No. 12/82 No. 12/82 NOTES UM6tI'$&a% April 1912 THE SOUTH AFRICAN INVASION OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF ANGOLA Report of the International Mission of Jurists (I - 9 October 1981) /-Note: An International Mission of Jurists representing the International Commission of Inquiry into the Crimes of the Racist and A-ap heid RAimes in Southern Africa visited the People's Republic of Angola from 1 to 9 October 1981. It was composed of Mr. Reg Austin, Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of London and Mrs. Paulette Pierson-Mathy, Lecturer at the Faculty of law of the Uniwersity of Brussels and Secretary General of the International Commission of Inquiry. The report of the International Mission of Jurists is published at the request of the Special Committee against Apartheid. The views expressed are those of the author .7 * All material in these notes and documents may be freely reprinted. Acknowledgement. together with a copy of the publication containing the reprint, would be appreciated. 82-10321 -3- CONTENTS Page IsTRODUCTION ................. ..... ......................... 5 PART ONE: OBSERVATIONS OF THE MISSION ............................. ............ 8 A. Lubango, capital of Huila province ....................................... 8 B. Visit to Cunene province .... ... .. ............ ............. 10 1. Cahama .............. .... .................. ........................ 11 The town of Cahama destroyed by the South African Air Force and left deserted ... .......... .. ............ ..........*........ .I The effects of the continual attacks on the lives of the population .. 13 Cahama: virtually a permanent target for the South African army ..... 14 2. Civilian hospital run by Irish nuns of the "Medical Missionaries of Mary" of Tchiulo .............. ..... ............... .......... ... 16 The difficulties of the journey ............................ ......... 17 An isolated civilian hospital in a province dislocated by the war .... 17 Harassment of the hospital by South African troops ................... 18 A hospital forced to suspend normal medical care because of the influx of war casualties ...................................... 19 The Angolan wounded seen by the mission ............................ 20 The new ailment ................................ ............ .... 22 The complete disruption of life in the province ................... 22 The paralysis of hospital services in Cunene province ................ 23 C. The Angolan refugee camp at Chiange (Huila) .................. 25 PART TWOs STATEMENTS AND TESTIMONY ...o ................... .............. 28 A. Interviews with Angolan, Namibian and South African officials ............. 28 l. Angola: Statement by Henrique de Carvalho Santos, Secretary of the Central Committee of the MPLA-PT for the Department of Legal Studies . 28 2. Namibia: Interview with Sam Nujoma, President of SWAPO .... ......... 29 o. CONTENTS (continued) ?ag4 3. South Africas Interview with Mr. Edward Dilinka, member of the Executive Committee of AN ................................. 32 B. Interviews with the representatives of the United Nations relief agencies in Angola ............ ......o..*. ... o ...... .............. 34 1. UNHCRs Mr. Mendiluce Pereiro .... ................ ................ 34 2. UNICEF: Mr. Albein im Bezzera do Mello ......................... ... 36 3. UNDPs Mr. Gunnar Asplund ...... .......... ...... ..... ... ... ... 37 Co Conclusions ............... ..................... ........... ..... 41 D. Recommendations .................................................... 45 Map of Angola ,.. ........ ........... .o.... ... ... ... ., ............o . 47 .. INTRODUCT ION Following the latest South African invasion of the People's Republic of mqola, the International oission of Inquiry into the Crimes of the Racist and Apartheid Migimes in Southern Africa, which had held its second session in the ftople's Republic of Angola in January and February 1981, _V despatched an international mission of jurists to Angola to gather as much information as possible about the extent, impact and objectives of the invasion, the most serious suffered by Angola since the first invasion from October 1975 to March 1976 and the most extensive conventional military operation in the history of southern Africa. The mission, composed of Mr. Reg Austin, Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of london and Mrs. P. Pierson-Kathy, Lecturer at the Faculty of Law of the University of Brussels and General Secretary of the International Commission of Inquiry, visited Angola from I to 8 October 1981. a/ The mission stayed in Luanda and then travelled to Huila and Cunene provinces. Oinene province is one of the three provinces which border on Namibia and the site