Background Briefing

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V. VIOLATIONS OF THE RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

Arbitrary Imprisonment, Violence, and Threats against Journalists

On February 22, 2003, police in Luanda arrested Jorge Artur, a journalist with the Folha 8 newspaper, and held him in custody until March 28, 2003. Officials of the National Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DNIC) arrested Artur at the offices of the Tourism Ministry, where he had been attempting to interview officials for a news article about alleged malpractice surrounding the sale of a state-owned hotel.

Artur said he had been received first by the minister, Jorge Valentim, then referred to other officials, who “tried to persuade me to accept something” (i.e. offered a bribe) for Artur not to publish the story. When he left that meeting, the officers from DNIC were waiting for him and took him to their headquarters, Artur said. Later he met the state prosecutor:

“The prosecutor said there was no case against me, no proof, but because he had orders from above, he couldn’t free me.”56

After Artur’s release, lawyers began a process to bring a defamation suit against Valentim in connection with what they argue was a wrongful arrest, but this was never followed through.57

In mid-July 2003, specialized agents charged with the enforcement of tax collection and commerce regulation in Luanda, the Luanda Provincial Oversight Service (Serviços de FiscalizaçÃo do Governo Provincial de Luanda), beat two photojournalists working for Agora and A Capital while they documented abuses and violence against street vendors.58

In January and February 2003, the newspaper O Angolense published a series of high-profile reports, criticizing Angola’s new millionaires and speculating on the murky origins of their fortunes. The reports on the “largest secret fortunes of Angola that exceed $50 million” sparked fury among some of those named. The two editors of O Angolense were threatened, followed by unknown persons, and publicly accused by the political bureau of the MPLA of being anti-patriotic.59

Silva Candembo, deputy editor of Semanário Angolense, one of the editors of O Angolense at the time the article on millionaires was published, told Human Rights Watch about the government reaction to the articles.60

“I received phone calls that said “you quoted a lot of people in your paper. Fifty people. We will kill you and no one will know who did it.” The Minister of Defense, himself, came to our office and told me that if it were a few years ago, or if he had met us on a Saturday, he would deal with this matter differently.”61

Américo Gonçalves, the current editor of O Angolense, told Human Rights Watch about threats and other means of intimidation:

“Journalists receive threats in the form of written messages, visits from strangers, anonymous phone calls, but this is not an everyday practice. It usually happens when authorities, especially police and security forces are involved in scandals. Threats are not usually carried out but they work as intimidation. Because of our recent history and the war, journalists self-censor their work to avoid problems.”62

According to those interviewed by Human Rights Watch, work conditions for journalists in the provinces are often worse than in the capital. The authorities in certain provinces are more sensitive than those in Luanda and react more swiftly to perceived offenses.

On May 31, 2003, the Police Office of Criminal Investigations detained and interrogated Manuel Vieira, a correspondent in the southern Huíla Province for the Catholic-owned station Rádio Ecclésia. For several hours, Vieira was pressed to explain why he had chosen to report on the high death rates in the transit camps the Angolan government had built for demobilized UNITA fighters. Vieira was warned against further disclosures and then released.63

In the words of Carlos Feijó, advisor to the Angolan president:

“Press freedom is something that is gradually happening. In Luanda we don't have a problem; in the interior we are still in transition. The work of groups like Human Rights Watch helps to draw our attention to the issues.”64

Misuse of Defamation Laws

Five officials in the government and ruling MPLA party have brought charges of defamation against the private weekly Seminário Angolense and its editor, Felizberto Graça Campos, in connection with the article that claimed to list Angola’s richest men. The charges invoked Article 43 of the Press Law, which concerns “abuse of the press,’ and Article 407 of the Penal Code.

On March 30, the Luanda Provincial Court passed sentence in the first of the five cases, brought by Defense Minister Kundi Paihama. The court sentenced Campos to forty-five days imprisonment, with the alternative of a fine of 9,000 Kwanzas (about $110 (U.S.)), and in addition ordered Campos to pay compensation of $1,200 to Paihama.

