Title Angola: The Lusaka Protocol: what prospect for human rights?
Publisher Amnesty International
Publication Date 10 April 1996
Country Angola
Topics Civil war | Human rights and fundamental freedoms | Impunity | Peace agreements | Peace process
Citation / Document Symbol AFR 12/002/1996
Reference Amnesty International is a worldwide voluntary movement that works to prevent some of the gravest violations by governments of people's fundamental human rights. The main focus of its campaigning is to: free all prisoners of conscience people detained an
Cite as Amnesty International, Angola: The Lusaka Protocol: what prospect for human rights?, 10 April 1996, AFR 12/002/1996, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a98d1c.html [accessed 8 June 2023]
Comments The 19-year civil war in Angola has devastated countless lives, torn communities and families apart and led to human rights abuses on a massive scale. There is little prospect of building respect for basic freedoms while the conflict continues. However, there can be no lasting peace unless human rights are given precedence over political considerations and abuses are confronted. The violence will only end when the cycle of impunity is broken. It is essential that both parties accept full responsibility for preventing and investigating human rights abuses and for bringing perpetrators to justice. The Missão de Verificação das Nações Unidas em Angola III (UNAVEM III), United Nations Angolan Verification Mission III - the United Nations (UN) peace-keeping force, which has a mandate to investigate human rights - could be of practical assistance. UNAVEM III was set up after the Lusaka Protocol peace agreement was signed by both sides in late 1994. After years of widespread human rights abuses, the Lusaka Protocol offers an opportunity to develop a culture of human rights in Angola, an opportunity which should not be wasted. This report examines the human rights provisions of the Lusaka Protocol. It describes the context of the peace agreement and documents some of the human rights abuses committed since November 1994. In this report Amnesty International recommends practical measures that could and should be taken by the parties to the conflict and by the UN to bring the abuses to an end. The Lusaka Protocol was signed by the Angolan government and the União Nacional para a Libertação Total de Angola (UNITA), National Union for the Total Liberation of Angola, on 20 November 1994 in Lusaka, Zambia. As a result, the UN agreed to send a further peace-keeping operation to Angola. UNAVEM III was established by UN Security Council Resolution 976 of 8 February 1995. At the end of UNAVEM III's first year, the UN Security Council decided to extend its mandate for only three months, instead of the six months recommended by the UN Secretary-General. This reflected the growing impatience of the international community with the slow progress of the peace process. There is a risk that the UN will pull out of Angola unless real advances are made between now and May 8, when UNAVEM III's mandate comes under review. If that happens, the prospects for peace and human rights in Angola will be set back for a long time to come.
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