Angola became independent from Portugal on 11 November 1975. Independence was followed by civil war between the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) led by Jonas Savimbi and the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) led by Jose Eduardo Dos Santos.
Although peace was negotiated in 1992 and elections held, fighting only ended in 2002 with the death of Savimbi and the subsequent consolidation of MPLA power under Dos Santos. Constitutional change introduced in 2010 abolishes direct presidential elections, which should otherwise have been held in 2009. Elections held in 2012 saw Dos Santos installed as president. After ruling the country for 38 years, President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos was succeeded by President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço in September 2017.
Angola has a civil legal system based on Portuguese civil law.
Article 63 of the Angolan Constitution provides a comprehensive set of rights for detainees and prisoners.
ACJR has worked with Maos Livres in supporting them to carry out research on criminal justice in Angola.
Angola tornou-se independente de Portugal em 11 de Novembro de 1975. A independência foi seguida por uma guerra civil entre a União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola (UNITA), liderada por Jonas Savimbi e do Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA), liderado por José Eduardo dos Santos.
Embora a paz foi negociada em 1992 e eleições realizadas, o conflicto só terminou em 2002 com a morte de Savimbi e a subsequente consolidação do poder do MPLA sob Dos Santos. As mudança constitucionais introduzidas em 2010 aboliram as eleições presidenciais directas, que tinham de ser realizadas em 2009. As eleições aconteceram em 2012 e vieram Dos Santos como presidente.
Angola tem um sistema de direito civil baseado no direito civil Português.
O artigo 63 da Constituição Angolana prevê um conjunto abrangente de direitos para os detidos e reclusos.
A ACJR trabalhou com a Mãos Livres para apoiar a organização na investigação sobre a justiça penal em Angola.
L’ Angola a acquit son indépendance le 11 Novembre 1975. L'indépendance laissa la place à une guerre civile entre l'Union Nationale pour l'Indépendance Totale de l'Angola (UNITA), dirigée par Jonas Savimbi et le Mouvement populaire pour la libération de l'Angola (MPLA) dirigé par José Eduardo Dos Santos. Bien que la paix n’aie été négocié qu’en 1992 et que des élections aient eu lieu à la même année, les violences n’ont pris fin qu’en 2002 avec la mort de Savimbi et la consolidation du pouvoir du MPLA sous Dos Santos. Le changement constitutionnel introduit en 2010 a abolit les élections présidentielles directes, qui devraient être organisées en 2009, et Dos Santos remporta les élections présidentielles de 2012.
Après avoir dirigé le pays pendant 38 ans, le président José Eduardo Dos Santos a été remplacé par le président João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço en septembre 2017.
L'Angola a un système judiciaire civil, créé à partir du droit civil portugais.
L'article 63 de la Constitution angolaise fournit un ensemble complet des droits des détenus et des prisonniers.
L'ACJR a collaboré avec Maos Livres en entreprenant des travaux de recherche sur la justice pénale en Angola.
This overview of policing in Angola by Julie Berg of the Institute of Criminology at the University of Cape Town is drawn from an overview of policing oversight in select SADC countries.
The Constitution of Angola 2010 in Portuguese.
This English version of the Constitution of Angola has been directly translated from Portuguese using Google Translate.
Angolan police target newspaper and 'break up demonstrations'
On 12 March 2012 Angolan police seized 20 computers from the offices of the publication 'Folha 8' and questioned its editor two days after attempts to stage demonstrations in the Luanda and Benguela were broken up by armed gangs and heavily armed police.
Cunene court suffers backlogs, poor infrastucture
Poor court infrastructure is contributing to poor performance of the court system in Cunene, says the presiding judge. The Minister of Justice for Courts has promised improvements this year.
"According to the Ministry of Interior and press reports, the 34 prisons had 11,692 available places for 19,898 prisoners in November"..."There were 9,234 men in pretrial detention and 10,113 men serving a sentence. There were 551 women, of whom 253 were in pretrial detention and 298 were sentenced."..."The law states detainees should not be held longer than 24 hours, but many were held for days. Excessively long pretrial detention continued to be a serious problem. An inadequate number of judges and poor communication among authorities contributed to the problem. Police beat and then released detainees rather than prepare a formal court case. In some cases authorities held inmates in the prison system for up to two years before their trials began. NGOs reported that more than 50 percent of inmates were pretrial detainees, most of whom had not been formally charged. The government did not release detainees who had been held beyond the legal time limit, claiming that previous releases of pretrial detainees had resulted in an increase in crime."
Associação Mãos Livres
Associação Mãos Livres has been providing free legal aid to poor people since 2000, including those held in detention. It is the first organization in Angola that dares to call itself a "human rights organization", and is the first Angolan NGO to provide free legal aid.
2012 Report
Mãos Livres prepares for Angola's first pre-trial audit
In mid-November 2013 members of the Angolan NGO Mãos Livres carried out detailed discussion and training on how best to conduct a pre-trial audit in Angola.
No Sábado dia 20 de Junho, os Serviços de Investigação Criminal (SIC) e a Polícia Nacional prenderam e encarceraram treze jovens activistas políticos e defensores de direitos humanos, numa residência onde discutiam questões políticas relacionadas com o estado da democracia em Angola. Depois de serem presos cada um deles foi levado para a sua residência algemados e a polícia fez buscas e confiscou equipamento informático e documentos, nomeadamente; computadores, máquinas fotográficas, agendas pessoais, revistas, documentos vários e cartões de recarga telefónica que encontraram. Muitos destes equipamentos e documentos são pertença de membros da família. A operação policial aconteceu sem qualquer “mandado de prisão ou de busca” e muitas vezes a polícia armada usou violência para entrar nas residências.