Campos said his lawyer had decided not to appeal against the sentence, for the reason that the penalty was lighter than expected, a fact that he explained as follows:

“There is a political explanation for this. For the court it would be very difficult to absolve me. Any judgment that absolved me would suggest the court recognized the existence of the millionaires, which would be embarrassing for the regime. But it is known that the court took into account the fact of the existence of the millionaires in not imposing a heavier sentence. Courts are not independent in this country. They suffer political pressure like other institutions. If courts were independent this would not have happened…calling someone a millionaire is not defamation.”65

Campos was acquitted in the second case, and judgment is still pending in the remaining three cases.

In May 2004, first lady Ana Paula dos Santos announced she would bring defamation suits against two private weekly newspapers in connection with articles that made allegations about her business interests.

The first lady stated her intention to sue the Agora newspaper and its editor, Aguiar dos Santos, over an article alleging her involvement in a company that was trying to force the residents of a building in central Luanda to vacate their apartments.66

Mrs. dos Santos has also declared she will take action against the Folha 8 newspaper over a story published on April 24, 2004, which alleged the first lady was the owner of a private clinic where security guards had refused to admit the victims of a nearby road accident, despite the paper publishing a correction a week later, stating that Mrs. dos Santos was in fact not the owner of the clinic.67 The cases are still pending.

In a separate case in October 2003, police from DNIC summoned Aguiar dos Santos for questioning in connection with an article in Agora that alleged links between the Eduardo dos Santos Foundation, FESA (a private charity headed by the Angolan president) and Brazilian drug-traffickers. Aguiar dos Santos was allowed to leave after questioning, but now faces ten separate counts of defamation, brought by individuals involved in FESA who claim their names have been brought into ill-repute by the article. He says he is still awaiting further developments in the case.

Such cases have created a climate of self-censorship, according to Aguiar dos Santos. “Papers are frightened of saying certain things…friends, people with connections in DNIC and the Interior Ministry advise one not to say certain things.”68

Restrictions on Private Radio

The Angolan government has continued in its efforts to prevent the Catholic broadcaster, Rádio Ecclésia (RE), from extending its signal outside of Luanda. RE is known in Luanda as a station which gives space to a wide range of opinions from politicians and civil society, and which reports on controversial actions by the government such as police violence or housing evictions. RE’s statute dates back to colonial times, when it had a license to broadcast throughout Angola. The station ceased functioning when its assets were confiscated by the MPLA government in 1978. Broadcasts were once again made legal in 1992 but were confined to Luanda since the shortwave transmitter, which had been used to access the provinces, no longer worked. RE has since re-acquired the technical capacity to broadcast outside of Luanda, and on November 7, 2003, Angola’s Catholic bishops informed the minister responsible for broadcasting, Pedro Hendrick Vaal Neto, that test broadcasts would take place in the provinces on December 8.69 The minister responded on November 26, expressing surprise at RE’s intentions and declaring that the proposed test broadcasts would be illegal.70

Early in December, Catholic dioceses in at least two provinces were invited to send a representative to a meeting supposedly between “government and religious entities.” According to a priest in Huambo, the Catholic delegate at the meeting arrived to find that no other churches were represented, and that other attendees included the local heads of the army, the national police, and the intelligence services. The meeting proceeded “in a climate of intimidation,” the priest said. The authorities in Moxico province convened a similar meeting.71

Journalists argue that the authorities are granting privileged status to RNA in the allocation of new broadcast frequencies:

“The decree for regulation of radio broadcasting was approved in September 1997. Since then the government has not approved the allocation of frequencies for broadcasting. This has not stopped state radio from installing [new] FM broadcasting, including Radio Cinco, an FM station dedicated to sport, which was launched in 1999 and is heard in Benguela, Lobito, Huambo, Namibe, Cabinda, Uige, and Dundo.”72

The continuing absence of RE from the provinces means that the government enjoys a near-monopoly over the media outside of Luanda. The only exceptions are private radio stations in Cabinda, Benguela, and Lubango, which, according to journalists, seldom broadcast material critical of the government.

