II. Summary

At least 38 people who have been arrested by Angolan military and intelligence officials in Cabinda, Angola’s oil-rich enclave, from September 2007 to March 2009 have been subjected to torture and cruel or inhumane treatment in military custody and been denied basic due process rights as well as the right to a fair trial. The detainees are accused by the authorities of involvement in armed opposition in Cabinda in the context of a separatist insurgency.

The intensity of the armed conflict in Cabinda has declined as a result of large-scale counterinsurgency operations in 2002-2003, and the government publicly claims that the Cabinda conflict came to a close in 2006, when a peace agreement was signed with a faction of the rebel Liberation Front for the Independence of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC). But the campaign for independence remains unresolved, and sporadic guerrilla attacks have been ongoing.

Despite its insistence that the insurgency is no longer active, the military’s systematic arbitrary detention and torture of people in Cabinda suggests that the government has resorted to unlawful means to retaliate against people with perceived sympathy for the FLEC’s armed independence campaign. Angolan military and intelligence services have a widespread presence in the small territory, and they have intimidated and harassed people with perceived dissident views.

Human Rights Watch has previously reported on government intimidation in Cabinda. In a February 2009 report on the parliamentary elections of September 2008, Human Rights Watch showed how the government has continued to use security concerns in Cabinda to justify restrictions on freedom of expression, association, and movement, as well as arbitrary arrests and unfair trials. In December 2008, Human Rights Watch called attention to the Angolan government’s use of torture and unfair trials in state security cases, in connection with 14 civilians who were arbitrarily detained and tortured in military custody in Cabinda.

This report extends that work with new first-hand, field-based information and shows a disturbing pattern of human rights violations during pre-trial detention of persons accused of state security crimes in Cabinda. In most of the 38 cases that Human Rights Watch investigated, those accused of security crimes endured arbitrary arrests, lengthy incommunicado detention, and interrogations under torture in military custody. All 38 detainees were eventually brought to the judicial authorities and a civilian detention facility. But trial records in several cases show that due process rights were violated.

In addition to providing further detail on the high-profile case of Fernando Lelo, a former Voice of America correspondent who was convicted of national security crimes in September 2008, this report also draws attention to those cases that have attracted much less public attention and risk being overlooked.

The Angolan government should immediately adopt all necessary measures to ensure that the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) act in accordance with Angola’s obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law. In particular, the government should ensure, in accordance with Angolan law, that the armed forces promptly transfer individuals detained for security crimes to the competent civilian authorities, hold them according to international standards for pre-trial detention, and provide a prompt and fair trial.

The Angolan courts should also promptly review the proceedings against detainees currently or previously held for state security offenses, and then release unconditionally or fairly retry individuals convicted in trials that violated basic fair trial standards. The Angolan government should investigate allegations of serious human rights violations by members of the military and intelligence services, and prosecute alleged perpetrators.

In order to prevent further abuses, the Angolan government should set up an independent and impartial inquiry into human rights violations allegedly committed by the Angolan Armed Forces and branches of intelligence in Cabinda and establish mechanisms to compensate victims of torture and arbitrary detention.