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TITLE: ANGOLA HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE: FEBRUARY 1995
ANGOLA
Throughout 1994 the Government of the Republic of Angola and
the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA)
remained embroiled in a brutal civil war. However, the
Government, led by President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, and
UNITA, led by Jonas Savimbi, also engaged in peace negotiations
in Lusaka under the auspices of the United Nations and with the
help of three observer countries, Portugal, Russia, and the
United States. The two parties signed a peace agreement, the
Lusaka Protocol, on November 20 which calls for a cease-fire,
the withdrawal and disarming of UNITA, and the creation of a
new national army made up of fighters from both sides.
However, at year's end, very little progress had been made in
implementing the Lusaka Protocol.
Fighting resumed in October 1992, after UNITA declared the
results of the September 1992 elections fraudulent. The United
Nations considered these elections free and fair. Since the
renewed fighting UNITA has captured control of as much as 70
percent of the country, but the majority of the population has
remained in, or fled to, government-controlled areas. The
Government continued to have the diplomatic support of the
international community and the U.N. Security Council
throughout the year. By May the Government began to redress
the military situation and by year's end had retaken several
strategic points from UNITA. The cease-fire established by the
Lusaka Protocol went into effect on November 22. Despite
violations on both sides, confirmed by U.N. observers, the
cease-fire appeared to be generally holding through the year's
end.
To counter UNITA, the Government continued a major buildup in
1994 of its military and police organizations and also
continued to arm urban civilians. These civilians, sympathetic
to the governing party, the Popular Movement for the Liberation
of Angola (MPLA), assisted government forces during the
outbreak of hostilities that led to the resumption of the civil
war. All of these organizations, including the Government and
UNITA, were responsible for persistent human rights abuses.
The MPLA controlled tightly the 220-member National Assembly
and harassed the few opposition deputies, including UNITA
deputies, in attendance. MPLA leader President dos Santos
continued to manipulate the party in order to consolidate
political control and neutralize potential opposition.
The Ministry of Interior is responsible for internal security;
it created the Rapid Intervention Police, a paramilitary group,
in late 1992 to quell civil unrest. The Ministry has on
occasion loaned the Rapid Intervention Police to the armed
forces.
Angola has great economic potential with extensive petroleum
and diamond reserves, rich agricultural land, and latent
hydroelectric resources. However, the economy continued to
contract in 1994 as a result of war and misguided economic
policy. Areas under government control in 1994 suffered from
hyperinflation--from 800 to 1,000 percent, scarcity of consumer
goods, massive unemployment and underemployment, and continuing
pervasive corruption. UNITA-controlled areas reportedly
experienced similar problems, with perhaps the exception of
pervasive corruption. Subsistence agriculture, traditionally
the main source of income for the majority of Angola's
approximately 10 million citizens, continued to be severely
constrained by war-related damage, including heavy use of land
mines by both sides.
Human rights deteriorated further in the face of an intensified
armed conflict and the failure of the Government and UNITA to
stop egregious violations of humanitarian law. Military and
security forces on both sides flagrantly disregarded
fundamental humanitarian values in their treatment of prisoners
of war (POW's), their extrajudicial killings of unarmed
civilians, including humanitarian relief workers, women,
children, and the elderly. Both sides repeatedly interfered
for political purposes with internationally provided
humanitarian assistance. Informed observers estimated that
approximately 1,000 persons died daily at the beginning of 1994
and that at least 100,000 persons have perished since fighting
resumed in 1992. Other human rights abuses included
mistreatment of detainees, deplorable prison conditions,
arbitrary arrest and detention, unfair trials, broad
restrictions on freedom of speech, press, and association, and
violence against women and children.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
There were credible accounts that government military officers
killed civilian men, women, children, and elderly persons
suspected of being UNITA sympathizers after they recaptured
N'Dalatando in May (see Section 1.g.). As the war worsened
throughout 1994, common criminal violence often was
indistinguishable from politically motivated violence.
