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Key Recommendations

To the Government of Angola

  • Immediately cease forced evictions carried out in violation of national laws and international human rights law and standards.

  • Take immediate steps to provide assistance, including alternative accommodation and other remedies, to those affected by forced evictions, and in particular to vulnerable groups such as women, children, and elderly persons.

  • Investigate allegations of excessive use of force and other human rights abuses by police and state officials involved in forced evictions and bring all those responsible to justice.

  • Investigate allegations of excessive use of force or other abuses by private security companies during or immediately after forced evictions. 

  • Investigate abusive actions by unidentified civilians during forced evictions and ensure that only duly authorized and identified persons are present during any future evictions.  

  • Inform the public of the results of such investigations and promptly reply to individual complaints about evictions submitted by victims to police or administrative authorities.

  • Urgently enact specific legislation against forced evictions and consult with civil society organizations in the drafting process. Such legislation should strictly regulate the circumstances under which evictions may be carried out, in particular:

    o Define an information and consultation mechanism with individuals affected by planned development projects that may involve their relocation;    

    o Provide proper and detailed notice of the scope, purpose, area, and alternative use of land appropriated by the state, as well as adequate notice of the exact date of the eviction; 

    o Define a reasonable and accessible process for compensation, as well as a mechanism for defining its forms and amounts; 

    o Ensure that individuals to be evicted are consulted about and informed of relocation sites well in advance of evictions and that such sites are adequately supplied with basic services from the date of relocation.  

  • Significantly improve land registration procedures to effectively implement Angolan legal provisions regarding regularization of informal occupancy.

  • A full set of recommendations is found at the end of this report.