II. Methodology

Between March and September 2008 Human Rights Watch researchers visited Angola on three occasions. They conducted research in the capital, Luanda, and the provinces of Huambo, Bie, Benguela, and Cabinda.

Human Rights Watch chose to focus on Huambo, Bie, and Benguela because, as strongholds of the main opposition party UNITA in the 1992 elections, they had seen heavy fighting during the civil war that resumed following those elections, and Human Rights Watch had been concerned about high levels of political violence in those areas since the end of the civil war in 2002.

The enclave of Cabinda was chosen because voters there largely abstained in the 1992 elections due to popular separatist sentiment, and because an unresolved separatist insurgency-despite a peace agreement signed in 2006-presented a particular challenge for credible elections.

Human Rights Watch researchers conducted formal and informal interviews on the ground, by phone, and by email with more than 200 persons, including members of the ruling party MPLA and opposition parties, representatives of local and international NGOs, church leaders, journalists, lawyers, human rights activists, and others. At provincial and municipal levels, Human Rights Watch researchers were received by officials of the electoral management bodies, local administrations, the police, and the military. Additionally, Human Rights Watch researchers also met with Angolan diplomatic representatives, and reviewed official statements from the government, as well as reports and documents from local and international NGOs, political parties, and the local media.

Most people interviewed requested that Human Rights Watch withhold their names.