Tag: Adriano Makevela Mackenzie

Diamond Barons Destroy Food Crops

Several hundred Angolan peasants and their families reportedly face the prospect of a state-sponsored famine in the northeastern diamond region of Lunda Norte thanks to the decision to destroy villages, homes and crops to expand mining operations. The Angolan diamond mining conglomerate, Sociedade Mineira do Cuango (SMC) is accused of ordering the systematic destruction of hundreds of food crop plantations in the Cafunfo area (Cuango municipality), with the local MPLA administration ordering the compulsory removal of the villagers and destruction of their homes, cash crops and vegetable gardens. Villagers complain that compensation for their destroyed harvests is wholly inadequate, amounting to 60,000 kwanzas (about US $115) in the informal exchange rate) and some empty water barrels. “The peasant may have planted crops in an area of between one and four hectares, but each only gets a maximum of 60,000 kwanzas sum, regardless of the size of the area cultivated,” says […]

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Blood Diamonds: Pre-Trial Investigation Deadline Expired

The defense lawyer acting for Angolan journalist Rafael Marques de Morais has called for the setting aside of the eleven criminal charges laid against him by seven Angolan generals in January. The charges of slander and defamation were brought in reaction to the book Blood Diamonds: Torture and Corruption in Angola, 15 months after its publication, in Portugal. According to lawyer Luís Nascimento, “Angolan law limits the period of preparatory instruction to two months when there are no suspects being held in custody, and this period cannot be extended.” Mr. Nascimento invoked the constitutional principle that prevents double jeopardy. “A citizen may not be tried more than once on the same facts,” he said. In 2012 the generals and the managers of the Sociedade Mineira do Cuango, the diamond mining company in which the generals are shareholders, brought charges in Portugal against the author and his publisher, Tinta-da-China, for calumny, […]

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