Detainees’ rights
Some prisoners were denied adequate medical care. The health of at least two activists, imprisoned since September 2023 in connection with their roles in supporting peaceful protests, deteriorated. In February, Adolfo Campos was admitted to the prison hospital for urgent treatment. The prison authorities ignored doctors’ recommendations and his lawyers’ request that he be transferred for surgery at an external facility. In June, Gildo das Ruas complained of fever and body aches but prison authorities did not let him see a doctor until 1 August when he was diagnosed with spinal deviation, preventing him from standing for more than 30 minutes, and prescribed a wheelchair and a lumbar prosthesis. A wheelchair delivered to the prison by his lawyers on 15 August was withheld from him for at least four days.1
Freedom of peaceful assembly
The Angolan National Police (PNA) repressed at least seven protests against the continuing detention of activists, including Adolfo Campos and Gildo das Ruas (see above), high living costs, denial of workers’ rights and the prospect of President Lourenço serving a third term in office, among other things.
On 22 June the PNA prevented the National Unity for Total Revolution of Angola (UNTRA) movement from holding a peaceful demonstration in the capital, Luanda. At least 11 protesters were arrested, one of whom was beaten and seriously injured by the arresting officers. They were released without charge seven hours later.
A demonstration against new legislation on vandalism and national security was stopped by the PNA on 31 August when at least seven protesters, including activists and a journalist, were arrested at Santa Ana cemetery in Luanda, taken to Luanda Provincial Command and released without charge 10 hours later.
The PNA repressed another UNTRA protest on 21 September, claiming it was unauthorized, which the organizers refuted. At least seven protesters were detained, including organizers who had resisted a police order to disperse. The police confiscated their banners, pamphlets and telephones. They were all released the same day without charge.
Arbitrary arrests and detentions
The PNA continued to arbitrarily detain people, particularly activists involved in protests.
On 4 January the PNA arrested Laurinda Gouveia, a human rights activist, and her husband along with their two-year-old daughter at a peaceful protest in Luanda that called for the release of activists and the social media influencer Neth Nehara, who was serving a two-year prison sentence for criticizing the president on TikTok. Laurinda Gouveia and her family were released the next day after she and her husband attended a summary trial at the Luanda Provincial Court, which dropped all charges on the basis of insufficient evidence.
On 16 March, Laurinda Gouveia was rearrested along with Elisabeth Campos and Marinela Pascoal, as they were about to participate in a protest organized by Women for Civic and Political Rights against police violence and high living costs. They were released the same evening after their lawyer lodged a complaint.
On 20 March, PNA officers detained three people in the cities of Bengo and Huambo for participating in a general strike called by the General Centre of Independent and Free Trade Unions of Angola to demand an increase in the national minimum wage and better living conditions.
Florindo Chivucute, the executive director of civil society organization Friends of Angola, was arrested on 27 August for disobeying police orders after he filmed traffic police and officers from the Criminal Investigation Services (SIC) and the Directorate of Investigation of Penal Offences (DIIP) attacking him. He spent a night in handcuffs in the 4th Police Station, Luanda, before being given a two-month suspended prison sentence.
Freedom of expression
On 6 June, TV Nzinga journalist Guilherme Fortuna was prevented from reporting on the mass lay-off of workers from the Luanda-Bengo Special Economic Zone when officers of the 4th Police Station assaulted him, destroying his camera and recording equipment.
Unlawful killings
There was no investigation announced into the killing on 23 August of Elzira dos Prazeres Manuel Zonga, and the injury of Esperança José Manuel, by gunshots fired by PNA officers who were trying to stop a violent clash between rival groups in the Rangel neighbourhood of Luanda. The two women had not been participating in the violence. A police officer was also seriously injured during the clash.
Enforced disappearances
According to Deutsche Welle News and UNTRA’s secretary-general Leonardo Marcos, two UNTRA members were forcibly disappeared on 11 March. They were believed to have been taken by SIC and DIIP officials after they left the Radio Iglesias office in Luanda, where they were being interviewed about a protest they were planning for 23 March against high living costs and the continued detention of “political” prisoners. Their fate and whereabouts remained unknown at the end of the year.
Right to food
People from the Cunene, Huila and Namibie provinces faced severe drought caused by the long-term impact of El Niño. Agricultural production was compromised. About 5% of Angola’s population, particularly women and children, were expected to experience food insecurity during the year. Planned government cuts to fuel subsidies were expected to compound the situation in the absence of sufficient social protection measures. While local authorities in Cahama commune, Cunene province, constructed dams to improve access to water, and distributed resilient seeds to address the agricultural production deficit, the measures were insufficient. Consequently, hundreds of people continued to migrate from Cunene province to Namibia.
