Summary
We had peace before. Several peace accords failed in the past and Angolans understand now
that peace means more than the silence of weapons. As in times of war, Angolans still
struggle to survive and we know that for peace to prevail government and civil society must
work in order to overcome the challenges of, and for, peace.
– Angolan human rights activist, Luanda, March 16, 2003.
After three decades, hundreds of thousands of deaths and mass displacement of the civilian population,
the death in February 2002 of Jonas Savimbi, leader of the rebel forces of the National Union for the
Total Independence of Angola (Uniгo Nacional para a Independкncia Total de Angola, UNITA), led to
the signing of a ceasefire on April 4 of the same year and put an end to Angola’s bloody conflict. Peace
has brought hope but also new challenges to Angola. One of the critical challenges facing the country in
its transition to peace will be the successful return and integration of millions of internally displaced
persons, refugees in neighboring countries, and former combatants displaced during the conflict.
A year after the signing of the peace accord, more than two million internally displaced persons and
approximately 25 percent of refugees living abroad have already returned to their places of origin.
However, the majority of those displaced by the war remain in exile, in transit or temporary resettlement
sites. Tragically, the return of internally displaced persons—often without any formal assistance—has led
to hundreds of deaths and maimings, due primarily to the widespread presence of landmines in Angola,
and has left hundreds of thousands of civilians in urgent need of assistance and protection.
Human Rights Watch believes that the successful transition from war to a lasting peace demands that the
fundamental rights of these three groups be respected. In particular, the Angolan authorities and the
United Nations (U.N.) must guarantee security, ensure delivery of humanitarian relief supplies, and
provide education and other basic services to those in transit camps. They must also work towards
achieving similar conditions in the areas to which the internally displaced, refugees, and former
combatants will return. Angolan authorities and the U.N. agencies should pay special attention to the
needs of women, children and other vulnerable groups. Failure to ensure that these standards are met—
and promptly—will aggravate the current situation, threaten Angola’s recent peace and undermine its
hopes of development.
Most importantly, the Angolan government must respect international and domestic law requiring the
resettlement of displaced people to be implemented on a voluntary basis. Despite recent legislation
designed to regulate the resettlement process (the Norms for the Resettlement of Internally Displaced
Populations) the Angolan authorities have in some cases induced or forced many internally displaced
persons to return by making false promises about the conditions of the areas to which they have been sent.
In one case in Bengo Province reported to Human Rights Watch, Angolan police entered a transit camp
and burned homes and crops of displaced people living there. In some instances, as revealed in the
province of Uнge, local authorities have restricted or discouraged the movement of internally displaced
persons. Those who have returned have often encountered abysmal conditions such as food shortages,
poor hygiene, lack of infrastructure, limited access to social services such as health services, and
landmine infestation.
Many Angolan refugees, mainly those living in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia
have returned to Angola spontaneously with their own limited resources. Some returnees have suffered
extortion while crossing borders and checkpoints. Others have drowned while trying to cross rivers. At
border areas, women and girls have been victims of rape and other forms of sexual abuse. At this writing,
the basic conditions to receive these returnees are still not in place. Transit and temporary centers have yet to be established at important entry locations in bordering provinces. Most of these areas of return are still
neither safe nor accessible to humanitarian agencies. Authorities have dedicated their limited resources to
the assistance of former combatants first and, to a lesser extent, internally displaced persons.
The integration of former combatants, estimates of which vary widely, presents another serious challenge.
To further complicate matters, ex-combatants have been classified as either internally displaced persons
or returning refugees to guarantee their access to humanitarian assistance. In general, women and girls,
including former combatants and wives and widows of combatants, have been excluded from the
demobilization process. They bear the burden of their own subsistence and that of their children alone.
Child soldiers, boys and girls seventeen and younger, have also been excluded from the benefits of the
demobilization program.
After decades of civil war, Angola’s infrastructure lies in ruins. Landmines litter the countryside and
hospitals, health clinics, and schools were destroyed in the fighting. A lack of qualified professionals in
the interior means basic health and education services are not available to the majority of the population.
Human Rights Watch is concerned that efforts to develop Angola’s devastated infrastructure do not
overlook the needs of those Angolans who remained in their place of origin during the civil war.
This short report is based on an investigation by Human Rights Watch conducted in March and April
2003. Our researchers interviewed over fifty internally displaced persons, refugees, and former
combatants in the transit centers and the camps of Bengo, Bengo II and Kituma in the province of Uнge
and Cazombo in the province of Moxico.
Human Rights Watch researchers conducted twenty-one interviews with concerned U.N. agencies, NGOs
and other organizations, including the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the U.N. Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World
Food Programme (WFP), Oxfam-GB, GOAL, African Humanitarian Aid (AHA), Mйdecins Sans
Frontiиres (MSF)-Spain, MSF-Belgium, Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), Lutheran World Federation
(LWF), International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, Trocaire, Associaзгo Justiзa, Paz e
Democracia (AJPD), Liga da Mulher Angolana (LIMA) and Mulheres, Paz e Desenvolvimento. Human
Rights Watch researchers also interviewed Angolan central government officials and police, and
conducted six interviews with local Angolan authorities in three provinces. Where necessary, the names
of those interviewed are withheld or changed in this short report to protect their confidentiality.
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