Government and ruling party officials have regularly spoken out in public against RE. In March 2003, Minister Neto accused the broadcaster of waging “radio terrorism.”73 Neto has on other occasions accused Radio Ecclésia of serving as a vehicle for offenses, defamation, and false propaganda against Angolan institutions.74 More recently, in response to the promise of the U.S. government to invest $300,000 (U.S.) to support Rádio Ecclésia’s transmission nationwide, JoÃo Lourenço, General Secretary of the MPLA, accused the United States of “gross interference” in Angolan affairs.75

Access to Official Information and State Owned Media

The Angolan government restricts the activities of activists and journalists from the private press. Journalists from the private media are regularly denied participation in public events, especially those where the president will be present. Their access to governmental documents is also limited. This enables the government to manipulate information and to hinder journalists’ ability to provide accurate information.

On August 4, 2003, government authorities held a press conference to respond to allegations that a clandestine cemetery had been discovered in the surroundings of Luanda where the bodies of those reportedly executed by the National Police were believed to be buried.76 Only state-run media were present at the conference: Jornal de Angola, Radio Nacional, and TPA. Private media, including those that had reported on the allegations, were not allowed to attend. Nor were they able to obtain the official statement from the conference. Police from the province of Luanda and policemen of the anti-riot squad (polícia anti-motim) prohibited access to the location and to area inhabitants who could provide information and testimony regarding the allegations.77

The access to information afforded by the government to representatives of civil society is also severely circumscribed. National and international non-governmental requests for specific information are usually delayed or simply denied.

Generally, Angolans who are not members of the MPLA report that they cannot express any opinion critical of the government in the country’s state-owned media. After Rasgadinho was arrested in September 2003, his colleague SebastiÃo Domingos told Human Rights Watch:

“I called Radio Luanda [a state-owned radio station]; at that hour, they had a program when persons could call in, but before I was on air they told me ‘don’t count on us…we have nothing to do with this. Why don’t you call Rádio Ecclésia [the church-owned radio station].’”78

On July 30, 2003, while university professors were in the midst of a forty-five day strike, state-owned media reported that classes would return to normal on that day. Professor Carlos Zassala, leader of the professors’ union, said this distorted information of public interest.

“Negotiations were developing but the strike was not over. When the media reports false allegations of this sort it illustrates, at least, the manipulation of state-owned media vehicles.”79

Obstacles to Distribution of Private Newspapers

Provincial governments have confiscated entire editions of private newspapers. The authorities in Luanda, for example, confiscated both February 2003 editions of O Angolense that carried the articles on the fifty largest secret fortunes of Angola. Semanário Angolense reported that copies of its July 2003 edition were also confiscated after it criticized the governor of Benguela.80

Silva Candembo, who was editor of O Angolense when the article about the millionaires was published and is today the deputy editor of Semanário Angolense, told Human Rights Watch:

“We know when there is something wrong. Our papers came out on Saturdays and are sold during the week until Wednesday. If Sunday comes and there are no papers circulating in Luanda, something is wrong. In the provinces it’s even easier to know because it is not the norm that all the papers are bought at the airport before distribution to our sellers and this was the case when we ran the millionaires story and more recently when we criticized the governor of Benguela.”81

Other private newspapers report similar problems. According to officials at Agora, the Dundo city government purchased the entire run of that paper’s July 5, 2003 edition because it contained an article that accused former Governor José Moisés Cipriano of electoral fraud in the province of Lunda Norte.82

Artistic Expression

Restrictions on freedom of expression are not confined to the media. In December 2003, members of the presidential guard killed Arsénio SebastiÃo, twenty-seven, after hearing him sing an anti-government rap song while he was at work washing cars on a quayside in the southern suburbs of Luanda. The incident drew sharp criticism from the public prosecutor, who started a murder investigation; the suspects have yet to be brought to trial.83

The song that attracted the attention of the presidential guard was written by a rap artist known as MCK, who described to Human Rights Watch the difficulty that he experiences in organizing public performances and in distributing his music.