of the latest South African invasion and occupation. In Imanda, the mission talked to Mr. Henrique de Carvalho Santos, Secretary of the Central Committee of the MPLA Workers' Party for the Department of Legal Affairs, and his principal colleagues including Ms. T. Lopes, Director of the Department, as well as mr. F. Oliveira, Director of the Legal Office of the Minister of &stice and Mr. Oelho da Cruz, President of the League for Friendship and Solidarity with Peoples. The mission was also received by Mr. 4m Nujoma, President of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) , the Liberation Movement of Namibia, Mr. Z. Dilinga, a member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress (ANC), the South African liberation movement, and Mr. Uriak Mokeba, the AMC's main representative in Angola. In its concern to obtain as much information as possible about the consequences for Angola's civilian population of the latest South African invasion and the joint activities of the UNITAR group, the mission also talked to the representatives in Angola of United Nations bodies specialized in assisting civilian populations and refugees. Such conversations took place on _V Comissao internacional de inquirito sobre os crimes dos racistas na Africa austral, 2a Sessao, Documentos, Lmanda, 30 Jan.-4 Feb. 1981, Ed. DLI, MLA- PT, Luanda, 1981. English and French translations of this document are in the process of publication. 2/ A preliminary report on this mission, prepared by the Commission Secretariat, was distributed at press conferences held on 19 October in Brussels and 26 October in Dublin. I. .. 2 and 3 October in Luanda with Mr. Gunnar Asplund. Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme and co-ordinator of the United Nations emergency prqgramme in Angola#*k, Almsirim Bezzer& d* i33UUNICEF representative, and Mr. JosO'endiluce Pereiro, representative of the Office of the United Nations High Oinissioner for Refugees. On 5 October, the mission travelled by scheduled flight to Lubango, the capital of Ibila province and a constant target of reconnaissance flights by outh African military aircraft and of several bombings and helioopter-borne attacks by South African troops.._/ From Lubango the mission, which had been joined by Mr. Achille Lollo, a correspondent for the Jornal de Angola and the magazine Afri ue-Asie, travelled to Oinene province. During its visit to this province, the mission was accompanied by Captain Mario Sylla of the Department of Reconnaissance and Information of the General Staff* of FAPLA (obrgas Armadas Populares de Libertapmo de Angola-Popular Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola) and Lieutenant Gouvela from the same department of the General Staff of the Fifth Region. In Cunene province the mission travelled by car, at night only and without any lights. It stayed at Cahana, the first town bombed and destroyed by the South African Air Force at the start of the South African invasion and near to which heavy fighting took place. Cahama is 200 kilometres from the Namibian border. lhe mission then vent to Tlhiul0 where the hospital run by Irish nuns of the "Medical Missionaries of Nary* Is located. this hospital was occupied by the South African Armed Forces from 24 tO 30 August 1981. As a result of renewed attacks by South African troops in the lmediate environs of Tchiulo from 5 October onwards, for reasons of safety the mission was unable to travel to the banks of the Cunene river near the very long Xangongo bridge which the South African Army had again blown up during its latest invasion. 2/ Returning to Lubango, the mission visited the Chiange refugee camp in Huila province, before returning to Luanda via lubango. A detailed report on the mission's observations, a summary of its conversations with the officials it met in Iuanda, and its legal conclusions are reproduced below. I/ See the report of -the Internatonal Mission of Inquiry -into-ets-ofaggression perpetrated by South Africa against the People's Republic of Angola, 6-13 August 1980, United Nations Centre against Apartheid, Notes and Documents, No. 2/81, January 1981. _/ A delegation of the International Commission of Inquiry meeting in session in Luanda had visited Cunene province and Xangongo on 1 February 1981 where it had crossed the 800 metre long bridge which the South African Army had first destroyed in March 1976 and the reconstruction of which, lasting from 1978 to 1980, had been Completed only a few weeks previously. 1ie members of the mission wish to express their war thanks to the Angolan authorities, in particular the Legal Department of the NPLA Workers' Party and the Dpartment of Reconnaissance and Information of the VAPLA Opneral Staff, for having afforded them all the necessary facilitles to carry