Category: Articles

José Marcos Mavungo was arrested without a warrant on March 14 as he left morning mass in oil-rich Cabinda, the capital city of the Angolan province with the same name. The 57-year-old human rights activist remains jailed five months later. His trial on the charge of rebellion is scheduled to begin on August 25. Due to his cardiac problems, his imprisonment is a serious threat to his life. The protest Mavungo organized for the same day against bad governance and human rights violations was banned by the governor and did not take place. Arão Bula Tempo, a human rights lawyer, was arrested on the same day as Mavungo. He stands accused of “collaboration with foreigners to constrain the Angolan state” apparently in connection with the planned protest. He still hasn’t been formally charged, but is prohibited from leaving the province to receive medical treatment or to speak at conferences. Since […]

The Luanda Provincial Government has prohibited a protest by mothers, sisters and wives of 15 Angolan political prisoners to demand the release of their relatives. They had hoped to demonstrate on 28 August, the president’s birthday. They delivered a letter on Wednesday to the Luanda provincial governor, Graciano Domingos, informing him of their intention to hold a demonstration and vigil. The negative response from vice-governor Jovelina Imperial came in less than 24 hours, citing a clause in the law on demonstrations and meetings that states “parades and processions may not take place before 7 pm on a weekday”. The demonstration was scheduled for 3 pm on a Friday. The governor’s office added that holding a demonstration that defied a legal prohibition would be punishable as the crime of “disobedience” in term of the Penal Code. Reacting to the letter, Isabel Correira, the mother of political prisoner Osvaldo Caholo and one […]

A group of mothers, sisters and wives of 15 Angolan political prisoners plan to demonstrate in Luanda on 28 August, the president’s birthday, to demand the release of their relatives. They delivered a letter on Thursday to the Luanda provincial governor, Graciano Domingos, informing him of their intention to hold a demonstration and vigil. They explained that the initiative comes from “a spirit of solidarity with their sons, spouses, brothers, relatives and friends” and that they intend to “show their feelings of inconsolable sorrow.” According to the letter, which Maka Angola has seen with the stamp confirming it was received by the provincial government, the demonstration will start at 3 pm at Largo da Independência (Independence Square), will pass through Largo da Sagrada Família and end at Largo da Maianga, where there will be a vigil. The petitioners call on governor Graciano Domingos to ensure “that the demonstration takes place […]

The activist David Salei is in a fragile state after hours in the emergency ward of Américo Boavida Hospital in Luanda as the result of the beating he received during a police crackdown on a protest march organised by the mothers and families of 15 political prisoners. Fellow activist Paulo Paixão told Maka Angola that David Salei “was brutally kicked in the ribs and abdomen and punched several times. He is in a bad state, he can’t talk properly and one of his legs is paralysed.” David Salei (right) ended up in the emergency war after severe beatings by the police. “I was hit twice in the back but I managed to escape,” Paulo Paixão said. The elder sister of the political prisoner Fernando Tomás “Nicola Radical” was attacked by a dog that police unleashed on the demonstrators. The dog latched onto her clothing, and pulled her so that she […]

The mothers and relatives of the 15 political prisoners are set to defy the authorities today, at 13.00, when they attempt to march in Luanda to demand the release of their sons. Yesterday, the Luanda Provincial Government notified the organizers that the march had been prohibited. It has become a routine for the police and security forces to disperse any attempt at anti-government protests with considerable pre-emptive violence, arrests and sometimes kidnapping. The provincial government has clearly changed its position on the march, as it had initially allowed it by citing the constitutional right of peaceful demonstrations. It is now impeding the realisation of the march, allegedly for legal reasons. Reacting to the ban, Leonor Odete João, mother of Afonso Matias “Mbanza Hamza” told Maka Angola “the march will go ahead”. “We will not get to the National Assembly, but we will reach the Largo da Mutamba and send a […]

Eight of the nine demonstrators detained by the Angolan National Police on 29 July were seized again immediately after the police authorities had set them free, and held for a day with their whereabouts unknown. Adão Bunga “MC Life”,  Adolfo Campos, Agostinho Epalanga, Laurinda Gouveia, Manuel José Afonso “Feridão”, Raúl Mandela and Valdemiro Piedade experienced harrowing moments. Some of these individuals are among the most persecuted by the authorities, and have been detained and tortured several times before. A group of police arrested the activists around 4 pm near Cine Atlântico in Vila Alice, while they were on their way to join the demonstration at Largo de Independência. The police detained them, or “collected” them as the official account has it, and took them to the Third Police Station at Pau da Cobra in Vila Alice. Mário Faustino, who had only recently been released after more than 40 days in […]

On July 30, the Angolan authorities played a game of cat and mouse regarding the whereabouts of nine activists who were detained on Wednesday during a demonstration in support of 15 political prisoners. When approached by Maka Angola, the Luanda provincial police commander, Commissioner-Chief António Sita, started by saying “we haven’t detained anyone. [The activists] were being collected and directed to [the activist] David Salei’s home [in Viana municipality]. Adão Bunga “MC Life”, Adolfo Campos, Agostinho Epalanga, Kika Delegado, Laurinda Gouveia, Manuel José Afonso “Feridão”, Mário Faustino, Raúl Mandela and Valdemiro Piedade were held incommunicado since they were “collected” by the National Police at Largo da Independência (Independence Square). Commander Sita declared that the activists “want to create a political fact. They are playing a dirty game. They have switched off their mobile phones and are hiding at Kilometre 30 [in Viana] at Paposseco’s house.” He added that in order […]

Mr President José Eduardo dos Santos: Since we are unlikely to meet, I have decided to attempt a conversation with you by this medium. I hope you respond to me. It is time to talk. Although I am sharply critical of how you govern, and of the suffering this causes the majority of the Angolan people, I admire you for staying in power so stoically; and, I understand very well your anxiety when faced with the prospect of losing power. Father António Vieira wrote: “Pulvis es, tu in pulverem reverteris”. Dust you are, and to dust you shall return. You are dust. That is the present. To dust you shall return. That is the future. That is the future that you are trying to avoid at any cost, and which results in the anxiety that I mentioned. For a while during my childhood, you cultivated a fear of yourself. In […]