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Violations Committed by FLEC Factions

Human Rights Watch found little evidence of recent abuses committed by FLEC factions. The only recent case of which Human Rights Watch is aware occurred in July 2003 when FLEC reportedly killed a mother with her two children and injured two construction workers in Belize municipal district in an attempt to stop road construction into the forest.⁷⁰

Armed groups such as FLEC are obligated during internal armed conflicts to abide by article 3 to the 1949 Geneva Conventions on the treatment of persons in their custody and customary international humanitarian law concerning the methods and means of warfare.  Until 2001, FLEC took foreign employees of the oil and construction companies hostage, which violates international humanitarian law prohibitions against the taking of hostages and attacks on civilians. FLEC has reportedly also executed persons suspected of collaborating with the FAA in addition to attacking FAA military positions.⁷¹ The limited number of reported cases of FLEC abuses may reflect several factors.  It could be due to the rebels’ decreased capacity in recent years – several persons said that the FLEC currently cannot leave the forest to take action against those suspected of collaborating with FAA given FAA’s overwhelming presence in the province.⁷² It may also be due to a FLEC policy of attacking only military targets in order to keep the support of the civilian population on whom they rely for logistical support (food, clothes, blankets, medicine, etc.).⁷³ In addition, as most civilians in Cabinda support FLEC’s cause, they might be reluctant to speak out about abuses committed by FLEC: Cabindans generally consider themselves to be Cabindan first and foremost and do not feel that they are part of Angola. ⁷⁴ Given how long the armed conflict has lasted, however, civilians did express some resentment against the FLEC, as “both the FAA and FLEC harass villagers. They demand that we feed them, and then disappear.”⁷⁵ Forced recruitment by FLEC is also a concern, although there is little evidence that FLEC uses child soldiers.⁷⁶