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<<previous | index | next>> Recent Attempts to End the Armed Conflict in CabindaThe Angolan government and the FLEC have made various attempts over the years to reach a political settlement in Cabinda. All have failed. In 2002, at the same time as the FAA increased its military operations in Cabinda, the government hinted that it might consider a negotiated solution for the province. President dos Santos explained that the government’s strategy on Cabinda was a “multi-disciplinary” approach, focusing on dialogue “with the people and personnel in the region to give better attention to economic and social issues.”16 Government representatives met FLEC-FAC officials in France in January 2003 and with FLEC-R in Gabon later in the same year. These overtures failed to convince the separatists of the government’s sincerity, coming as they did in the midst of increased FAA activity in Cabinda.17 The FLEC factions were also reluctant to lay down their arms until they had a clearer assurance of what degree of autonomy the government would be prepared to contemplate. In August 2003, the provincial governor Aníbal Rocha stated that efforts were being made for dialogue on Cabinda’s future to start “as soon as possible,” and most of these efforts have been behind the scenes with little public evidence of further talks more than a year later.18 In September 2004, the leaders of FLEC-FAC and FLEC-R announced that their two factions were to merge and agreed to set up a committee “responsible for dialogue,” which would include representation from “the liberation movements, churches, and civil society.”19 The inclusion of civil society is a positive development as to date the “talks about talks” have generally excluded civil society. The establishment of Mpalabanda AssociaçÃo Cívica de Cabinda (MACC - Mpalabanda Civic Association of Cabinda) in early 2004, and the peace rally it organized in Cabinda town in July 2004 which attracted thousands of Cabindans, indicate that civil society may ready to play a more active role.20 The influential Catholic Church in Cabinda has been outspoken in calling for a peaceful settlement. [16] JoÃo Gomes Porto, Occasional Paper 77-Cabinda: Notes on a soon-to-be-forgotten war, p. 15. [17] Ibid, p. 14 and 15. [18] Angola Press Agency quoted by BBC Monitoring, “Cabinda governor optimistic peace talks will start soon,” August 5, 2003. [19] On September 6, 2004, FLEC spokesperson Joël Batila said in an interview with Radio France International that the decision to merge followed a meeting between the two factions and representatives of the church and civil society, who “expressed the desire of the people of Cabinda to see all military movements operating under a single banner”. Batila said that the merged organization would be led by Nzita Tiago of FLEC-FAC and with António Bento Bembe of FLEC-R as secretary general. [20] The government initially obstructed MACC’s registration process and refused to allow the peace march to proceed. According to the U.N. Special Representative of the Secretary General for Human Rights Defenders Hina Jilani, the government of Angola imposes more restrictions on human rights defenders in Cabinda than in other provinces. See Press statement by the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Human Rights Defenders, issued on August 24, 2004 (on file with authors).
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