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| Jose Eduardo dos Santos |
This Wednesday Angolans will
celebrate the 40th anniversary of their independence.
The southern African nation gained independence from Portugal in 1975 following a protracted and violent armed struggle.
The southern African nation gained independence from Portugal in 1975 following a protracted and violent armed struggle.
Almost
immediately upon gaining independence, Angola became embroiled in a civil war
lasting for 27 years. The long conflict drew in the involvement of
Apartheid-era South Africa, Cuba, and the United States, and several other
states at various points.
The
celebrations will be presided over by President José Eduardo dos Santos,
who has ruled the country for 36 years under the banner of the People’s
Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA).
In
a recent report, Amnesty International noted that even as dignitaries from
across Africa and the world fly to the nation’s capital of Luanda, 16 Angolan
activists currently languish in jail. The country has a poor human rights
record, opponents of the MPLA-led government face torture, extra-judicial
killing, and arbitrary arrest.
According
to Muleya Mwananyanda, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Southern
Africa, “the human rights situation in Angola is in serious decline. Citizens’
right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly has been taken away by a
state determined to crush dissent. There is no independence without freedom.”
Within
the last year alone, in what Jeff Smith from the Robert F. Kennedy Center for
Human Rights described as a “thunderous nationwide crackdown,” numerous
journalists and activists have been arrested or detained by Angolan
authorities. On March 14th, human rights activist José Marcos Mavungo was
arrested for protesting bad governance in the oil producing region of Cabinda.
Mr. Mavungo was subsequently sentenced to six years in prison following
his conviction for fomenting rebellion.
16
Angolan activists are still awaiting their hearing following their arrest in
June. One of the detainees, Luaty Beirão, went on a 36-day hunger strike
to protest their continued detention.
Parliamentary
elections are scheduled for August of 2016, however, few observers foresee the
MPLA losing its grip on power.
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