Fighting between members of the military and police and among
military, police, and bandits in a large open-air market on the
outskirts of Luanda regularly resulted in fatalities. There
were eyewitness accounts of police killing unarmed civilians,
including youths and street children in Luanda, and of violent,
unexplained deaths, such as the August discovery of a
well-known journalist who was found stuffed in a garbage can in
a Luanda suburb. Unknown assailants assassinated the Vice
Governor of Malange Province in early July. It is widely
believed that the killing was for political reasons.
In January the National Assembly Subcommittee for Human Rights
released an investigative report, which failed to find the
Government culpable for the events of "bloody Friday January
23, 1993," when military, national police, and civilians
massacred unknown numbers of Bakongo residents of Luanda,
Lubango, Benguela, and Namibe provinces. The head of the
political opposition party, Partido Democratico Para O
Progresso-Alianca Nacional Angolana (PDP-ANA), whose members
are almost exclusively Bakongo, proclaimed the report a
whitewash, alleging that it contained testimony by policemen
who participated in the "ethnic cleansing" and that the
investigation was carried out by National Assembly deputies
politically aligned with the ruling MPLA. Opposition National
Assembly deputies boycotted the plenary session scheduled to
debate the report for fear of MPLA reprisals. The report was
approved ultimately, but the session did not have a quorum.
In June UNITA admitted to executing summarily South African
mercenaries fighting for the Government and subsequently
published their photographs in UNITA's newspaper Terra Angolana.
b. Disappearance
Throughout 1994, both Government and UNITA officials accused
one another of abductions, disappearances, and the killing of
civilians. The details of these incidents are unavailable.
The Government's Ministry of Assistance and Social Reinsertion
encouraged programs of U.N. agencies and international
nongovernmental organizations (NGO's) to search for family
members of orphans and abandoned children.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment
There were unsubstantiated reports that the police tortured
detainees. Interior Ministry personnel routinely beat
detainees held in Comarca de Luanda, a prison on the outskirts
of Luanda, to extract information or confessions prior to
bringing them to trial. In many cases, the police routinely
beat and then released arrestees rather than go through the
effort of preparing a formal case. No new information was
available on the Laboratoria, where, according to credible
reports, government personnel tortured detainees in 1993.
The Government, the Angolan Human Rights Association, and the
National Assembly Subcommittee on Human Rights acknowledged
publicly that conditions in Angola's prisons are inhumane.
Cells designed for 10 prisoners contain 30 and are divided by
open toilets and sewage. Prisoners die of malnutrition and
tuberculosis. Many prisons, lacking financial and other
support from the Government, failed to supply prisoners with
food and medicine, and prisoners had to depend on international
relief organizations and their families and friends for basic
support. Although the Government reportedly authorized access
early in the year to all prisons for members of the National
Assembly's Subcommittee on Human Rights, by midyear the
deputies abandoned the project to improve prison conditions due
to government opposition.
While detailed information is lacking, there are reliable
reports that the Government and UNITA are both culpable of
abuse of human rights of prisoners and of prisoners in
uniform. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
had only limited access in 1994 to prisoners.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
Transfer of the judicial process and prison system portfolios
from the Interior Ministry to the Justice Ministry did not
occur as agreed to by the Council of Ministers in 1993, and
Interior Ministry officials systematically, arbitrarily, and
secretly detained people for all categories of crime, without
trial, for indeterminate periods of time. The rights of
detainees were not respected.
Under Angolan law, a person caught in the act of a crime can be
arrested and detained immediately. Otherwise, the law states
that arrests require a warrant signed by a judge or a
provincial attorney general, followed by a public statement of
the grounds for arrest. The prosecuting attorney and defense
attorney have a maximum of 90 days to prepare a case.
Detainees are to be allowed prompt access to family members and
a lawyer.
The number of POW's and other political and security detainees
held by the Government at year's end was unknown. The
Secretary-General of the Angola Human Rights Association (AHRA)
remained in detention, and the Supreme Court had not responded
to his appeal. The trial of the President of the AHRA was
repeatedly postponed and remained pending at year's end.
