Angola: No justice for years of police violence that left people dead, wounded and traumatized

Authorities in Angola must hold police officers accountable for killing, injuring or traumatizing dozens of people during protests between November 2020 and June 2023, Amnesty International said in a new report. Police must also stop attacking protesters and respect and uphold everyone’s right to freedom of assembly. 

The report, Broken promises: protesters caught between tear gas, bullets and batons in Angola, reveals a pattern of excessive and unnecessary use of force by police under Angola’s president João Lourenço. Amnesty International investigated police actions at eleven protests and found that officers deployed live bullets and tear gas against demonstrators, killing at least 17 people, while beating and arbitrarily detaining others in violation of Angolan and international law. 

“People in Angola protested when President João Lourenço didn’t live up to his electoral promises. But instead of respecting the right to peaceful assembly, police under Lourenço’s leadership cracked down with brutal force. Amnesty’s research documents a child shot dead, limbs burned by tear gas canisters hurled at crowds and vicious beatings in police custody resulting in deep physical and emotional scars. Angolan authorities still have held no one accountable for these violations. The victims and their families deserve justice now,” said Khanyo Farisè, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East and Southern Africa. 

A pattern of unlawful use of force

Amnesty’s research shows Angolan police routinely responded to protests by violating the rights to life and inflicting beatings which could amount to torture and ill-treatment, as well as violating the rights to liberty and security of a person and freedom of peaceful assembly. 

On 11 November 2020, police shot and killed 26-year-old Inocêncio de Matos during a protest in the capital Luanda against postponed municipal elections, reportedly as he knelt with his hands in the air. 

In January 2021, police killed at least ten people after opening fire on an anti-poverty protest in the diamond-mining town of Cafunfo, Lunda Norte province.  

On 26 May 2022, police shot and killed 32-year-old Adão José Andre Caoluna and 35-year-old Luís António Lourenço, also known as Dorito, during a Federation of Construction Unions strike at the Hidroeléctica de Caculo Cabaça (CGGC) company in Cambambe, Cuanza Norte province. A witness said police shot Dorito with two bullets in the back and head while he tried to explain to officers the reasons for the strike. 

Meanwhile on 5 June 2023 in Huambo province, Rapid Intervention Force (PIR) officers fired live bullets on a crowd protesting high fuel prices, killing at least four people, three of whom were bystanders including 12-year-old Cristiano Luis Pambasangue Tchiuta who was walking to school. 

Police also used unnecessary and excessive force by excessively deploying tear gas at numerous demonstrations, which is prohibited against peaceful protesters. Numerous direct hits by tear gas canisters left gruesome burns requiring skin grafts. 

Police assaulted people with batons, too, such as 32-year-old Avisto Chingolola Mateus Mbota, who was beaten on the back until he lost consciousness during a protest over disputed election results on 27 August 2022 in Benguela. At the same protest, three police beat António Feliciano Buengue Pongoti to the floor with batons and then stuffed a grenade in his mouth and whipped him on the buttocks. 

“The police violence against protesters in Angola under President João Lourenço’s administration is stomach-churning. These assaults have often left debilitating, long-lasting effects on victims and their families, making it even more difficult for them to earn a decent and dignified livelihood. Angolan police must respect people’s right to protest,” said Khanyo Farisè. 

Instead of justice, coffins

None of the officers or their superiors responsible for the human rights violations Amnesty documented have faced justice. In the few instances where official investigations were promised, such as with Inocêncio de Matos, authorities have not publicized their conclusions. 

On some occasions, the official responses have been insulting. 

In Cafunfo, authorities convicted a protest leader for alleged offences but did not even investigate the police for killings they acknowledged. In Huambo, instead of dispensing justice to families of slain protesters, the authorities handed out coffins.

Meanwhile, authorities entirely ignored some allegations against police. Protester Geraldo Dala, who police assaulted with batons during a protest in Luanda in February 2021, said filing an official complaint would be a “waste of time.” “No inquiry, no support, no accountability, absolute silence,” Geraldo Dala said. 

Amnesty International requested an official explanation on the allegations of human rights violations and steps taken to provide justice to the victims, with no response. 

“The depravity of these crimes is matched only by the disregard for justice that followed. The Attorney General’s Office must immediately initiate investigations into police killings of protesters and bystanders and ensure that perpetrators – whether senior or junior officers – are brought to justice in fair trials. The Ombudsmen’s Office, meanwhile, must investigate cases of unlawful use of force and submit their findings to Angolan authorities for action,” said Khanyo Farisè. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Amnesty International.