“It is difficult to hire a hall for a concert—the owners are frightened.”84

Rádio Ecclésia and the commercial station LAC have broadcast his music, but the state radio and television refuse to play music with a critical political message. MCK’s CDs are recorded on a personal computer with labels printed on a photocopier and are marketed largely by word of mouth. MCK says he has received letters and e-mails telling him to stay out of politics.85



56 Interview with Jorge Artur, Luanda, May 2004.

57 Telephone interview with lawyer Luís de Nascimento, May 2004.

58 Human Rights Watch interview with SebastiÃo Marques, Luanda, August 3, 2003.

59 Human Rights Watch interview with Silva Candembo, deputy editor, Semanário Angolense, Luanda, August 8, 2003. See also, “Riqueza mudou de cor. Os nossos milionários”, Angolense, January 18, 2003.

[60] Following a dispute between proprietors and staff over the ownership of the name “Angolense,” the editorial staff of the old Angolense have produced a paper called Seminário Angolense, while a new paper known simply as Angolense was founded with different editorial staff.

[61] Ibid.

[62] Human Rights Watch interview with Américo Gonçalves, editor, O Angolense, Luanda, August 7, 2003.

[63] See, Reporters without borders, Angola 2002-2003 Annual Report; May 2, 2003.

[64] Human Rights Watch Interview, London, March 2004

65 Interview with Felizberto Graça Campos, Luanda, May 2004.

66 Letter signed by Ana Paula dos Santos, May 3, 2004.

[67] Letter signed by Ana Paula dos Santos and published in Folha 8, May 8, 2004.

68 Human Rights Watch interview with Aguiar dos Santos, Luanda, May 2004.

69 Letter from the Catholic Bishops Conference of Angola and SÃo Tomé, November 7, 2003.

70 Letter from Pedro Hendrik Vaal Neto, November 26, 2003

71 Human Rights Watch interviews in Huambo, April 2004 and Luena, May 2004.

[72] Human Rights Watch interview with Rádio Ecclésia journalist JoÃo Pinto, Lisbon, May 2004

[73] Human Rights Watch interview with human rights activist who requested not to be identified, Luanda, August 2, 2003.

[74] Human Rights Watch interview with an international observer who requested not to be identified. Luanda, August 3, 2003. Human Rights Watch interview with Radio Ecclésia staff. Luanda, August 16, 2003. MPLA authorities have also accused the Catholic Church of not respecting Angolan laws and stated that because it has received a concession to radio broadcast in Angola, it has a privileged position in Angola related to other recognized religions of the country. See for example, “JoÃo Lourenço acusa EUA de ingerência nos assuntos de Angola,” Jornal de Angola, August 2, 2003.

[75] “Grosseira ingerência nos assuntos internos de Angola.” (Author’s translation) See, “JoÃo Lourenço acusa EUA de ingerência nos assuntos de Angola,” Jornal de Angola, August 2, 2003.

[76] See, “Vala comum no Cazenga.” A Capital, August 2, 2003.

[77] Human Rights Watch interview with journalist present at the site who requested not to be identified. Luanda, August 11, 2003.

[78] Human Rights Watch interview with SebastiÃo Domingos, Luanda, August 5, 2003.

[79] Human Rights Watch interview with Professor Carlos Zassala, Luanda, August 14, 2003.

[80] Human Rights Watch interview with Silva Candembo, editor of Semanário Angolense, Luanda, August 8, 2003.

[81] Human Rights Watch interview with Silva Candembo, editor of Semanário Angolense, Luanda, August 8, 2003. For distribution in the provinces, Semanário Angolense has negotiated a business agreement with a private airline that, however, still does not reach all the provinces in Angola.

[82] See, “Na Lunda-Norte – Agora ‘Confiscado’ pelo MPLA,” Agora, July 19, 2003. p 11. Accusations against the vice-governor were then investigated and José Moisés Cipriano was forced to resign on July 12 by the MPLA directory (directorate, surely?).

[83] Público newspaper, Lisbon, December 2003.

[84] Interview in Luanda, May 2004.

[85] Interview in Luanda, May 2004


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