Half a Thousand Human Remains Found in Angola. These Are Victims of Political Repression

Luanda. Illustrative photo. Photo: Ben Curtis/AP

It is believed that people who fell victim to repression after the failed coup attempt on May 27, 1977, linked to the communist figure Nito Alves, are buried at this site. Mass purges and executions then began in the country, which could have resulted in the deaths of several thousand to tens of thousands of people. The exact number of victims remains unknown to this day.

The discovered burial site is the largest such find within the work of the Angolan commission for reconciliation and the search for mass graves. This body was created in 2019 to help families find the deceased and restore historical justice after civil conflicts.

Authorities reported that the remains would be sent for laboratory examination for identification. Researchers are trying to establish the identities of the deceased so that their relatives can learn about the fate of their loved ones. The investigation into this burial has been ongoing for about five years.

Nito Alves' rebellion (or "factionalism") was an attempted coup in Angola on May 27, 1977, which became the bloodiest internal conflict in the history of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola — Party of Labour, which still governs the country.

Nito Alves, a former Minister of Internal Affairs, then opposed the then-President of Angola, António Agostinho Neto. Alves represented the radical wing of the party: he demanded a full orientation towards the USSR, a harsher communist course, and opposed the presence of mulattoes and whites in the country's leadership, advocating for "black racism". Neto also oriented towards Moscow — he even died there two years later during cancer treatment — but was more moderate.

On the morning of May 27, 1977, Alves' supporters seized the radio station in Luanda and São Paulo prison. They called on the people to revolt and killed several of the president's associates. However, a popular uprising did not occur.

The fate of the country was decided by Cuban troops. The Cubans, who had tanks and heavy weaponry in Angola, supported the incumbent President Neto. They quickly drove the rebels out of key positions and restored order in the capital.

After the suppression of the rebellion, large-scale purges began. The special services arrested and executed all those suspected of sympathizing with Alves. The number of victims of these repressions is estimated at 10,000 to 30,000 people. Nito Alves himself was also captured and executed.

For a long time, the events of 1977 in Angola, known as the "factionalist uprising", remained a politically forbidden topic. Under Presidents Neto and José Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled from 1979 to 2017, Nito Alves and his supporters were officially considered conspirators and participants in counter-revolutionary coup attempts.

Even after the end of the long civil war in Angola, the attitude towards these events changed very slowly: authorities only partially acknowledged that there might have been "excesses" and "negative episodes" during the suppression of the uprising, but no significant revision of the official position occurred.

The situation only began to change after the current President João Lourenço came to power, when a period of so-called "thaw" began in the country. In May 2021, he publicly acknowledged that the repressions committed during the suppression of the uprising were excessive and apologized for them.

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