Johannesburg (AFP) - Amnesty
International on Thursday accused Angolan security forces of
extrajudicial killings and the use of excessive force in suppressing
dissent against the government of veteran ruler Jose Eduardo Dos Santos.
The rights
watchdog released a report cataloguing over 20 protests that have been
put down with disproportionate force over a two-year period.
Amnesty
said the Angolan authorities action against protestors is tantamount to
an "effective ban" on all anti-government demonstrations.
Most
have been about a lack of electricity and water supplies; forced
housing evictions and mysterious disappearances of demonstrators in the
oil-rich country.
It cited
the cases of two men -- Silva Alves Kamulingue and Isaias Sebastiao
Cassule -- who went missing after organising demonstrations against the
Luanda administration in March 2012.
It emerged later that the pair had been killed by "state agents", said Amnesty.
Another
political activist, Manuel de Carvalho Ganga, was shot and killed by a
presidential security guard a year ago after he was caught posting
flyers near Dos Santos' palace.
"We
are seeing a state that has turned against its own people, a government
that cannot take criticism from its own citizens," said Deprose
Muchena, Amnesty International's regional director for southern Africa.
"The genuine cries of its people are met with unlawful arrests, extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances," he added.
The
London-based group said Angolan police have also carried out arbitrary
arrests and demonstrators have faced "politically-motivated charges and
unfair trials".
Those
protesters fortunate enough not to have been killed have been punched,
kicked or beaten with anything from truncheons to gun butts and metal
cables.
The human rights
watchdog said as the member of the UN, Angola has a responsiblity to
implement international human rights standards relating to policing.
The
government has been trying to polish its image of late, lobbying hard
for a non-permanent spot on the United Nations Security Council and
taking part in multinational peacekeeping missions.
Amnesty
called on Dos Santos, who has been in power for 35 years, to rein in
his security forces and "to immediately end the use of excessive force"
on demonstrators.
Johannesburg (AFP) - Amnesty
International on Thursday accused Angolan security forces of
extrajudicial killings and the use of excessive force in suppressing
dissent against the government of veteran ruler Jose Eduardo Dos Santos.
The rights
watchdog released a report cataloguing over 20 protests that have been
put down with disproportionate force over a two-year period.
Amnesty
said the Angolan authorities action against protestors is tantamount to
an "effective ban" on all anti-government demonstrations.
Most
have been about a lack of electricity and water supplies; forced
housing evictions and mysterious disappearances of demonstrators in the
oil-rich country.
It cited
the cases of two men -- Silva Alves Kamulingue and Isaias Sebastiao
Cassule -- who went missing after organising demonstrations against the
Luanda administration in March 2012.
It emerged later that the pair had been killed by "state agents", said Amnesty.
Another
political activist, Manuel de Carvalho Ganga, was shot and killed by a
presidential security guard a year ago after he was caught posting
flyers near Dos Santos' palace.
"We
are seeing a state that has turned against its own people, a government
that cannot take criticism from its own citizens," said Deprose
Muchena, Amnesty International's regional director for southern Africa.
"The genuine cries of its people are met with unlawful arrests, extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances," he added.
The
London-based group said Angolan police have also carried out arbitrary
arrests and demonstrators have faced "politically-motivated charges and
unfair trials".
Those
protesters fortunate enough not to have been killed have been punched,
kicked or beaten with anything from truncheons to gun butts and metal
cables.
The human rights
watchdog said as the member of the UN, Angola has a responsiblity to
implement international human rights standards relating to policing.
The
government has been trying to polish its image of late, lobbying hard
for a non-permanent spot on the United Nations Security Council and
taking part in multinational peacekeeping missions.
Amnesty
called on Dos Santos, who has been in power for 35 years, to rein in
his security forces and "to immediately end the use of excessive force"
on demonstrators.