While there were no known well-known UNITA sympathizers under
government detention in Luanda in 1994, the Government kept
senior UNITA leaders in Luanda under surveillance and did not
allow them to travel abroad. The two highest ranking civilian
UNITA leaders were not allowed to travel abroad from October
1992 until November 1994. The Government made efforts to
integrate senior UNITA leaders into Angolan society.
UNITA arrested two Angolan humanitarian relief workers in
Huambo in July for violating "state security." One was held
incommunicado; the other was held indefinitely without charge
but was allowed visitors. When government forces recaptured
Huambo in November, these two relief workers disappeared. The
ICRC estimated that there were hundreds of persons, both
military and civilian, arrested and detained by UNITA in
connection with the conflict or for security reasons. UNITA
did not allow the ICRC full access to their detainees, despite
promises to do so, and only a limited number of detainees could
be visited by the ICRC in the cities of Huambo and Uige. At
the end of 1994, and with the recapture of Huambo by government
forces, there was no information about the whereabouts of the
detainees. The ICRC also acknowledged that UNITA has held an
unknown number of MPLA activists captured in other areas such
as Caimbambo since the renewal of hostilities in 1992.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
In October 1991, the Code for Penal Process was amended
nominally to guarantee a public trial, establish a system of
bail, and recognize the accused's right to counsel and to
testify. Despite these legal safeguards, and despite Ministry
of Justice calls for judicial reform, significant shortcomings
in the administration of justice persisted. As noted in
Section 1.d., the Ministry of Interior frequently arbitrarily
arrested and detained people, often without the objective of a
trial. Trials for political and security crimes are handled
exclusively by the Supreme Court. There were no known
political or security trials in 1994.
The court system is comprised of a Supreme Court at the
appellate level and municipal and provincial courts (the latter
under the authority of the Ministry of Justice) of original
jurisdiction. Although the 1992 law on constitutional revision
speaks of an independent judiciary, as does the 1991 amended
Constitution, in practice the judiciary is not independent.
The President of the Republic has strong appointive powers,
including of Supreme Court judges (for life terms), with no
requirement for National Assembly confirmation. At the end of
the year, the President had filled only 9 of the 16 positions.
The Court serves as an appellate tribunal for questions of law
and fact, but it does not have authority to interpret the
Constitution. The Constitution reserves this role for a
Constitutional Court, a bench that remained empty throughout
the year.
Municipal courts normally deal rapidly with routine civil and
misdemeanor cases on a daily basis. Judges are normally
respected laymen, not licensed lawyers. The judge and two
laymen selected by the full court act as jury. Routine cases
are normally dispatched by a court within 3 months. The
verdict is pronounced the day following the conclusion of the
trial, in the presence of the defendant.
UNITA has not set up an independent judicial system, but it has
a military and civilian court system in several provinces.
Trials are never public. UNITA President Dr. Jonas Savimbi
appoints the judges. The juries consist of elderly men chosen
from the community. Reportedly the accused person has the
right to a lawyer. Two national humanitarian assistance
workers arrested in Huambo were to be tried in private and were
not permitted outside counsel; however, they disappeared when
government forces recaptured the city.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
The Government routinely maintains surveillance of certain
groups, such as UNITA and other opposition National Assembly
deputies, opposition party leaders, known or suspected Angolan
or foreign UNITA sympathizers, and foreign diplomats. The law
requires judicial search warrants, and in practice the law is
respected. However, as far as known there were no search
warrants issued before the roundup of Lebanese and other
foreign businessmen in 1993.
g. Use of Excessive Force and Violations of Humanitarian
Law in Internal Conflicts
Both government and UNITA forces were responsible for
widespread abuses of humanitarian standards during the course
of the war. There were credible reports that the Government
carried out indiscriminate bombing between March and May on the
provincial capital of N'Dalatando. The Government never
revealed the death toll, but a large percentage of the
casualties was reportedly civilian. In June the Chief of Staff
of the armed forces admitted government fighter aircraft
mistakenly bombed a village school in Waku Kungo, Cuanza Sul,
reportedly killing 89 children.
Both the Government and UNITA used land mines indiscriminately,
causing a large number of fatalities and injuries. There were
also credible reports that government soldiers targeted
displaced women, stealing their humanitarian food rations and
raping them.
