Journalist Andre Domingos Mussamo continues to be held in detention in the Angolan province of Cuanza Norte despite the expiry of a second legal release deadline. 3 March 2000 is Mussamo’s ninety-second day in detention. Mussamo’s detention has exceeded the legal deadline in terms of the Angolan Press Law, which allows only a fifteen-day detention […]
Journalist Andre Domingos Mussamo continues to be held in detention in the Angolan province of Cuanza Norte despite the expiry of a second legal release deadline. 3 March 2000 is Mussamo’s ninety-second day in detention.
Mussamo’s detention has exceeded the legal deadline in terms of the Angolan Press Law, which allows only a fifteen-day detention period without formal charges. Although Mussamo is not being held under the Press Law, his detention has also exceeded the maximum forty-five-day period to which his detention otherwise applies. To exceed the forty-five-day deadline, the law requires a special court order based on evidence of a specific crime. Mussamo’s extended detention to another forty-five days was the result of an order form the attorney-general.
BACKGROUND:
Mussamo was detained on 2 December. At the time, he was chief editor of the Cuanza Norte provincial branch of the Angolan National Radio and a correspondent for the independent
biweekly “Folha 8”.
Mussamo is being accused of stealing documents from the provincial government headquarters and of violating state secrets because of an unpublished article that made reference to a letter from the provincial governor to President Eduardo Dos Santos.
According to MISA sources, Mussamo left the article in one of his books at work, after deciding not to send it for publication. A member of the security apparently searched his papers and then found the article, which was written in September.
The law under which Mussamo is being held is the notorious Law of Crimes against State Security, which technically was revoked by the new Constitution adopted in 1992. This is also despite assurances from Angolan Attorney-General Domingos Culolo in September 1999 that journalists would not be prosecuted under this law, but instead in terms of the Press Law. The fact that Mussamo is not being charged under the Press Law has allowed for his prolonged detention
since the Press Law stipulates a maximum fifteen-day detention for anyone charged or detained in terms of this law. Any other law allows for a maximum detention of forty-five days, but this has since been violated in Mussamo’s case by an order from the provincial attorney-general extending Mussamo’s “preventative detention” to ninety days.
Mussamo was believed to have been formerly charged, however numerous irregularities surround this. He was apparently charged with violating state secrets. However, lawyers in Luanda said these charges were wrongly formulated since the article in question was never published, while he also never took or was found in possession of the document reportedly quoted in the unpublished article. At the same time, while a document formally charging him had been handed to him, his wife had not been allowed access to this document in order to pass it on to lawyers in Luanda. During their visits, he was not allowed to pass anything to his wife, while their conversations were held in the presence of a prison official who stopped them if there was any talk about the case. Another irregularity was that the charge document apparently did not indicate the date of a trial, which would be a requirement once formal charges are laid.
Meanwhile, the number of visits Mussamo had been allowed to have was cut. Previously, his wife Margerita Ngongo Mussamo was able to visit him daily to bring him meals, but now he is allowed visits only every fifteen days. At the same time, there is concern about Mussamo’s health. Before being detained, Mussamo was involved in a car accident in which he broke his leg. He is still walking with the aid of crutches and requires regular treatment in order to allow his leg to heal satisfactorily. The last time he was reportedly allowed to go to hospital for treatment was in late January. The fear is that Mussamo could be crippled for life if he does not receive treatment to allow his leg to heal.
Mussamo is also being harassed by actions outside prison. He has been suspended from his job at the Angolan National Radio, with the result that his wife and three children are without any income. The radio also confiscated his motorbike, despite proof that it does not belong to them but is owned by Mussamo, while the state telecommunications company has also removed the telephone and telephone cables in his house.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
– strongly protesting the continued detention of Mussamo
– urgently demanding his immediate and unconditional release
– pointing out that no evidence exists of a crime, since the contentious article he was being held over was never published, while he was also not found in possession of the document he has been accused of stealing
– protesting the current conditions he is being detained under and demanding that he be granted proper medical treatment as well as access to his family and lawyer, as is the right of any detainee
– protesting the fact that he is being charged in terms of the Law of Crimes against the State when, as a journalist, he should rightfully be charged in terms of the Press law
– calling on the Angolan government to earnestly uphold the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and fulfil its obligations as a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in particular with respect to its obligations to ensure freedom of expression and to afford due process to all persons charged with criminal offences
Appeals To
APPEALS TO:
Hon Jose Eduardo dos Santos
President of the Republic of Angola
Tel: +244 2 353 877 / 354 545 / 391 691
Fax: +244 2 331 898 / 331 885
Sr Fernando da Piedade dias dos Santos
Minister of Interior
Tel: +244 2 391 079 / 391 049
Fax: +244 2 321 034
Sr Domingos Culolo
Attorney General of the Republic of Angola
Tel: +244 2 333 171 / 337 0065 / 391 733
Fax: +244 2 333 172
Sr Manuel Pedro Pacavira
Governor of Cuanza Norte Province
Tel: +244 35 80 100 / 80 025 / 80 148 / 80 059
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
For further information, contact Raashied Galant at MISA, S
