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I. SUMMARY

Freedom of expression, assembly, demonstration, association, and all other forms of expression shall be guaranteed.¹

Article 32 (1) Angolan Constitution (Law No. 23/92, September 16, 1991).

Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include the freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.

Article 19 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Angola on January 10, 1992.

The more scandalous occurrences – the imprisonments, the deaths such as the death of Ricardo Mello – are no more. But the climate of intimidation continues.

Angolan Journalist to Human Rights Watch, Luanda, May 2004.

Peace means more than a mere silencing of guns.

Rev Daniel Ntoni-Nzinga, Executive Secretary of the Inter-Ecclesiastic Committee for Peace in Angola, 2002.

Two years after the April 4, 2002, ceasefire agreement between the Angolan government and the opposition National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UniÃo Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola, UNITA), Angola is in transition. Although no date has been set for the first national elections since 1992, these are widely expected to be held no later than 2006.² A government dominated by the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (Movimento Popular de LibertaçÃo de Angola, MPLA) – the ruling party since 1975 – will guide the process of holding these elections, and the installation of a new government.

The last years of the civil war were marked by severe restrictions on the freedoms of expression, association, and assembly in Angola, reversing the partial liberalization that occurred in the run-up to the 1992 election. The private media³ and the civic and political groups that had burgeoned with the adoption of a multiparty constitution in 1992 were confronted by serious and often violent denial of those freedoms as the government put the state on a war footing. Journalists were frequently detained without trial, and only pro-government groups were permitted to demonstrate. Similarly, UNITA, in the areas under its military control, monopolized the media and allowed no dissent.⁴

The end of the conflict has encouraged Angolans to start exercising again their right to debate the future of their country. In 2003 alone, four new weekly newspapers were established and the detention of journalists became less common. In the capital, Luanda, opposition parties have in the past year been able to hold demonstrations without government reprisals.

Yet, even as peace creates new opportunities for the enjoyment of rights, there remains a substantial gap between the freedoms promised by Angola’s constitution, by its laws, and by the international treaties Angola has ratified, and the realization of those freedoms by Angolans. The gap is perpetuated by the continued denial of those freedoms by the Angolan government and its agents.

The occurrence of positive changes has been confined mainly to Luanda and other coastal regions. Even in Luanda, however, a journalist was detained without trial for a month in February 2003 while working on a story that was potentially embarrassing to government officials.

In the interior of the country, the situation remains troubling from a human rights perspective: opposition activists continue to be the target of violence by the police, the army, the Civil Defense Organization (ODC), and supporters of the government. Private media are almost unknown. The judicial system does not have the independence to enforce the legislation that should in practice guarantee basic freedoms. The police force has not yet begun to fulfill its mandate as a politically neutral keeper of law and order.

Excessive administrative and bureaucratic burdens such as the imposition and arbitrary enforcement of onerous registration requirements undermine the work of civil society associations. Journalists have also been denied access to official information, including data on public expenditure and other public policies.

Even if press and association freedoms were fully respected, a great number of Angolans would still have difficulty accessing information and the political process. Popular participation in Angolan democracy is itself problematic; more than 30 percent of the Angolan population is unable to read a letter or a newspaper. Women who are fifteen years old or older are two and a half times more likely to be illiterate than men in the same age range. According to a 2003 study by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 38 percent of households in Angola own radios; only 14 percent own televisions.

For this report, Human Rights Watch interviewed some thirty journalists, rights defenders, activists and educators in August 2003. A further research visit in April and May 2004, including the provinces of Huambo and Moxico, as well as Luanda, allowed the opportunity for more interviews with journalists, clergy, political party representatives, and members of civil society. Human Rights Watch also spoke to presidential advisor Carlos Feijó.