The Government and UNITA both impeded provision of emergency
relief supplies and assistance by the ICRC, other
nongovernmental voluntary organizations, and United Nations
agencies. The military was also responsible for the murder of
an Angolan humanitarian relief worker in Malange; and
provincial authorities often harassed relief workers and
refused to comply with regulations governing the distribution
of humanitarian assistance. In UNITA-held Huambo, soldiers
forcibly removed relief food in July from CARE International
warehouses. UNITA caused the mortality rate to rise
considerably by withholding clearance for the majority of the
humanitarian flights from May to late August to the besieged
provincial capitals of Malange and Kuito, and sometimes fired
on aircraft. In response the Government denied humanitarian
assistance flights to Huambo and Uige.
Credible sources, including eyewitnesses, reported that both
sides forcibly conscripted children as young as 12 into
military service throughout Angola.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
Although the 1991 Constitution provides for freedom of
expression, in reality free speech is muted in the National
Assembly, and the Government tightly controls the media,
including media access to controversial public figures.
Luanda's commercial radio station (LAC) and the weekly
newspaper Correio da Semana are privately owned but are not
independent. The majority of LAC and Correio stockholders are
MPLA leaders who hue closely to the party line. In mid-1994
even LAC was told to cancel a popular daily program somewhat
critical of the Government. Media policy and censorship are
controlled by a committee composed of the Minister of
Information, the press spokesman for the Presidency, and the
directors of the state-owned radio, television, and newspaper.
Additionally, the Prime Minister has staff devoted exclusively
to censoring the government-owned and controlled newspaper
Jornal de Angola.
Although national radio has separate stations in each
provincial capital, broadcasters must clear all programs with
national radio headquarters in Luanda. There are five private
radio stations in Luanda which censor themselves.
Transmissions of Vorgan, UNITA's radio station, are heard
throughout Angola. UNITA's newspaper, Terra Angolana, cannot
be found in Luanda.
The Government resorted to even stricter censorship in response
to enhanced public awareness of human rights, which has evolved
despite the war. Journalists admit they are under self-
censorship and that repeated "errors in judgment" result in
dismissal. The only source of news about the war acceptable to
the Government is the spokesperson for the Chief of Staff of
the armed forces. The Government is more liberal with foreign
news agencies, such as the Voice of America and the British
Broadcasting Corporation, in part because most people lack the
equipment needed to receive international transmissions.
Credible members of the independent Angolan Journalists
Syndicate (SJA) alleged in 1994 that the Government continued
to restrict press freedom, including access to controversial
public figures. The cause of death of the journalist mentioned
in Section 1.a. was determined to be homicide by an unknown
assailant. The SJA did not the challenge the determination.
Regarding the death of two journalists in 1993, the SJA said
that the Government has never published the results of their
investigation, and the SJA is powerless to do anything about it.
Foreign journalists must register with the government press
center to obtain access to officials and to travel within
Angola. Both the Government and UNITA invited journalists to
planned press events and to visit areas under their control.
Academic life has been severely circumscribed by the war, and
the university is barely functioning. There is academic
freedom; academics do not practice self-censorship.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The Constitution provides for the right of peaceful assembly
with 3-day notification and the right of association. However,
in practice the Government carefully controls both assembly and
association. For example, authorities in Luanda vetoed plans,
properly submitted in advance, for a commemoration on the first
anniversary of Bakongos killed in a military- and police-
inspired massacre in January 1993, warning of serious
repercussions for anyone who congregated on the anniversary
(see Section 1.a.).
Regulations allow the Government to deny required registration
to private associations on security grounds. The Government
uses its powers arbitrarily to limit association activities
deemed inimical to its interests, such as in the case of the
Angolan Human Rights Association (see Section 4).
UNITA did not allow freedom of assembly and association in
areas under its control.
c. Freedom of Religion
Freedom of religion, including separation of church and state,
is provided for in the Constitution and respected in practice.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
The civil war greatly inhibited freedom of movement within the
country and forced large numbers of persons to flee combat
areas. According to U.N. statistics, since late 1992, 2
million people have fled to government-controlled territory
from the interior just ahead of UNITA's advancing troops, where
they remain. However, wartime conditions prevented physical
access to many areas of the country by humanitarian
organizations, and the exact number of persons severely
affected by the war remained unknown.
