Angola: Irregularities Marred Historic Elections
No Independent Oversight, Media Bias
Angola’s parliamentary elections on September 5, 2008, reportedly won by the ruling MPLA party, were marred by numerous irregularities, Human Rights Watch said today. Preliminary results indicate that the MPLA won more than 80 percent of the vote, the first held in Angola since 1992.
Key problems identified by Human Rights Watch include obstruction by the National Electoral Commission (CNE) of accreditation for national electoral observers, its failure to respond to media bias in favor of the ruling party, and severe delays by the Angolan government in providing funds to opposition parties. The evidence obtained by Human Rights Watch on these three key issues – observers, media bias, and state funding – suggests the polls did not meet the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections in key areas.
September 15, 2008 Press Release
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SADC: Adopt Gender and Development Protocol
Summit Leaders Should Act on Equality for Women
Southern African leaders should adopt the proposed Gender and Development Protocol at their upcoming summit after amending it to include crucial provisions deleted in 2007, Human Rights Watch said today. One of the most important provisions that should be put back in to the protocol would commit states to criminalize marital rape.
August 14, 2008 Press Release
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Angola: Doubts Over Free and Fair Elections
Intimidation of Opposition, Media Before First Poll Since 1992
Intimidation of opposition parties and the media ahead of parliamentary elections in Angola, as well as interference in the electoral commission, threaten prospects for a free and fair vote in September, Human Rights Watch said today.
August 13, 2008 Press Release
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Angola: Resume Negotiations with UN Rights Body
Government Seeks to Avoid Scrutiny Before Elections
As a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Angola should reconsider its March 2008 order that the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Angola cease activities by the end of May 2008, Human Rights Watch said today.
May 23, 2008 Press Release
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Coercion and Intimidation of Child Soldiers to Participate in Violence
Child soldiers are often compelled by their commanders to engage in combat operations, participate in human rights abuses against civilians, and carry out punishments against fellow soldiers under threat of severe punishment or execution. In this backgrounder, Human Rights Watch describes methods of coercion and intimidation used against child soldiers serving in armed conflicts in Angola, Burma, Colombia, Liberia, Nepal, Sierra Leone, and Uganda.
April 16, 2008 Background Briefing
Angola: Thousands Forcibly Evicted in Postwar Boom
In the economic boom since the end of Angola's civil war in 2002, the Angolan government has forcibly evicted thousands of poor residents of the capital Luanda, usually with violence and almost always without compensation, Human Rights Watch and the Angolan organization SOS Habitat said in a report released today.
May 15, 2007 Press Release
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“They Pushed Down the Houses”
Forced Evictions and Insecure Land Tenure for Luanda’s Urban Poor
This 103-page report documents 18 mass evictions in Luanda that the Angolan government carried out between 2002 and 2006. In these evictions, which affected some 20,000 people in total, security forces destroyed more than 3,000 houses, and the government seized many small-scale cultivated land plots. These large-scale evictions violated both Angolan and international human rights law, and have left many Angolans homeless and destitute with no access to a legal remedy.
HRW Index No.: A1907
May 15, 2007 Report
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Audio: Thousands Forcibly Evicted in Angola's Postwar Boom
With Emma Daly, Communications and Carmen Silvestre, Angola researcher
In the economic boom since the end of Angola’s civil war in 2002, the Angolan government has forcibly evicted thousands of poor residents of the capital Luanda, usually with violence and almost always without compensation. A 103-page Human Rights Watch report, “They Pushed Down the Houses: Forced Evictions and Insecurity of Tenure for Luanda’s Urban Poor,” documents 18 mass evictions in Luanda that the Angolan government carried out between 2002 and 2006. The evictions affected some 20,000 people and security forces destroyed more than 3,000 homes.
May 15, 2007 Audio Clip
South Africa: Migrants Abused by Officials and Farmers
South African officials involved in the arrest and deportation of undocumented migrant workers often assault and extort money from them, and commercial farmers employing them routinely violate their basic labor rights, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
February 27, 2007 Press Release
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Angola: New OPEC Member Should Tackle Corruption Not Critics
Explain Spending of Oil Revenue
The government of Angola, which yesterday joined the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), should publicly account for how it spends the country’s massive oil wealth instead of harassing citizens who criticize corruption, Human Rights Watch said today.
December 15, 2006 Press Release
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Angola: Press Freedom at Risk Ahead of Elections
New Press Law Does Not Adequately Protect Freedom of Expression
As Angolans prepare to vote next year in the country’s first elections since 1992, the government’s new press law promises much-needed reforms but still fails to protect freedom of the press adequately, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today
November 16, 2006 Press Release
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Still Not Fully Protected
Rights to Freedom of Expression and Information under Angola’s New Press Law
In this 25-page report, Human Rights Watch analyses Angola’s new Press Law, which was issued in May. The report concludes that, despite improvements over previous Angolan law, the new law still contains elements that undermine press freedom. In addition, many of its crucial provisions will remain inoperable unless implementing legislation is enacted immediately.
November 16, 2006 Report
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Audio Commentary: Press Freedom at Risk Ahead of Elections in Angola
Human Rights Watch researcher for Angola discusses freedom of expression under the new Angolan press law.
November 16, 2006 Audio Clip
Angola: Displaced Still Suffering
Three Years after Civil War, Little Progress for Returnees
Three years after the end of Angola’s brutal civil war, the Angolan government is failing to care for the country’s huge population of returning displaced persons, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.
March 17, 2005 Press Release
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Coming Home
Return and Reintegration in Angola
This 39-page report documents how most families have returned to locations that still lack minimal social services, such as health care and education, let alone employment. Elderly and disabled persons, widows and female-headed households experience the worst shortfalls in government assistance, particularly in rural areas.
HRW Index No.: A1702
March 17, 2005 Report
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Angola: In Oil-Rich Cabinda, Army Abuses Civilians
Impunity Fuels Human Rights Violations by Troops
The Angolan army arbitrarily detained and tortured civilians with impunity in Cabinda, and continue to restrict their freedom of movement despite an apparent end to the decades-long separatist conflict in the oil-rich enclave.
December 23, 2004 Press Release
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Angola: Political, Press Freedoms Vital to Elections
Peace in Angola has paved the way for advances in freedom of expression, association and assembly, but in the interior of the country these freedoms continue to be violated, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. On July 2, the president's advisory council recommended holding general elections in 2006, the first since 1992.
July 14, 2004 Press Release
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Unfinished Democracy: Media and Political Freedoms in Angola
Two years after the April 4, 2002, ceasefire agreement between the Angolan government and the opposition National Union for the Total Independence of 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. A government dominated by the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) – the ruling party since 1975 – will guide the process of holding these elections, and the installation of a new government.
July 14, 2004 Background Briefing
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Angola: Congolese Migrants Face Brutal Body Searches
Soldiers Abuse Migrants in Expulsion Drive, Probe Body Cavities for Diamonds
The Angolan government must stop its military forces from conducting brutal body searches, beatings and rapes of Congolese migrant workers in northern Angola, Human Rights Watch said today.
April 23, 2004 Press Release
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Africa: Arms Trade from Slovakia Fuels Conflicts
The government of Slovakia must do more to bring its arms trade under control, Human Rights Watch said in a new report today.
February 10, 2004 Press Release
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