Angola

Human rights activist Rafael Marques takes part in event in Rio de Janeiro

The presence and actions of Brazilian companies in Angola will be the subject of a live interview with the human rights defender and activist Rafael Marques.

An investigative journalist and founder of Maka Angola, a website that reports on cases of corruption and human rights violations in the African country, Marques will be interviewed by the journalist Natalia Viana on October 15, in Rio de Janeiro, at an event organized by the NGO Casa Pública.

A reporter for nearly 20 years, Rafael Marques has already been persecuted and arrested by the Angolan government of José Eduardo dos Santos, who has been in power for nearly four decades. The first time in 2000, a year after publishing an article called “The lipstick of the dictatorship” and again in 2011, after releasing the book “Blood Diamonds: Corruption and Torture in Angola”, which was censored in Angola but which received the Freedom of Expression award from the British organization Index on Censorship.

The event is part of a series called “Public Conversations”, which are live interviews that are streamed live with leading journalists on important contemporary topics. It is supported by Conectas Human Rights, Abraji (Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism), the Business and Human Rights Resource Center, the Interdisciplinary International Relations Studies Laboratory of the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ) and the Portuguese-Speaking Countries Observatory of Rio de Janeiro’s Federal Fluminense University (UFF).

Before the interview, there will be a screening of the film “É Proibido Falar em Angola” (It’s Forbidden to Talk in Angola), directed by Eliza Capai and Natalia Viana. The same day will see the inauguration of the exhibition “Moçambique, estamos juntos” (Mozambique, we stand together), a presentation of photographs by Alexandre Campbell and writings by the co-director of Pública, Marina Amaral, on the investigation they conducted in Mozambique for the Africa Special.

Program

3 pm – Screening of the film “It’s Forbidden to Talk in Angola”

4 pm – Live interview with Rafael Marques de Morais

5 pm – Drinks and inauguration of the exhibition “Mozambique, we stand together”, by Alexandre Campbell

Intro “It’s Forbidden to Talk in Angola”