NGO calls for investigation into death of Angolan activist’s child detained in Maputo

The Mozambican Network of Human Rights Defenders this Monday asked for an investigation into the death in Mozambique’s main public hospital of the child of Angolan citizen Gelson Emanuel Quintas “Man-Genas”, who is in the custody of the authorities, with his family in Maputo.

“Tests (an autopsy) need to be done to find out the cause of death of the infant,” Adriano Nuvunga, president of the Mozambique Network of Human Rights Defenders, told Luce.

The newborn daughter of the Angolan whistleblower “Man-Genas” died on April 7, two days after her mother, who is also under the care of the authorities, gave birth at Maputo Central Hospital.

According to the Mozambique Network of Human Rights Defenders, the authorities treated the wife of “Man-Genas” with “negligence”, accusing them of not allowing the woman to receive prenatal care.

“We can say that there was negligence on the part of our state in the first place. In our conversations with the hospital, the doctors said that the condition in which she was admitted to the hospital did not give the little girl much chance of life,” said Nouvunga, who also blames the authorities for taking the Man Genas woman to the hospital only then. when she developed “abortion symptoms”.

“The right to health [da mãe e da bebé] has always been in question,” added a Mozambican activist who accompanied the process.

The director of the gynecology department at Maputo Central Hospital, where the birth took place, told private television channel STV that the woman was admitted to the facility with an “obstetric complication” but “everything was done to save the baby.” .

“Maputo Central Hospital admitted a woman with an obstetric complication that affected a still premature pregnancy,” said Agostinho Daniel.

Last week, a group of deputies from the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), the main opposition party, said at a press conference that Man-Genas was “fearing food poisoning.”

“Man-Genas fears that he may become a victim of food poisoning. His wife, who is pregnant, claims she has been denied medical care for over a month,” said Olivio Quilumbo, who led a UNITA parliamentary delegation that visited Maputo between 21 and 26 March.

Lusa in Maputo unsuccessfully tried to contact the National Migration Service of Mozambique.

“Genas Man”, who fled to Mozambique after alleged persecution in Angola, is being held with his family for exposing alleged involvement of the highest Angolan authorities in drug trafficking.

The allegations led a parliamentary commission to question Angola’s interior minister, Eugenio César Laborinho, who denied any involvement of high-ranking security forces.