Angola: Angola Must Comply with UN Freedom of Expression Ruling

The Justice Initiative and INTERIGHTS has called on Angola to comply with its international human rights obligations, following the expiry of a UN-imposed deadline on the southern African country to act to protect freedom of expression. The open letter to Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos followed a March 2005 decision of the UN Human Rights Committee that Angola had violated journalist Rafael Marques de Morais' freedom of expression, by jailing him in 1999 for writing articles critical of dos Santos. The Committee gave the Angolan authorities 90 days to compensate Marques and take steps to prevent similar violations in future. No such steps have been taken to date.

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Contact: James A. Goldston +1 917 862 2937

ANGOLA MUST COMPLY WITH UN FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION RULING

New York, August 29, 2005—The Justice Initiative and INTERIGHTS today
called on Angola to comply with its international human rights
obligations, following the expiry of a UN-imposed deadline on the
southern African country to act to protect freedom of expression.

The open letter to Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos followed
a March 2005 decision of the UN Human Rights Committee that Angola had
violated journalist Rafael Marques de Morais' freedom of expression,
by jailing him in 1999 for writing articles critical of dos Santos.
The Committee gave the Angolan authorities 90 days to compensate
Marques and take steps to prevent similar violations in future. No
such steps have been taken to date.

Marques was arrested and imprisoned in Luanda, Angola's capital, on
October 16, 1999, after he published an editorial in the Agora
accusing dos Santos of corruption and incompetence. Marques was
detained for 40 days without charges, and then tried and convicted for
causing "injury" to the President.

In their letter, INTERIGHTS and the Justice Initiative, who jointly
represented Marques before the UN Committee, requested that Angola
comply with the Committee's decision, quash Marques' criminal
conviction, and undertake systemic reforms to guarantee the freedom of
expression and personal liberties of all Angolans.
Article 46 of the Press Law, which grants absolute defamation
protection to the President of the Republic, subject to no defense of
truth, must be repealed. Other overbroad and draconian provisions of
the Press Law should also be repealed or thoroughly revised.
Criminal defamation laws, providing for prison terms of up to two
years, should be replaced with civil and other non-criminal remedies
for the legitimate protection of reputation. Truth and good faith
publication should be complete defenses in a defamation case.
Criminal laws should grant detainees basic due process rights,
including the right to be informed of their rights, be brought
promptly before a judge, and file habeas corpus petitions.
The authorities should stop use of incommunicado detention and train
law enforcement personnel on the rights of detainees. Defense counsel
and human rights groups should be allowed to visit detention
facilities and monitor conditions of detention.

Marques was sentenced to a six-month prison term, which was affirmed
but suspended on appeal, and ordered to pay damages to the President.
For nearly a year after his conviction, Marques' passport was
withheld, and he was prevented from leaving the country. The Human
Rights Committee ruled that Angola had violated Marques' rights to
personal liberty, freedom of expression, and freedom of movement.

Commenting on the ruling, Marques said, "Press freedom in Angola is
still vulnerable today to arbitrary attack from the executive and the
chilling climate of repression that results. The steps Angola must
take to prevent future transgressions are clear: decriminalize
defamation, establish truth as a complete defense in defamation cases,
repeal special protections for the president and chief executive, and
ensure due process for defendants throughout the judicial system."

The full text of the letter to President dos Santos is available on
the Justice Initiative website:
http://www.justiceinitiative.org/db/resource2?res_id=102736

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The Open Society Justice Initiative, an operational program of the
Open Society Institute (OSI), pursues law reform activities grounded
in the protection of human rights, and contributes to the development
of legal capacity for open societies worldwide. The Justice Initiative
combines litigation, legal advocacy, technical assistance, and the
dissemination of knowledge to secure advances in five priority areas:
national criminal justice, international justice, freedom of
information and expression, equality and citizenship, and
anticorruption. Its offices are in Abuja, Budapest, and New York.

www.justiceinitiative.org