In this 27-page report, Human Rights Watch shows a disturbing pattern of human rights violations by the Angolan armed forces and state intelligence officials. Between September 2007 and March 2009, at least 38 people were arbitrarily arrested by the military in Cabinda and accused of state security crimes. Most were subjected to lengthy incommunicado detention, torture, and cruel or inhumane treatment in military custody and were denied due process rights.

Human Rights Watch's report is based on first-hand, in-person interviews in March 2009 with 20 detainees at the civilian prison at Yabi in Cabinda, as well as court records and other sources. Many of those detained were residents of villages in the interior of Cabinda who were arrested during military raids that followed armed attacks attributed to the Liberation Front of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC), a separatist guerrilla movement. They were eventually charged with state security crimes for alleged involvement in armed attacks