Angola’s crackdown on human rights must be challenged
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/24/angolas-crackdown-on-human-rights-must-be-challenged Version 0 of 1. Over the past three months, the Angolan government has intensified its crackdown on any form of suspected challenge to its dominance, in violation of the human rights principles that are enshrined in the Angolan constitution. On 20 June, police in Luanda arrested 13 activists who had been reading books about peaceful political action. Two more were arrested on 22 June. They remain in prison, and most have not had access to legal counsel. Officials have made unfounded allegations that the 15 were plotting a coup. Meanwhile, activist Marcos Mavungo has been held since March without a trial in Cabinda province. He urgently needs medical attention. On 28 May, the Luanda criminal court condemned the activist and investigative journalist Rafael Marques de Morais to a suspended prison sentence for “slander”. Marques, who had published a book documenting human rights violations in the diamond industry, had been sued by the generals who own the security companies accused of the abuses. On 16 April, police raided the encampment of a Christian sect at Mount Sumi in Huambo province to arrest its leader, José Julino Kalupeteca. When Kalupeteca’s followers resisted the arrest, nine police officers and 13 civilians were killed, according to official statements. However, survivors of the raid reported the killing of many more unarmed civilians, including women and children, by state security forces. The government has declared the region a military zone, preventing the independent inquiry called for by the UN high commissioner for human rights. As friends of Angola, we call upon the Angolan government to restore their constitutional rights to the imprisoned political activists, to overturn the politically motivated sentencing of Rafael Marques, and to allow an independent inquiry into the events at Mount Sumi. We call upon the UK government, UK investors and the EU to acknowledge the concerns outlined here, and to put principle before the lure of investment opportunity in their dealings with Angola.Ricardo Soares de Oliveira University of Oxford, Juliana Lima University of Paris Sorbonne, Marissa J Moorman Indiana University-Bloomington, Didier Péclard University of Geneva, Jeremy Ball Dickinson College, Ruy Llera Blanes University of Bergen, Dorothée Boulanger King’s College London, Chloé Buire University of Durham, Michel Cahen University of Bordeaux, Gerson Capamba University of Paris Sorbonne, Aslak Orre Christian Michelsen Institute, Bergen, Lara Pawson Writer, London, Anne Pitcher University of Michigan, Irène dos Santos EHESS, CNRS, Paris, Jon Schubert University of Leipzig, Ana Naomi de Sousa Journalist and filmmaker, London, Drew Thompson Bard College |