While citizens have the legal right to change residence and
workplace in government-controlled areas, the scarcity of
habitable dwellings as well as massive unemployment and
underemployment effectively impeded most voluntary changes.
The Government restricted travel of its citizens abroad,
largely by limiting access to foreign exchange or, in the case
of UNITA leaders, denying permission outright. At the same
time, MPLA deputies and high-level government officials had
unlimited access to foreign exchange and the right to travel
abroad.
There are substantiated reports that the Government impeded
opposition party leaders from traveling from Luanda to their
constituencies in the interior.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change Their Government
While the Angolan people for the first time exercised their
constitutional right to change their government through
peaceful means in the September 1992 presidential and
legislative elections, the resumption of the war stalled the
democratization process, and a second round of presidential
elections had to be postponed indefinitely. Consequently,
governmental power, including in the National Assembly,
remained exclusively in the hands of a small group within the
MPLA.
The National Assembly consists of 220 deputies, 130 elected on
a national basis and 90 elected to represent the provinces.
Eleven of the 70 UNITA deputies elected in the 1992 election
took their seats in 1994. There are several deputies
representing smaller parties. However, few opposition deputies
participated in National Assembly debate. MPLA deputies have
admitted publicly that National Assembly debate was
superfluous, and the Assembly simply rubberstamped the
Presidency's initiatives.
The Minister of the Interior attempted to impeach an opposition
deputy for having criticized the Government in the
international media. The opposition deputy apologized formally
to the Government in order to retain his seat. Several months
later, policemen reportedly attempted to kill that same
deputy. The Government's investigation of the incident was not
completed at year's end.
The peace negotiations in Lusaka reached a successful
conclusion on November 20 when representatives of the
Government, UNITA, and the United Nations signed the Lusaka
Protocol. A Joint Commission of delegations of the Government,
UNITA, and the three observer nations, chaired by the U.N.
Secretary General's Special Representative, began meeting in
Luanda in December to implement the Lusaka Protocol. Limited
progress had been made at year's end.
In 1993 the Government prepared guidelines for local government
elections, scheduled to take place 2 years after the 1992
presidential and legislative elections. However, at the end of
1994, the Council of Ministers had taken no action on the
guidelines, effectively shelving local elections indefinitely.
While there are no legal barriers to the participation of
indigenous people in the political process, they are
underrepresented in the National Assembly and do not
participate actively in politics (see Section 5). Women
occupied 32 of the 220 National Assembly seats. One of the
nine Supreme Court judges is a woman, and there are three women
in the Prime Minister's Cabinet.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
of Human Rights
Both the Government and UNITA impeded independent
investigations of human rights abuses in their respective
territory. There were no actively functioning Angolan
nongovernmental human rights associations or groups. The
Angolan Human Rights Association (ADHA) was inactive in 1994,
because its leaders, both the president and the secretary
general, were deeply embroiled in defending themselves against
spurious law suits, reportedly instigated by the Government.
ADHA published a report on Angola's prisons in January that was
the genesis of constant Interior Ministry harassment and
subsequent imprisonment of the Association's leaders.
The National Assembly Human Rights Subcommittee, which got off
to a promising start in 1993, was ineffective in 1994 owing to
MPLA opposition. It was unable to create mechanisms to enforce
existing laws to protect the rights of Angolans, and human
rights issues received very low priority in National Assembly
debate.
While frequently harassing and limiting relief operations, the
Government and UNITA did allow a variety of international NGO's
access to much of the territory under their respective
control. They were much less willing, however, to allow human
rights investigations. The Government granted the ICRC only
limited access to prisons in 1994.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
Disability, Language, or Social Status
Angola is a multiracial society, and the Constitution states
that all citizens are equal regardless of race, ethnic origin,
sex, religion, or social status.
