Angola: Stop forced evictions!

END FORCED EVICTIONS IN ANGOLA!

Forced evictions – evictions which are not carried out in accordance with the law - are a violation of human rights.
Forced evictions are a major human rights violations in Angola. They affect tens of thousands of people in the capital, Luanda alone.

Since July 2001, thousands of families in Luanda have been forcibly evicted from their homes, which were then demolished. They had other property either destroyed or stolen, by those carrying out the evictions. The evictions were arbitrary and carried violently and without an eviction order. Those evicted were not consulted prior to the evictions. They were not provided with alternative adequate accommodation and were not compensated for their losses. Only a few of the families evicted in 2001 and 2003 were promptly given alternative accommodation. The vast majority are left to fend for themselves. Hundreds of families evicted since July 2005, are still without shelter after repeatedly being evicted from their homes.
Forced evictions almost invariably affect the poorest and most vulnerable members of society. They increase social inequality and poverty and they frequently give rise to social conflict.

Since July 2005 the forced evictions have occurred in the following Luanda neighbourhoods:
Bairro Cidadania, Viana municipality, where 314 families were forcibly evicted and had their property destroyed on 26 and 27 September 2005 by municipal fiscal agents and police armed with guns and AKM rifles, who beat those who tried to protect their homes and resisted the evictions. Two people were briefly detained. It was the fifth time in about a year that these families were subjected to forced evictions. They were left without shelter and with little means to re-building their homes.
Wenji Maka, in Kilamba Kiaxi municipality. Since June 2004, about 2,000 families have been forcibly evicted and had their homes and property destroyed by the police. The most recent evictions were carried out in June, July and November 2005. Residents and human rights activists who resisted the evictions on these occasions were beaten and some were arrested. During the evictions in June 2004 police shot and wounded three residents.
Cambamba I and Cambamba II, Kilamba Kiaxi municipality: 523 families were forcibly evicted on 24 and 30 November 2005 and again on 22 December 2005. Their homes were demolished by municipal fiscal agents, police and private security guards who arrived in the areas in the early hours of the morning. On 24 November, the police reportedly beat protesting residents and shot into the air to disperse them. Several of them, as well as the coordinator of SOS-Habitat, a housing NGO, were arrested and held for 24 hours, before being released without charge. Forced evictions resumed on 30 November and on 22 December when police reportedly beat and shoved the families and arrested several people including the coordinator of the Residents’ Committee and his wife. They were released the next day uncharged.
Bairro 28 de Agosto and Banga Wé, Kilamba Kiaxi. Forced evictions in those neighbourhoods were carried out on 24 and 30 November 2005. In Bairro 28 de Agosto, there were further evictions on 22 December. In all, 77 families were forcibly evicted and subjected to beatings by those carrying out the evictions. On 22 December some residents were arrested including a woman and her three small children who were held in a police cell until they were released the next day. Twenty eight families were forcibly evicted from Banga Wé neighbourhood on 24 and 30 November.

All these mass forced evictions appeared to have contravened Angola’s international human rights obligations under the treaties it has ratified, particularly, the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights which Angola ratified on 10 January 1992. The forced evictions described were carried out without an eviction order, without previous consultation with the affected communities and residents who did not have an opportunity to challenge the authorities’ decision. Furthermore, the authorities have failed to provide adequate alternative accommodation for those unable to provide it for themselves or to compensate all the families for their losses. Thus the residents’ right to adequate housing and not to be forcibly evicted were violated.

The forced evictions were accompanied by other human rights violations, including the shooting, beating and detention of residents by the police officers and municipal fiscal agents who carried out the evictions.

No investigations have been carried out into any of these forced evictions, including the incidents involving the use of firearms, beatings and detention of residents by police officers and municipal fiscal agents.

Take Action

Help persuade the Angolan authorities to prohibit mass forced evictions and to develop a housing policy and legislation which provide adequate protection against forced eviction.

Write to the Luanda Provincial Governor urging him to:
- put an end to forced evictions and to ensure that all housing policy and regulations are based on human rights and include protection against forced evictions;
- to compensate those who have lost their homes and other property for their losses and provide alternative housing for those who cannot provide for themselves;
- call for an independent and impartial an investigation into the violent manner in which these forced evictions were carried out and for perpetrators to be brought to justice.

Sample letter
Your Excellency,
I am deeply concerned by the fact that hundreds of families have been forcibly evicted from their homes in Luanda since July 2005 and by the fact that many of those evicted, including children and the elderly, are still living in the open air, exposed to climatic conditions. The right to adequate housing and the right not to be forcibly evicted are basic human rights. I urge you not to deny these rights to the people of Angola.
I ask you to take measures to end to all mass forced evictions immediately and to place a moratorium on all other evictions until such time as there is adequate legal and other protection against forced evictions.
I urge you to take measures to ensure that the regulations for the implementation of the law on land and urban development, which are still being drafted, conform to international human rights standards. In addition, I call on you to ensure that evicted families are compensated for the property they had destroyed or stolen in the course of the forced evictions and that those who cannot provide for themselves are provided with alternative adequate accommodation.

Angola is a state party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. As a party to this treaty the government has undertaken to abide by the principles enshrined in it and to ensure that the Angolan people are not arbitrarily deprived of their homes and to take legal and other measures to increase access to adequate housing.

I urge you to call for an independent and impartial investigation into the violent manner in which the forced evictions were carried out, so that perpetrators are brought to justice.

Yours sincerely,

Please send appeals to:
Provincial Governor
Job Capapinha
Governador Provincial de Luanda
Gabinete do Governador
Governo Provincial de Luanda
Angola
Salutation: Your Excellency