting that a relevant number of weapons will have been surrendered by the time of elections, the officer recalled that the whole operation has been planned for at least two years.
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