Women
The deterioration of the social and economic situation, a
consequence of the war and poor governance, has had a negative
effect on the status of women. Although women held senior
positions in the military (primarily in the medical field),
civil service, and political parties, they held mainly
low-level positions in state-run industries and in the small
private economy. The law proclaims equal pay for equal work,
but in practice women were not compensated equally. Adult
women may open a bank account, accept employment, and own
property without interference from their spouse. Women are
included in all levels of UNITA's ranks.
While little information was available on the extent of
domestic violence, a study published by a renowned journalist
indicated that spousal violence is widespread and growing. The
study indicated that one-third of all homicides were
perpetrated against women, usually by their spouse. The study
revealed that women are not treated as fairly as men in a court
of law, even though the Constitution provides for equality. In
many besieged cities, women swelled the ranks of the
handicapped because, in foraging in the fields for food to feed
their families, they often set off land mines. Due to dire
economic circumstances, increasing numbers of adult women and
girls engage in prostitution, and the clergy report that
marriages are breaking down at an alarming rate.
Children
The Government has given only marginal attention to children's
rights and welfare. As noted, both the Government and UNITA
have been responsible for conscripting teenagers into military
service. A major problem in 1994 was the growing presence of
street children in Luanda and other cities, one indication of
the structural breakdown in Angola's family institutions caused
by the war and the deteriorating economy. Young females are
often accepted into private homes as domestics while young
males roam the market places and streets. The living
conditions in government youth hostels are deplorable, and the
majority of the homeless children prefer to sleep on city
streets.
The government-sponsored National Institute for Children,
viewed as an MPLA organ, has not seriously addressed the
problems children face and has been indifferent toward efforts
by international NGO's to assist dispossessed youth. However,
the Government cooperated with international NGO's in
establishing a camp for young Angolans on the outskirts of
Luanda. The project was only partially successful in keeping
children from returning to the city streets and crime. There
were no active private children's rights advocacy groups.
It cannot be verified whether female genital mutilation is
practiced in Angola. However, medical authorities say that it
may have occurred in limited fashion in remote areas of Moxico
province, bordering Zaire and Zambia.
Indigenous People
Angola's population includes 1 to 2 percent of preliterate
tribes. Mostly hunters and gatherers, these Khoisan and other
linguistically distinct groups are scattered throughout the
southern provinces of Namibe, Cunene, and Cuando Cubango.
There is no evidence that they suffer from official
discrimination or harassment, but they do not participate
actively in the political or economic life of the country and
have a marginal ability to influence government decisions
concerning their interests.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
The long civil conflict has deep ethnic and urban versus rural
roots. The MPLA is heavily supported by the Mbundu ethnic
group, which makes up an estimated 25 percent of the
population, and by many city dwellers, notably in Luanda. It
also has strong backing among the small number of white and
mixed-race Angolans who occupy technical and governmental
positions. Election results indicated a high level of support
among other ethnic groups apart from the Ovimbundu. UNITA has
its principal backing among the country's largest single ethnic
group, the Ovimbundu, who make up an estimated 37 percent of
the population and are concentrated in the central and southern
parts of Angola. The Government continued to claim that
inflammatory UNITA rhetoric exacerbated ethnic tensions by
dwelling on the perceived colonial ties of white and mixed-race
Angolans.
The Government cracked down on Lebanese businessmen in 1994,
allegedly for illegal business activities. The Government
arbitrarily deported an Angolan/Portuguese businessman, born in
Malange, during a sweep of mostly Lebanese businessmen in
Luanda in December 1993-January 1994. He has not been
permitted to return, although in a recent press interview in
Lisbon he expressed a desire to do so.
People with Disabilities
There are many physically disabled persons throughout Angola,
the majority of whom are casualties of land mines and other
civil war-related injuries. While there is no obvious
discrimination against them, the Government has done little to
ameliorate their physical, financial, or social distress and
has not legislated accessibility to public buildings or any
other benefit specifically for the disabled.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The 1991 Constitution recognizes the right of Angolans to form
trade unions and to bargain collectively. However, the
implementing law governing unions has yet to be passed, and in
practice the Government dominates the labor movement through
the National Union of Angolan Workers (UNTA), the official
labor union of the ruling MPLA, which remained the principal
workers' organization. Two other groups without affiliation to
a political party, the National Confederation of Free Trade
Unions of Angola and the Democratic Confederation of Angolan
Workers, waited yet another year for peace and a new labor
union law. The war, the Government's long association with and
preference for UNTA, and the lack of necessary legislation
effectively stifled the development of these two organizations.
