Angola: Investigations, arrests and trial sentences in connection with money missing from Angola's national oil company, Sonangol, in 1998; whether Sonangol employees and government officials were involved in supplying oil to UNITA during the first half of 1999
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 28 February 2002 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | AGO38515.E |
| Reference | 2 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Angola: Investigations, arrests and trial sentences in connection with money missing from Angola's national oil company, Sonangol, in 1998; whether Sonangol employees and government officials were involved in supplying oil to UNITA during the first half of 1999 , 28 February 2002, AGO38515.E , available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3df4be0220.html [accessed 25 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Information on the involvement of government officials and Sonangol employees in supplying oil to UNITA is limited among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
In its 1999 report entitled Angola Unravels: The Rise and Fall of the Lusaka Peace Process, Human Rights Watch (HRW) noted the following:
Although much of UNITA's fuel has come from outside the region, Human Rights Watch believes that in 1998 senior Angolan government officials also assisted UNITA in its procurement of fuel, thereby breaking the U.N. embargo. A number of truck drivers told Human Rights Watch that on the orders of Governor Flavio Fernandes of Malanje, Sonangol fuel trucks were driven past Malanje city to Quela, where their contents were siphoned off by UNITA. Reportedly, this went on for many months, and diplomats in Luanda told Human Rights Watch that they had raised this with the government, which did nothing. Only in December 1998, after Malanje came under UNITA siege, was the city's police Sub-Comissário Paka arrested on charges of facilitating the sale of fuel to UNITA.
In May 1999 further details of the diversion of fuel with the knowledge of some government officials to UNITA came to light. According to O Independente, fuel has been purchased on behalf of UNITA from the Sonangol storage facilities at the port of Lobito and is transported through various intermediaries. Angolan officials have admitted to Human Rights Watch that several hundred people have been arrested, including some army officers. According to the Angolan media, UNITA has also been acquiring fuel in 1999 from northern Namibia (September 1999, 130-131).
Quoting the same international human rights body, a 9 January 2000 BBC report revealed that "jets owned by Angola's state oil company, Sonangol, were sighted by UN observers during 1998 in rebel zones, suggesting corrupt government officials have sold fuel to Unita."
According to a 1 July 1999 Daily Mail & Guardian article, "Angola's defence minister has admitted to parliament that senior army officers and government officials are profiting from commissions on weapons purchases, largely from Belarus. Lower down the line of command, soldiers are selling fuel, weapons and even uniforms to UNITA."
Information on money missing from Sonangol in 1998 could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate . However, a recent report refers to oil revenues that went missing in Angola during 2000:
The oil money, which comprises some 87% of the war-torn country's total income, appears to have vanished into a 'black hole' between state oil company Sonangol, the Treasury and the Presidency. The IMF uncovered the missing billions in its Oil Diagnostic Programme, which is comparing revenue reported as paid by the oil companies operating in the country – currently, mainly from TotalFinaElf and Chevron-Texaco – with the money that actually appeared on the Government's books (Global Witness 13 Dec. 2001).
This information on missing oil revenues is also corroborated by an article of the Inter-Church Coalition on Africa (ICCAF) dated 11 January 2002.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
BBC News. 9 January 2000. "UN Puts Pressure on Angola Rebels."
Daily Mail & Guardian [Johannesburg]. 1 July 1999. Chris McGreal. "Angola's Profiteers' War That Goes on Forever."
Global Witness [London]. 13 December 2001 "Financial Analysts Reveal Angolan Government's Shameful Secret. Where Are the 'Missing Billions'?"
Human Rights Watch (HRW). September 1999. Angola Unravels: The Rise of Fall of the Lusaka Peace Process. Human Rights Watch: New York, Washington, London, Brussels.
Inter-Church Coalition on Africa (ICCAF) [Toronto]. 11 January 2002. "Tentative Hopes Grow for Renewal of Peace Process as UN Prepares To Talk to UNITA."
Additional Sources Consulted
Africa Confidential 1998-2001.
Africa Research Bulletin 1998-2001.
IRB databases.
Jeune Afrique/L'Intelligent 1998-2002.
Keesing's Record of World Events 1998-2000.
LEXIS-NEXIS.
REFWORLD.
Resource Centre. Angola country file. 1998 to present.
Internet sites including:
Amnesty International.
Angola Press News Agency [Luanda].
The Inter-African Network for Human Rights.
Inter-Church Coalition on Africa.
Mail and Guardian [Johannesburg].
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA).
Office fédéral des réfugiés (ODR), Switzerland
ReliefWeb.
Search engines including:
Dogpile
Google.
Lokace.
Lycos.
