Freedom in the World 1998 - Angola

1998 Scores

Status: Not Free
Freedom Rating: 6.0
Civil Liberties: 6
Political Rights: 6

Overview

Renewed large scale warfare began at year's end as forces of the ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the rebel National Union for Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) battled in December over several strategic provincial cities. Each side hoped to benefit from turmoil in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. In an effort to defeat a rebel advance on Kinshasa in September, Angolan government forces once again intervened on behalf of Congo President Laurent Kabila. UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi was reportedly backing rebel forces in order to regain supply routes and staging areas long-provided to him by Congo's former regime. Neither side has ever fully complied with the 1994 Lusaka Accords, which were meant to end nearly three decades of devastating warfare in Angola. The coalition Government of Unity and National Reconciliation installed in April 1997 now survives in name only. Its UNITA members split from Savimbi in August and have no genuine political base. Both sides have reportedly resumed laying land mines, although UNITA's loss of diamond-producing areas in northeastern Angola has seriously reduced its ability to wage a protracted war. In addition, Savimbi's regional and international support is eroding. In September, the United Nations warned Savimbi that any further delay in compliance with the peace accords would result in his official exclusion from the process. In October, Southern African states pledged to aid the government militarily if UNITA resumes the war.

Increased oil production from offshore wells off the northern enclave of Cabinda, where a separatist movement continued to wage a bush war, provides 90 percent of the country's exports. Most Angolans remain desperately poor, however, because government revenues only feed the ongoing war. In August, the government reportedly reached an agreement to trade diamonds to Russia for weapons.

Angola achieved independence in November 1975 after 14 years of anti-colonial bush war and five centuries of Portuguese presence. The country immediately became a cockpit for a surrogate Cold War struggle, however, and 15 more years of fighting followed. During this time, Angola's ethnic-based rivals were armed by East and West, with Cuban and South African involvement on opposing sides. Massive covert American aid bolstered UNITA's fortunes, but produced no clear victor. The United Nations became deeply involved in the Angola peace process only with the Cold War's end. U.N.-supervised elections in September 1992 were described by international observers as generally free and fair despite many irregularities, but failed to end the long-running war. When MPLA leader Jose Eduardo dos Santos nearly won a majority in the first round of voting, UNITA leader and presidential candidate Savimbi rejected his defeat and resumed the guerrilla war.

By the time of the 1994 peace accord, as many as a half million people had died in combat and from starvation and disease in 20 years of war. Continuing uncertainty hinders economic reconstruction for the country's 12 million people.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

Angolans freely elected their own representatives for the only time in 1992 presidential and legislative elections. The second round run-off required when neither presidential candidate won an outright majority was canceled when UNITA returned to war, but President dos Santos nevertheless assumed office. The MPLA dominates the 220-member national assembly.

The political process has been subsumed by the military contest between the MPLA and UNITA. Broader popular participation, especially from the rural areas where the vast majority of Angolans live, therefore remains problematic. New elections have been provisionally scheduled for 2000, but it is not certain that the Angolan people will yet be free to change their government through the ballot box.

In 1998, serious human rights abuses by both government security forces and UNITA were reported, including torture and extrajudicial executions. Local courts rule on civil matters and petty crime in some areas, but an overall lack of training and infrastructure inhibit judicial proceedings, which are also heavily influenced by the government. Many prisoners were detained for long periods while awaiting trial in life-threatening conditions.

In October, renewed fighting between government forces and secessionist guerrilla groups, most of which are offshoots of the Frente para a Libertação do Enclave de Cabinda (Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda), was reported in the oil-rich and little-developed northern enclave of Cabinda. In April, Amnesty International stated that it had received many credible reports of torture and killings of civilians by security forces in the territory. Several attempts at negotiation have produced offers of limited revenue-sharing by the central government. It is inconceivable that any Angolan government would allow more than limited autonomy to an area in which oil exports bring approximately $700 million to the central treasury each year.

Scant media freedom exists in areas controlled by either the government or UNITA. Harassment of journalists is common, and the few newspapers that appear regularly practice self-censorship. A government committee exercises formal censorship. The government maintains a tight reign on its own daily newspaper and the broadcast media, although some critical independent newsletters are distributed in Luanda. In October, the government dropped some of the UN programming carried on state radio after a top UN peacekeeper criticized the government. The January 1995 murder of independent journalist Ricardo de Mello in Luanda and the October 1996 killing of state television journalist Antonio Casmiro in Cabinda remain unsolved. Freedom of association is constitutionally guaranteed, but is often not respected in practice.

Despite legal protections, de facto societal discrimination against women remains strong, particularly in rural areas. Religious freedom is generally respected. Constitutional guarantees protect labor rights, although implementing legislation and administrative procedures are lacking. Some independent unions are functioning, but all organized labor activities are in Angola's cities. The vast majority of rural agricultural workers remain outside of the modern economic sector.

Official claims of a per capita income of approximately $300 grossly overestimate the average Angolan's income. Most export income from oil and diamonds goes to the country's small elite and for military spending. The state is still deeply involved in the country's limited economic activity, and genuine development is unlikely without a durable peace. Corruption and black market activities are widespread. Proposed limited privatization will likely be slowed by the political elite's stake in government holdings.