Angola: A new cease-fire - a new opportunity for human rights
The cease-fire signed in Luanda presents a new opportunity to build respect for fundamental human rights, according to Amnesty International.
A cease-fire signed yesterday in Luanda presents a new
opportunity to build respect for fundamental human rights,
according to Amnesty International.
The 27-year conflict between the Angolan Government and
armed forces of the National Union for the Total Independence of
Angola (UNITA) gave rise to gross human rights abuses. During the
war both sides carried out human rights abuses with impunity.
Thousands of unarmed civilians were deliberately killed; others
were arbitrarily imprisoned and many were tortured.
"The challenge now facing Angola is to recognize that
there can be no lasting peace without a strategy to institute
full respect for human rights," the human rights organization
said.
To date, the suspected perpetrators of human rights
abuses have been shielded from prosecution by a series of amnesty
laws. A new Amnesty Law was approved by the National Assembly on
2 April 2002. It reportedly offers a blanket amnesty to all
soldiers and civilians who committed crimes against the security
of the Angolan state.
"While acknowledging the difficulties in reaching a
cease-fire agreement, Amnesty International maintains that there
can be no reconciliation, and therefore no lasting peace, without
both truth and justice," said the organization.
Amnesty International opposes amnesties or similar
measures of impunity which block the emergence of the truth,
prevent those responsible for human rights violations from being
brought to justice and deny the right of victims and their
families to seek judicial recourse and reparation, as set out in
international law.
A main reason for the break-down of the Angolan peace
agreements of 1991 and 1994 was the failure to end impunity and
to protect human rights, including economic, social and cultural
rights. Victims of the war include some four million people who
have been displaced or whose livelihoods have otherwise been
shattered by the war.
Amnesty International is calling on the authorities, all
political parties and civil society in Angola to develop a
comprehensive strategy to end impunity and ensure full protection
of human rights. It calls on the international community to
support Angola in this endeavour.
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