Amnesty International Call for Justice on Police Killings

Angolan authorities must launch a thorough and impartial investigation into the killing of three people in the Southern province of Benguela and bring to justice those suspected to be responsible, said Amnesty International today.  The three victims were members of a local community and were shot dead by police officers on Friday 30 October 2015. The killings follow tension between the local community and local authorities as a consequence of intimidation and excessive force used by the police towards the community members, including the recent destruction of their shelters, water tanks and personal belongings after several attempts to forcefully evict them from the land they occupy.  According to members of the community and local civil society organizations supporting them, the land has been used by their families since colonial times and they have recently presented a request to obtain the legal documents on the use of the land. The community […]

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Statement on the Violation of Press Freedom

UFOLO STATEMENT ON THE VIOLATION OF PRESS FREEDOM AND THE DETENTION OF JOURNALISTS DURING THE DEMONSTRATION ON 24 OCTOBER 2020 Turbulent times demand clear positions. Let there be no doubt about the principles and choices that guide us. We vehemently reject the imprisonment, the aggression and the restrictions suffered by journalists in the course of their professional duties. Without a freely functioning press there cannot be progress, development or justice. We therefore strongly condemn the detention of journalists, photographers and other support staff during the demonstration on 24 October 2020. Specifically, we demand the immediate and unconditional release of Suely de Melo, Carlos Tomé and Santos Samuesseca, as well as the driver Leonardo Faustino, from the newspaper Valor Económico and the broadcaster Rádio Essencial, both of which belong to GEM Angola Global Media. We also denounce and condemn the arrest of Domingos Caiombo and Octávio Zoba, respectively reporter and cameraman […]

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Sonangol: O Epicentro da Pilhagem de São Vicente – Parte 2

O polvo no paraíso fiscal Vamos agora desenredar os tentáculos no exterior do país do grupo AAA – um polvo comandado por Carlos Manuel de São Vicente (na foto principal, cortesia do Novo Jornal) –, socorrendo-nos das bases de dados de empresas do governo britânico e do Consórcio Internacional de Jornalistas de Investigação. A Sonangol criou, nas Bermudas, a primeira das empresas AAA neste paraíso fiscal. Trata-se da AAA Reinsurance Ltd., registada a 1 de Abril de 1999. A Sonangol nomeou quatro gestores seus para dirigir essa subsidiária. Rosário Jacinto assumiu as funções de PCA, enquanto Jasse David, Órfão António e Ana Celeste Webba ficaram com cargos de directores. No ano seguinte. Carlos Manuel São Vicente tornou-se PCA da AAA Reinsurance e os quadros da Sonangol desapareceram da Sonangol. Desde então, São Vicente passou a ser o único angolano na sua direcção. A 29 de Março de 2001, Carlos Manuel […]

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Mandela and Soweto: a Lesson for Angola

When I was a teenager, the images of police repression of black demonstrators in Soweto, South Africa, had a deep impact on me. I always wondered how those defenseless people continued to confront the racists’ deadly hatred with dances, marches and songs.   These images went together with those of Nelson Mandela, the greatest symbol of resistance, whom the apartheid regime kept jailed in the maximum security prison of Robben Island.   There was a third image, too, this one closer to home: the war in Angola. The South African army had invaded the country and was supporting UNITA’s guerrilla campaign. The Angolan government, with the necessary support from the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, saw itself as being on the frontline against apartheid. It was the era of the Cold War, of complex alliances, and of deadly divisions among Angolans. For a teenager the question was simpler. It was a […]

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