Organized labor is concentrated in the cities. There is no
organized labor in agriculture, traditionally the main source
of income for the vast majority of Angolans.
The Constitution provides for the right to strike, and
legislation passed in 1991 provides the legal framework to
strike. The law prohibits lockouts and worker occupation of
places of employment and provides some protection for
nonstriking workers. It prohibits strikes by military and
police personnel, prison workers, and firemen. It does not
prohibit retribution against strikers.
There were strikes against the Government in August by air
traffic controllers and in September by Luanda province public
school teachers. The Government negotiated the air traffic
controllers' demands expeditiously, and it met with a 5-member
teachers' commission, representing Luanda province's 11,000
teachers. The Government harassed commission members until
they capitulated to the Government's demand that the strike be
postponed until the end of the academic year in October in
exchange for an extra month's salary. The Government did not
provide a salary increase or pay the extra month's salary as
promised, and consequently the teachers remained on strike at
the end of 1994.
By year's end, the Government and the MPLA-controlled National
Assembly had still not enacted laws to allow labor
organizations to affiliate with international labor bodies.
UNTA, the MPLA labor union, is affiliated with the Organization
of African Trade Union Unity and the formerly Soviet-controlled
World Federation of Trade Unions. The two planned Angolan
trade union federations will not be able to apply for
membership in the International Confederation of Free Trade
Unions until relevant domestic legislation is enacted.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
Angolan workers have the constitutional right to organize and
bargain collectively. However, in practice there has been
almost no collective bargaining, and the Government dominates
the economy through state-run enterprises. The Ministry of
Public Administration, Labor, and Social Security continued to
set wages and benefits on an annual basis. The Council of
Ministers approved the Ministry's proposal to increase salaries
100 percent for all public sector employees in 1994. The
Council based salaries of employees of state-owned enterprises
on profits of the previous year, the availability of loans from
the national bank, and the percentage of government ownership.
In Angola's small private sector, wages are based on multiples
of the minimum salary set by the Government.
The 1991 legislation prohibits discrimination against union
members. Union members' complaints are adjudicated in the
regular civil courts. Employers found guilty of antiunion
discrimination are required to reinstate workers fired for
union activities.
Angola has no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
In 1993 the Government indicated that in mid-1994 it would
introduce legislation to prohibit forced labor, reversing laws
and provisions which had been cited by the International Labor
Organization (ILO) as a violation of ILO Convention 105 on
Forced Labor. The outdated legislation authorizes forced labor
for breaches of worker discipline and participation in
strikes. While new legislation was proposed in 1994, it had
not been enacted by year's end or even debated by the National
Assembly.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
The legal minimum age for employment is 14. The Inspector
General of the Ministry of Labor is responsible for enforcing
labor laws. The Labor Ministry maintains employment centers
where prospective employees register. These centers screen out
applicants under the age of 14. However, children at a much
younger age work on family farms and in the informal economy;
the survival of Angola's growing number of street children
underscores the role of child labor in the informal urban
economy.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
The minimum wage is set by the Government and was increased by
100 percent in 1994. However, the Government does not enforce
the wage standard. In real terms, the minimum wage of just
over $1 per month (1 million kwanzas) is insufficient to
support a worker and family. As a result, many wage-earning
workers depended on the thriving informal sector (night jobs,
subsistence farming, theft, corruption, or support from abroad)
to maintain an acceptable standard of living.
The normal workweek, established by a 1994 government decree,
is 37 hours. There was no information available on the
adequacy of work safety conditions or health standards, but
they presumably were adversely affected by the weakness of the
Angolan economy, the lack of enforcement mechanisms, and the
war.
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[end of document]
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