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On November 27th, 2024, Amnesty International published a report detailing abuse by Angolan authorities in a bid to suppress anti-government protests between November 2020 and June 2023.
The report, Broken Promises: Protesters Caught Between Tear Gas, Bullets and Batons in Angola, analyzed 11 protests and showed a pattern of excessive and unnecessary force by the police in Angola. In the report, Amnesty urged the Angolan government to hold rogue police officers accountable for killing and injuring protesters. The organization claims justice is being delayed for victims of human rights violations in the country.
In 2020, Angolans began protesting over the high cost of living in the country. Amnesty reported that the rising cost of living was primarily attributed to João Lourenço’s government’s decision to cut fuel subsidies, which saw the price of gasoline shoot from Kw 160 (USD 0.716) to Kw 300 (USD 0.33) per litre.
Another cause of protests was the allegations of electoral fraud due to unexplained delays in holding municipal elections. In March 2018, President Lourenço promised to conduct the first municipal elections in 2020. However, the government failed to pass the statutory framework required to regulate the municipal elections, causing the delay that provoked protests in the capital, Luanda.
As of June 2024, the Bill on the institutionalisation of local authorities was still being discussed in the Angolan National Assembly. Besides this delay in holding municipal elections, protesters claim the 2022 general election results were questionable, since they contracted polling forecasts that predicted considerable support for the opposition party, Total Independence of Angola (União para Independência Total de Angola – UNITA).
Many of these protesters also complained about police forces’ violence and systemic repression of protests in the country. Between November 2020 and June 2023, Angolan protesters took to the streets of Luanda, Benguela, Cafunfo and Huambo.
Amnesty’s report shows a pattern of unlawful use of police force by the government of Angola. Angolan police forces routinely responded to peaceful protests by violating the protesters’ rights to life, freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom from torture and ill treatment and rights to liberty, as well as security of persons. According to the organisation, at least 17 people died from police brutality during protests between November 2020 and June 2023.
The organisation reports that on November 11th, 2020, the police shot and killed 26-year-old Inocêncio de Matos in the capital Luanda during a protest against postponed municipal elections. It is reported that the young man was shot when on his knees with his hands in the air.
It was also in Amnesty’s report that in January 2021, Angolan police killed at least ten people after using live bullets to disperse a crowd of anti-poverty protesters in Cafunfo, Lunda Norte province.
On May 26th, 2022, Amnesty reported that police shot and killed 35-year-old Luís António Lourenço and 32-year-old Adão José Andre Caoluna during a Federation of Construction Unions strike in Cambambe, Cuanza Norte province.
Meanwhile, on June 5th, 2023, in Huambo province, the police fired live bullets at a crowd during a protest against high fuel prices. This shooting incident cost the lives of three people, including 12-year-old Cristiano Luis Pambasangue Tchiuta, who was on his way to school.
Despite the severe impact of police brutality, Angolan authorities are yet to hold accountable any of the police officers responsible for the human rights violations. In a few cases, official investigations were promised, but the authorities have yet to publicise their findings. According to Amnesty, the authorities have entirely ignored allegations levied against the police in some instances.
In September 2024, Amnesty had urged Angolan authorities to release four activists wrongly detained for more than a year for planning to participate in a protest.
Khanyo Farisè, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, called on both the ombudsmen’s office and the attorney general’s office to immediately investigate cases of abuse of police power and police killings and ensure perpetrators are brought to justice.
Farisè called out President João Lourenço’s administration for abuse of police power.
“The police violence against protesters in Angola under President João Lourenço’s administration is stomach-churning. These assaults by law enforcement officers often leave debilitating, long-lasting effects on victims and their loved ones, making it difficult for them to earn a decent and dignified livelihood. Angolan police agencies must respect people’s right to protest,” Farisè commented.
Amnesty urged Angola’s police to refrain from unlawful use of force and violation of human rights by arbitrarily arresting protestors, subjecting them to acts of torture and using highly dangerous tear gas and chemical irritants to disperse protest crowds.
The report asked policing authorities to respect Angola’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Africa Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) and to ensure compliance with international human rights standards.
The human rights group also called upon the international community to use all available platforms to urge Angolan authorities to facilitate and protect the right to freedom of peaceful assembly.
In August 2023, Human Rights Watch (HRW) raised similar concerns about abuse of police power and violation of human rights in Angola during anti-government protests. In their report, Angola: Grave Police Abuses Against Activists, the human rights organisation accused Angolan police of cracking down on political dissent in the country, resulting in arbitrary arrests and killings.
In its report, HRW urged the Angolan government to develop standards of police conduct and monitoring to promote the principles of proportionality in relation to the use of force in police activities. It also urged the international community to mount pressure on Angola to hold police officers accountable for human rights violations.
Source: JURIST News
References:
United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner
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