Voices of Angola :: Break the silence
Organizations ask Brazil to condemn arbitrary detention of 15 activists
Two months after the arbitrary detention of a group of 15 activists charged by the Angolan authorities with threatening the order and security of the country, Brazil – one of Angola’s key trading partners – has still not made any public statements regarding the case. The pressure for the Brazilian authorities to break its silence and condemn the sequence of abusive and arbitrary acts against the group increased this week. The trial of the activists opposed to the government of José Eduardo dos Santos (in power since 1979) has not yet been scheduled and their families have been prevented from protesting against the detentions.
In a letter sent to the Human Rights Division of Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Relations, the Brazilian human rights organizations Conectas and AJPD (Association for Justice, Peace and Democracy) and Angola’s Omunga Association are calling for “the Brazilian government to exercise its influence positively on Angola and avoid setbacks in the exercise and protection of rights in a country of strategic importance for Brazil and the African continent”.
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This is not the first time that civil society has spoken out on the case. In July, just days after the arrest of the activists, Conectas sent a letter to the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights of Angola, via the country’s embassy in Brasília, requesting the immediate release of the group.
At the time, the organization stressed the non-compliance by the Angolan authorities of the responsibilities assumed on the international level. “The fact that Angola is part of international institutions such as the Security Council and the Human Rights Council, both United Nations bodies, and of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, increases the responsibility of the Angolan government to protect the human rights and the fundamental freedoms of its own people,” stated the document.
