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<<previous | index | next>> VII. VIOLATIONS OF THE RIGHT TO PEACEFUL ASSEMBLYOn April 22, 2004, armed men believed to be police and/or private security operatives opened fire on a crowd in Cafunfo, Lunda Norte province, north-eastern Angola. Those present had gathered to protest attempts by a diamond company operating in the area to remove generators that had been used to supply electricity to the neighborhood. Nine people died, including a boy aged ten, and two girls, aged fourteen and fifteen, according to a list of names compiled by the local residents’ association. The residents’ association also claims that six unnamed individuals died, including four Senegalese and two nationals of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Twenty people, aged between seventeen and fifty-six, were injured in the same incident, according to the residents’ association. Police arrested seventeen people at the scene of the demonstration. Lawyers acting for the group say the seventeen were taken to the provincial capital, Dundo, more than 600 kilometers away by road, and placed in police custody. The authorities in Dundo have informed lawyers that three of the seventeen have subsequently died in custody, but have neither handed over the bodies nor released the names of the dead. The authorities have prevented lawyers and family members from visiting the detainees.107 Reportedly killed: David Alexandre Carlos, 10 Madalena Fernando, 15 Manuel Lucas Samuyanza, 27 Fernando Augusto, 24 Baptista Paulo, 23 Avelino Gemixi Filipe, 29 Cabenguele wa Cabenguele, 34 Margarida Muangueno, 14 Filomena Muamuhunga, 24 (plus six unnamed) Reportedly detained: Josefo AdÃo Silvestre Marcos Jacinto JoÃo Manuel David Francisco Muxito Morais Popi Enoque Jeremias Borges Cardoso Luciano Filipe Lucas Muaco Castro Paulino Morais Muhongo Jonaique Timoteo Joao Lourenço Noé Joaquim Paulo Lucas Veneno Massaco Chinamo Pinto Muacavula On March 2, 2004, PADEPA members participated in a demonstration outside the United States embassy in Luanda, aimed at communicating their concerns about corruption in Angola to the U.S. government. The demonstration went ahead, despite the presence of members of the Rapid Reaction Police (“Ninjas”) with dogs. The fact that the demonstration went ahead was in marked contrast to previous attempts by PADEPA and other opposition groupings to hold demonstrations in Luanda. 108 On June 3, 2003, PADEPA’s chairperson, Carlos LeitÃo, and five other members of the party were violently arrested while protesting against corruption.109 Members of PADEPA had voted to authorize and organize a peaceful protest in front of the monument to Agostinho Neto, Angola’s first president, in downtown Luanda. They had planned to stay there for forty-eight hours and had fulfilled all the requirements under the law to inform the authorities of their intentions.110 A day before the scheduled protest, the Angolan government announced on Rádio Nacional de Angola that the protest was illegal and had not been authorized.111 The PADEPA leaders claimed a right to respond under the national press law112 and were granted several minutes to explain on air that their protest was peaceful, legal, and did not need official authorization. The protest lasted less than three hours, before a group of masked police arrived and beat protesters with batons. The president of PADEPA and five other party leaders were arrested and held for four days on charges of disorderly conduct and disobedience.113 Charges were dropped and they were released on June 7, 2003, following an application to court for a writ of habeas corpus on their behalf.114 Martinho Carpelo, communications secretary of PADEPA, who was arrested on the day of the protest but later released by habeas corpus, told Human Rights Watch that this was the fourth occasion on which PADEPA activists had been arrested while protesting.115 On October 3, 2003, more than 1,000 Angolans protested in the streets of Luanda, in a call for elections in 2004. This was the country's first authorized anti-government demonstration since the end of civil war. The event, organized by a coalition of eighty-seven small opposition parties, proceeded without any major incidents.116 More recently, however, on June 17, 2004, police reportedly prevented about fifty PADEPA members from staging a demonstration against corruption in front of the monument to Agostinho Neto, Angola’s first president, in downtown Luanda.117 107 Interviews with representatives of Cafunfo Residents’ Association and of MÃos Livros Human Rights Law Association, Luanda, May 2004. [108] Interview with Carlos LeitÃo, Luanda, May 2004. [109] See, Ata da 1a. ReuniÃo Ordinária do Comitê Central – Comunicado Final – Luanda, April 29, 2003. [110] According to Angolan legislation, protesters must inform authorities of their procedure and objectives within a minimum three days in advance. See Article 6, Lei Sobre o Direito de ReuniÃo e de ManifestaçÃo, Lei No. 16/91 (DR No. 20, 1a. Série) May 11, 1991. [111] Human Rights Watch interview with Martinho Carpelo, Communications Secretary of PADEPA, Luanda, August 5, 2003. [112] Article 37 of Angolan Press Law (Lei de Imprensa, No. 22/91, June 15, 1991) guarantees the right to equal reply and to correction of information published in error. [113] Desacato e desobediência à lei. [114] Though habeas corpus is an Anglo-Saxon jurisdiction remedy, Angola, like many other countries, has included this principle in its constitution. See, Article 42 (1) Against abuse of power, in case of illegal imprisonment or detention, there is a right to apply for habeas corpus by the competent judiciary, by the tribunal itself or any other citizen. [Contra o abuso de poder, por virtude de prisÃo ou detençÃo ilegal, há habeas corpus a interpor perante o tribunal judicial competente, pelo próprio ou por qualquer cidadÃo.] (Author’s translation). [115] Human Rights Watch interview with Martinho Carpelo, Communications Secretary of PADEPA, Luanda, August 5, 2003 116 See, “Angola Marches Press for Poll.” BBC News, October 4, 2003. 117 Lusa news agency, June 2004.
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