ANGOLAN REVOLUCIONARY YOUTH MOVEMENT CELL: +244 943 539 123/+244 928 393 980 E-MAIL: [email protected] OR [email protected] LUANDA – ANGOLA YOUR EXCELENCY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Mr. BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA CC: USA Embassy in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania Address 686 Old Bagamoyo Road Msasani, Dar es Salaam Postal PO BoX 9123 Tel: +255 22 266 8001 Fax: +255 22 266 8238 Website: http://tanzania.usembassy.gov/ Angolan Embassy in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania Malik/Magore Road - Upanga area Plot n 149 CP 20793 - Dar-Es-Salaam Phone: +255 22 211 76 74/+255 22 2139235 Fax: +255 22 213 23 49 E-mail: [email protected] USA Embassy in Luanda, Angola Rua Houari Boumedieme nr 32 Miramar – Luanda Tel: +244 222 64 1000 CaiXa Postal: 6468 - Luanda Website: www.angola.usembassy.gov SUBJECT: OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE USA - BARACK OBAMA First and foremost, the Angolan youth would like to welcome you in the African continent. We did not want to let you go through the African continent without letting you know about some of power abuse by your Angolan counterpart, José Eduardo dos Santos. Due to the respect towards our "Tata" Mandela, a man we consider as the father of modern democracy in Africa, we decided not to bother you while you were in South Africa. We are the ANGOLAN REVOLUTIONARY YOUTH MOVEMENT, a group of young people from various social and political backgrounds who has intervenying on social, political, economical and cultural rights, especially in the form of public protests since 7 March 1 2011 in Angola, having, among others, as our main goals: 1) the retiremente of His EXcellency José Eduardo dos Santos, the President of Angola, who has been in power for 34 years now since 1979 when President Barack Obama was just 18; 2) A solid Democracy; 3) Human Resource Development; 4) the end of the kleptocratic regime and, 5) the end of human rights abuses in Angola. It is with great concern that the youth of the ANGOLAN REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT dares in this open letter, to bring to the attention of Your EXcellency, some of the violations of fundamental rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In this letter, the ANGOLAN REVOLUTIONARY YOUTH MOVEMENT exposed 5 cases, out of a long list of attacks orchestrated by the regime of President José Eduardo dos Santos against peaceful and defenseless protesters, ordinary citizens, journalists and politicians after the visit to Angola of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, in April this year: Case # 1 - Kidnapping and disappearance of two protesters Navi Pillay said in her report during her visit in Angola: "During this visit, I discussed with the relevant Ministries, the unresolved cases of two organizers of a demonstration of ex-soldiers who claimed unpaid pensions and disappeared after a demonstration in May 2012. I was assured By the Minister of the Interior and the Office of the Attorney General that an investigation was initiated and it continues until now. I hope that soon it will Bring to light what happened to the two men and that all those responsiBle for aBuses in this case are brought to justice." Your Excellency, The two activists mentioned by Commissioner Navi Pillay are called Isaías Cassule and Álves Kamulingue, who remain missing up to date. Both are former soldiers whose whereabouts are unknown by the Angolan people since 27 and 29 May 2012, respectively, and the REVOLUTIONARY YOUTH MOVEMENT, the opposition political parties and the civil society in general, suspect that they were kidnapped and possibly killed by the regime of José Eduardo dos Santos for demanding for their payments. 2 Case # 2 - Youth activists detained and tortured Navi Pillay also mentioned in her report on Human Rights in Angola: "There are still proBlems, such as in the content, the interpretation and application of laws on freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, with the police, often repressing demonstrations in an aggressive manner. In addition, we continue to receive regular reports of cases of arbitrary detentions and excessive use of force-especially, but not only, in CaBinda." When it marked eXactly one year since the disappearance of Isaías Cassule and Álves Kamulingue, the REVOLUTIONARY YOUTH MOVEMENT announced to the authorities that they would conduct a peaceful vigil on May 27, 2013. The authorities did not challenge the formal announcement sent to them in about 10 days before the event but without legal justification, agents of the National Police, Riot Police, National Directorate of Criminal Investigation and those of the state intelligence services, heavily armed and provided with patrol cars, horses, dogs and a helicopter, had beaten up the 20 young defenseless people who first arrived at the Independence Square, consequently arresting about 14 demonstrators who were tortured and