AGO 001 / 0615 / OBS 071.1

Judicialharassment

Angola

April 3, 2018

TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDHand the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has received new informationand requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Angola.

New information:

TheObservatory has been informed by reliable sources about the ongoing judicialharassment of Mr. Rafael Marques deMorais, award-winning investigative journalist known for his articlesdenouncing corruption[1].

Accordingto the information received, on March 19, 2018, Mr. Rafael Marques de Moraisappeared before the Criminal Court of the Province of Luanda facing charges of“outrage towards a sovereign body” (ultraje ao órgão de soberania – in this instance former President JoséEduardo dos Santos) under Article 25, paragraph 1 of the Law on Crimesagainst the State Security and Article 105, paragraph 1 of the AngolanConstitution, and “insult towards public authority” (injúrias contraautoridade pública – in thisinstance former Attorney General João Maria Moreira de Sousa) underArticle 181 of the Angolan Penal Code. If convicted, he faces up to four yearsand six months in prison.

Thesecharges relate to an article published on the anti-corruptionwebsite Maka Angola in November2006[2].In the article, Mr. Rafael Marques de Morais exposed the illegalityof Angola’s former Attorney General, Mr. João Maria Moreira de Sousa[3],activities as a property and real estate developer in addition to his legalduties, action which violates the “Principle of exclusive dedication” enshrinedin the Angolan Constitution. The article also reported that the President, Mr.José Eduardo dos Santos, supported some of his subordinates who had beenaccused corruption.

Inaddition, Mr. Mariano Brás, Director of the fortnight weekly newspaper “O Crime” also appeared in court facingcharges of “defamation against public authority” under Article 181 of the PenalCode for having reproduced and disseminated the information collected by theinvestigative journalist[4].

Duringthe hearing, the plaintiffs’ lawyers submitted a last-minute request topostpone the trial sine die and requested the trial’s proceedings to beheld in camera (i.e. closed to the public). The Court rejected theirdemands. The defence lawyers argued that the information reported by Mr. RafaelMarques de Morais was of public interest and supported by sufficient evidence.Consequently, they requested the action to be dismissed.

Thetrial was postponed to April 16, 2018, due to the absence of the mainplaintiff, former Attorney General João Maria Moreira de Sousa.

Acivil case based on the same facts is also pending against Mr. Rafael Marquesde Morais (see background information).

TheObservatory recalls that this is not the first time Mr. Rafael Marques deMorais is being targeted for his legitimate and peaceful human rightsactivities. After the publication in 2011 of his book, “Blood Diamonds: Corruption and Torture in Angola”[5],he has faced continuous judicial harassment[6]. Following its publication, eightAngolan generals and two private mining companies sued Mr. Marques de Moraisfor defamation – twice in Portugal where the book was originally published andonce in Angola. Mr. Marques de Morais was found guilty by the Luanda ProvincialTribunal on May 28, 2015 for committing “slanderous denunciation” against 12individuals, including members of the armed forces. He was sentenced to sixmonths suspended jail term.

Under JoséEduardo dos Santos’ administration, the Observatory had documented numerouscases of harassment, including judicial and administrative harassment, acts ofintimidation, threats and other forms of restrictions to their freedom ofassociation and expression targeting human rights defenders and journalistsdenouncing issues deemed to be sensitive such as corruption, bad governance,forced demolitions, forced evictions or the human rights situation in Cabinda[7].

Thus,the Observatory particularly deplores the ongoing judicial harassment of Mr.Rafael Marques de Morais despite new President Joao Lourenço’s promises to fight corruption andto open the democratic space,and urges the Angolan authorities to end all forms of harassment against him,including at the judicial level and to ensure respect for freedom ofassociation and expression.

Background information:

On December26, 2016, the Criminal Investigation Service called Mr. Rafael Marques deMorais for interrogation. On May 25, 2017, the then-Attorney General, Mr. JoãoMaria de Sousa, acting as a private citizen, filed a civil lawsuit against Mr.Rafael Marques de Morais under the offences of “abuse of press freedom” underArticle 74, paragraph 2, d of the former Media Law No. 7/06, “slander” underArticle 7 of the Penal Code, and “defamation” under Article 410 of the PenalCode.

On June 20,2017, the Office of the Attorney General came up with new charges against Mr.Rafael Marques de Morais: “outrage towards a sovereign body”, in this instanceformer President José Eduardo dos Santos, “insult towards public authority”, inthis instance former Attorney General João Maria Moreira de Sousa.

