(HRW/IFEX) – The following is a 17 October 1999 Human Rights Watch press release: **For background on Tonet’s arrest and recent harassment of journalists, see IFEX alerts of 8 October, 4 October, 16 September, 14 September, 17 August, 13 August, 11 August and 10 August 1999** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 17, 1999 Crackdown On Angola’s […]
(HRW/IFEX) – The following is a 17 October 1999 Human Rights Watch press
release:
**For background on Tonet’s arrest and recent harassment of journalists, see
IFEX alerts of 8 October, 4 October, 16 September, 14 September, 17 August,
13 August, 11 August and 10 August 1999**
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 17, 1999
Crackdown On Angola’s Independent Media Continues
(New York, October 17) – Human Rights Watch today expressed its deep concern
over the current crackdown on press freedom in Angola and appealed to the
government to exercise restraint and abide by its commitments to democratic
freedoms.
Rafael Marques, journalist and human rights activist, was arrested at dawn
yesterday at his home in the capital Luanda by officers from the Department
of National Criminal Investigations (DNIC). He was moved to a number of
different locations by the police before being detained in Luanda’s
Labortorio prison. Marques has been refused access to his lawyer and has
gone on hunger strike in protest.
Rafael Marques was charged on October 14 with defaming President dos Santos,
for having referred to him as a dictator in a July 1999 article published in
Folha Oito. He appears to have been charged under a 1978 law (that was
technically repealed in 1991) and the media law. If convicted, he could be
given a two to eight year prison sentence.
The presidential spokesperson also reportedly told an informal briefing of
journalists on October 14 that Marques should be jailed for two years.
Marques’ arrest is clearly part of an ongoing trend and we’re extremely
concerned about this,” said Peter Takirambudde executive director of the
Africa division of Human Rights Watch.
Marques is the second journalist to be taken into custody in the past two
weeks. Floha Oito’s editor, William Tonet, was arrested two weeks ago in
what appears to be a fresh clampdown on Angola’s independent media. Tonet
was held in a prison cell for three days before being released. In August
the authorities arrested reporters who had aired an interview with rebel
UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi.
“We wish to appeal to the Government of Angola to immediately put an end to
the current clamp down on journalists,” said Takirambudde. “Angola must
commit itself to press freedom and constitutional legality.”
