His Excellency Jos\u00e9 Eduardo dos Santos<\/p>\n
President of the Republic of Angola<\/p>\n
Re: Prosecution of Rafael Marques de Morais<\/p>\n
Dear President dos Santos,<\/p>\n
We, the undersigned individuals and organizations, are writing to you to express our strong concerns about the prosecution on criminal defamation charges of journalist Rafael Marques de Morais. Despite what was understood to have been a negotiated agreement between Mr. Marques de Morais and government authorities late last week, we are deeply concerned that that agreement is now being reversed. Instead, it appears that the court will issue a verdict in the case later this week; a conviction could result in a prison sentence and the indefinite revocation of his passport.<\/p>\n
This case reflects a broader deterioration in the environment for freedom of expression in Angola, including the increasing use of criminal defamation lawsuits against journalists and routine police abuse of, and interference with, journalists, activists, and protesters peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression. We urge you to take immediate steps to reverse these worrying trends.<\/p>\n
Mr. Marques de Morais has been regularly and repeatedly harassed by state authorities because of his work. The 24 criminal defamation charges lodged against Marques, for example, are only the latest attempt by Angolan officials to silence his reporting. Marques has alleged a range of high-level corruption cases and human rights violations in his blog, and pursued sensitive investigations into human rights violations in Angola\u2019s diamond areas.[1] We are unaware of any serious effort by the Angolan attorney-general\u2019s office to impartially and credibly investigate the allegations of the crimes for which he has been charged.<\/p>\n
Your government appears to be using Angola\u2019s criminal defamation laws to deter Mr. Marques de Morais from his human rights reporting. By doing so, the government is violating his right to freedom of expression as protected by Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Preventing him from reporting on human rights violations is contrary to the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.<\/p>\n
The prosecution of Mr. Marques de Morais also stands in opposition to the December 2014 judgment of the African Court on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights, which ruled in the case of Loh\u00e9 Issa Konat\u00e9 v. Burkina Faso that except in very serious and exceptional circumstances, \u201cviolations of laws on freedom speech and the press cannot be sanctioned by custodial sentences.\u201d[2] Laws criminalizing defamation, whether of public or private individuals, should never be applied, including in these circumstances given that Marques was raising concerns about human rights abuses in the country\u2019s diamond mines. Criminal defamation laws are open to easy abuse, as the case against Marques demonstrates, resulting in disproportionately harsh consequences. As repeal of criminal defamation laws in an increasing number of countries shows, such laws are not necessary for protecting reputations.<\/p>\n
We strongly urge you to take immediate steps to make clear that the government of Angola respects the right of journalists, activists, and others to enjoy their right to freedom of expression. Furthermore we encourage you to immediately pursue efforts to abolish Angola\u2019s criminal defamation laws.<\/p>\n
Thank you for your attention to this important matter.<\/p>\n
Sincerely yours,<\/p>\n
Sarah Margon, Washington Director, Human Rights Watch
\nSteven Hawkins, Executive Director, Amnesty International USA
\nTeresa Pina, Executive Director, Amnesty International Portugal
\nA. Lemon, Emeritus Fellow, Mansfield College, University of Oxford
\nAline Mashiach, Head Commercial and Marketing Manager, Royalife LTD
\nAndreas Missbach, Joint-managing director, Berne Declaration, Switzerland
\nArt Kaufman, Senior Director, World Movement for Democracy
\nBeata Sty\u015b-Pa\u0142asz, P.E. Senior Project Manager, State of Florida Department of Transportation
\nBen Knighton, Co-ordinator of the African Studies Research Group, Oxford Centre for Mission Studies (OCMS)
\nCarl Gershman, President, National Endowment for Democracy
\nC\u00e9cile Bushidi, PhD student, SOAS, University of London
\nCl\u00e9a Kahn-Sriber, Head of Africa Desk, Reporters Without Borders
\nCobus de Swardt, Managing Director, Transparency International
\nDaniel Calingaert, Executive Vice President, Freedom House
\nDeborah Posel, Institute for Humanities in Africa (HUMA), University of Cape Town
\nDiana Jeater, Editor, Journal of Southern African Studies, Lecturer in African History, Goldsmiths, University of London
\nDorothee Boulanger, Doctoral candidate, King’s College London
\nDylan Tromp, Director, Integrate: Business & Human Rights
\nE.A. Brett, Professor of International Development, London School of Economics
\nEry Shin, Doctoral candidate in English literature, University of Oxford
\nFiona Armitage
\nGarth Meintjes, Executive Director, International Senior Lawyers Project
\nHenning Melber, Senior Advisor\/Director emeritus, The Dag Hammarskj\u00f6ld Foundation
\nHilary Owen, Professor of Portuguese and Luso-African Studies, University of Manchester
\nJaqueline Mitchell, Commissioning Editor, James Currey
\nJodie Ginsberg, CEO, Index on Censorship
\nKathryn Brooks, African Studies Centre, University of Oxford
\nKenneth Hughes, University of Cape Town
\nLara Pawson, freelance writer, Author of In the Name of the People: Angola’s Forgotten Massacre
\nLotte Hughes, Senior Research Fellow, History Department, and The Ferguson Centre for African and Asian Studies Faculty of Arts, The Open University
\nMargot Leger, MSc Student, African Studies
\nMary Lawlor, Founder and Executive Director, Front Line Defenders
\nMatthew de la Hey, MBA Candidate, Sa\u00efd Business School, University of Oxford
\nMerle Lipton, Research Fellow, King’s College London
\nMichael Ineichen, Program Manager & Human Rights Council Advocacy Director, International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
\nMichael Lipton, Research Professor of Economics, Sussex University
\nMichael Savage, Cape Town, South Africa
\nMichelle Kelly, Faculty of English, University of Oxford
\nNic Cheeseman, Associate Professor in African Politics, Department of Politics and IR and the African Studies Centre, University of Oxford
\nPatrycja Stys, Co-Convenor, Oxford Central Africa Forum (OCAF), University of Oxford
\nPhil Bloomer, Executive Director, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
\nPhillip Rothwell, King John II Professor of Portuguese, University of Oxford
\nRaymond Baker, President, Global Financial Integrity
\nRoger Southall, Professor Emeritus, Department of Sociology, University of the Witwatersrand
\nSantiago A. Canton, Executive Director of Partners for Human Rights, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights
\nSimon Taylor, Director, Global Witness
\nSue Valentine, Africa Program Coordinator, Committee to Protect Journalists
\nSuzanne Nossel, Executive Director, PEN American Center
\nWilliam Beinart, Director, African Studies Centre, University of Oxford<\/p>\n
CC:<\/p>\n
Ad\u00e3o Adriano Ant\u00f3nio, Attorney General of the Republic and supervisor of the central Huambo province<\/p>\n
Lucas Miguel Janota, Magistrate of the Public Ministry<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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