Actions requested:

Please writeto the authorities in Angola, urging them to:

i. Put an end to all forms ofharassment, including at the judicial level, against Mr. Rafael Marques deMorais and all human rights defenders in Angola so that they are able to carrytheir peaceful and legitimate human rights activities without any hindrance orfear of reprisals;

ii. In themeantime, ensure that any judicial proceedings against Mr. Rafael Marques deMorais is carried out in full compliance with the defendants’ right to a fairtrial, as protected under international law;

iii.Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr.Rafael Marques de Morais as well as of all human rights defenders in Angola;

iv. Complywith all the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on Human RightsDefenders adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, in particularits Articles 1, 12.1 and 12.2;

v. Ensure inall circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms inaccordance with international human rights standards and internationalinstruments ratified by Angola.

Addresses:

· President of the Republic of Angola,H.E. João Lourenço, Civil House, Fax :+244 222 370 366

· Minister of justice and humanrights, Mr. Francisco Manuel Monteiro de Queiroz,Fax: +244 222 330 327

· Director of National Center of HumanRights, Ms. Ana Celeste Januario, Fax: +244 222 333 407; Email:ana.januario@minjusdh.gov.ao and celestejanuario5@yahoo.com

· Ambassador Mr. Apolinário JorgeCorreia, Permanent Mission of Angola to the United Nations in Geneva,Switzerland, Fax: + +41 22 732 30 72; Email: ambmission.angola@bluewin.ch

· Ms. Elizabeth Simbrão; Ambassador ofAngola to the Kingdom of Belgium, in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg andDiplomatic Mission at the European Union; Fax: Fax: +32 2 344 08 94; Email:info@angolaembassy.be

Please also write to the diplomatic mission or embassyof Angola in your respective country.

***

Paris-Geneva, April 3, 2018

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting thecode of this appeal in your reply.

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (theObservatory) was created in 1997 by the World Organisation Against Torture(OMCT) and FIDH. The objective of this programme is to intervene to prevent orremedy situations of repression against human rights defenders. OMCT and FIDHare both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented byinternational civil society.

To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:

· E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org

· Teland fax FIDH + 33 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80

· Teland fax OMCT + 41 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29

[1] Mr. Rafael Marques de Moraishas earned several international awards for his anti-corruption investigativework, including the National Endowment for Democracy’s 2017 Democracy Award,the 2013 Integrity Award from Transparency International, the Gerald Loeb Awardfor International Reporting, the 2014 UCLA Anderson School of Management(co-winner with Kerry A. Dolan, Forbes)and the 2015 Allard Prize for Integrity from the British Columbia University.

[2] “AttorneyGeneral of the Republic involved in corruption” published in November 2006.

[3] Former Attorney General João Maria Moreira de Sousawas relieved by President Lourenço last December.

[4] “So moves thecountry. The General Attorney of the Republic is accused of corruption”,published on November 26, 2016.

[5] In “BloodDiamonds: Corruption and Torture in Angola” (Diamantes de Sangue: Corrupção e Tortura em Angola), Mr. Marques deMorais documents and denounces the corruption, allegations of homicides,torture, forced eviction of civilian settlements and intimidation ofinhabitants of the diamond-mining areas of Angola’s Lundas region by some stateagents and business entrepreneurs.

[6] See the Observatory’s press releasepublished on May 28, 2015 and June 18, 2015 and open letter of June 7, 2016.

[7] See the Observatory’s report “Angola:They want to keep us vulnerable” – Human rights defenders under pressure,published on May 19, 2015. @font-face { font-family: "Arial";}@font-face { font-family: "Courier New";}@font-face { font-family: "Wingdings";}@font-face { font-family: "Cambria Math";}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }h1 { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 21.6pt; text-indent: -21.6pt; page-break-after: avoid; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-weight: normal; }h4 { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 43.2pt; text-indent: -43.2pt; page-break-after: avoid; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-weight: normal; }p.MsoFootnoteText, li.MsoFootnoteText, div.MsoFootnoteText { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoHeader, li.MsoHeader, div.MsoHeader { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoFooter, li.MsoFooter, div.MsoFooter { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }span.MsoFootnoteReference { vertical-align: super; }a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { color: purple; text-decoration: underline; }span.Titre1Car { }span.Titre4Car { }span.Caractresdenotedebasdepage { vertical-align: super; }span.Appelnotedebasdep { vertical-align: super; }span.Refdenotaderodap { vertical-align: super; }span.WW-FootnoteReference { vertical-align: super; }span.WW-FootnoteReference1 { vertical-align: super; }span.PieddepageCar { }span.En-tteCar { }p.WW-TextBody, li.WW-TextBody, div.WW-TextBody { margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt; line-height: 120%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }span.NotedebasdepageCar { }.MsoChpDefault { font-size: 10pt; }div.WordSection1 { }ol { margin-bottom: 0cm; }ul { margin-bottom: 0cm; }