released, eXcept a 22 year- old activist, Emiliano Catumbela, who remained in custody for 28 days charged with unfounded accusations which proved to have no legal basis. - On June 15, more than 15.000 citizens, mostly women, took to the streets in opposition to the wave of killings and mutilation of bodies of peasants in the diamond rich Province of Lunda-Norte. Following the protest, soldiers of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) patrolled the streets of the Cafunfo village and conducted arbitrary and illegal arrests of protesters including children, women and defenseless members of a political party (PRS). The human rights violations in the diamond mining areas of Angola, perpetrated by senior military officers and members of the security services, are eXtensive and often denounced by NGOs and civil activists. - In the morning of May 31, about 25 National Police officers carried out a search operation and capture in the District of Marçal in Luanda, which resulted in the brief detention of a rapper, João Carlos da Silva aka "Marshall lyricist", 32 years-old, a well- known member of the REVOLUTIONARY YOUTH MOVEMENT of Angola. The search was a result of a complaint which proved to be unfounded. Before the arrest of João Carlos 3 da Silva, police officers identified with the logo of the National Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DNIC), had beaten up a neighbor forcing him to show the house of the young João Carlos da Silva. At Silva’s house, the officers mistreated his mother and brother, and he was subsequently taken and beaten up but later on released when the allegations were proven wrong. Case # 3 - Assassination of political opponents - Political Intolerance - On 11 May 2013, a group of the ruling party, the MPLA, led by one of its youth leaders, Justino Ndala and first secretary of MPLA in Cuqueta (Huambo Province), Filipe Watela, held brutal physical confrontantions with some militants of the main opposition political party, UNITA, which ended up with the death of Feliciano Epalanga, communal secretary for administration and finance in Londuimbali (Huambo). - On Sunday, June 2, two leaders of UNITA in Cacuaco (Luanda), António Zola Kamuku and Filipe Sachova Chakussanga were killed, according to some witnesses in the neighborhood, by elements of the national police, in retalietion of assassination of 3 police officer on duty in the previous day. Intimidation and killing of political opponents has been one of the weapons for elections of the ruling party against all voices opposing the MPLA of Mr. José Eduardo dos Santos, who has been in power for 34 years. There are several journalists, politicians, civil activists, musicians and peaceful citizens who have been killed or imprisoned for ideological motives. Case # 4 - Intimidation and violation of freedom of expression and information In Angola, intolerance by the ruling party, MPLA, also includes journalists and recently, a journalist, Lucas Pedro of the online news organization, club-k.net, was notified and heard at the Attorney General's Office (PGR) on 12 June 2013, where he was informed that the Attorney General himself have personally opened several lawsuits against the young journalist. In the same way, a journalist, Domingos da Cruz, was informed via telephone to appear in court on June 14, 2013, the case is still in process under the accusations of "crime against the state" brought by the National Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DNIC), specifically because the jornalist wrote an article entitled: "When the war is necessary and urgent," published in 2009. 4 A weekly newspaper, Folha 8, and a radio, Despertar, are under constant threats of being closed due to their editorial lines which is different from the likes of many Angolan governors. Most Angolan private media, with rare eXceptions, have been bought by people associated with the President of Angola, José Eduardo dos Santos, with stolen funds of the Angolan people. The Angolan public media is an ideological eXtension of the ruling party, MPLA. In recent years, we have witnessed the internationalization of the bad habits of intimidation of the media to Portugal in an effort to clean up the image of the Angolan kleptocracy through acquisitions of media organizations sponsored with state funds. Case # 5 – Inexistance of dialogue and democratic culture After the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall, the same actors are still in power in Angola, we, the civil society, have pressed for change and more freedom for our citizens. In Angola, those who control the political and economic power are the same and they do not give a minimum space for dialogue with their opponents and/or the civil society organizations, excluding their contributions, both in major lawsmakings and approvals, observation and monitoring of activities and projects in the country, especially in elections. Elections in Angola have been mere events to obey to the interneational formalities.