Angola Village: Punishing A Criminal

Angola is a constitutional republic that has been marred by human rights abuses, including cruel, excessive, and degrading punishment, harsh prison conditions, arbitrary arrests, and detention. While the constitution and law prohibit all forms of torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, the government does not always enforce these prohibitions.

The country has a history of arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life, including extrajudicial killings, and there have been reports of police brutality and the use of excessive force against peaceful protesters. In terms of punishment, the country's criminal justice system suffers from a lack of independence and inappropriate executive control, with the president nominating judges for each court. Prisons are overcrowded, and inmates are often denied basic human rights, living in unsanitary conditions and facing sexual abuse.

Angola is also facing challenges with organized crime, including human trafficking, drug trafficking, arms trafficking, and corruption. The country is a source and destination for human trafficking, with Angolans and foreign citizens exploited in various industries, including construction, agriculture, diamond mining, and prostitution. In addition, the country is a hub for cocaine trafficking, serving as a transit point for South American cocaine destined for other African and European countries.

The country's economic regulatory systems are weak, and there is a lack of oversight and auditing measures. Corruption is prevalent, with state-embedded actors and private sector actors involved in financial crimes and the illegal movement of funds. Overall, Angola's criminal justice system and governance face significant challenges, and the country is working to improve its capacity to address these issues.

Extortion and protection racketeering

Extortion and protection rackets are a type of organised crime in which a perpetrator coerces a victim into paying for their protection. This is a common form of racketeering, which is a broader term for any criminal scheme or operation with ongoing or recurring profit.

In a protection racket, the perpetrator threatens to harm the victim unless they are paid a protection fee. This can involve threatening to vandalise or rob the victim's property, or physically harming the victim. The perpetrator may also offer to protect the victim from other dangerous individuals or groups. In some cases, the perpetrator themselves is the main potential threat to the victim. Due to the implied or explicit threat of harm, protection rackets are generally considered a form of extortion.

Protection rackets tend to form in markets where law enforcement is incompetent, corrupt, or illegal, and therefore unable to provide adequate protection. They are common in places where criminal organisations resemble de facto authorities or parallel governments. For example, in Sicily, Italy, the Cosa Nostra collects protection money and operates as a parallel government.

Protection rackets can vary in their level of sophistication and organisation. They may emulate the structures and methods used by legitimate tax authorities to collect taxes. The perpetrators will often negotiate with the victim to determine a reasonable fee that the victim can pay regularly and on time.

In addition to physical security, protection rackets may also offer to settle disputes and enforce contracts. They may warn other criminals that the victim is under their protection and will be punished if harmed. They may also advance the interests of the victim by forcing out or intimidating unprotected competitors.

Arbitrary detentions

Angola is a constitutional republic that has been marred by human rights issues, including arbitrary detentions. Arbitrary arrest and detention are prohibited by law; however, security forces do not always respect these prohibitions.

In 2013, police abuses against street vendors in Angola were documented, including arbitrary detentions. During roundups of street vendors, police and government inspectors (known as fiscals) would beat, arbitrarily detain, and extort bribes from vendors. In some cases, vendors were detained for one to three days and forced to carry out cleaning services in jail before being released.

In 2021, Angolan state security forces were implicated in arbitrary detentions, among other serious human rights abuses.

Angola is a source of and destination for human trafficking, with Angolans and foreign citizens being trafficked for forced labour, prostitution, and other forms of exploitation. Minors are also forced to carry out criminal activities.

Angola is also a transit country for the illegal trade of wildlife and drugs, with criminal networks simultaneously engaging in multiple forms of illicit activities.

Cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment

Angola's constitution and law prohibit all forms of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. However, there are reports of such treatment by state security forces and police, including:

• Beatings and other abuses of persons on the way to and in police stations during interrogations.
• Excessive use of force against peaceful protesters.
• Arbitrary detentions.
• Sexual abuse of children.
• Cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment of street vendors, including beatings, kicking, slapping, punching, and confiscation of goods.
• Cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment of prisoners, including solitary confinement, lack of access to clean water, inadequate food, and lack of air conditioning.

Human trafficking

Angola is both a source of and destination for human trafficking, with victims including people of all genders and age groups from neighbouring countries, as well as Asia and Latin America. They are exploited in a variety of ways, from forced labour in the construction, agriculture and diamond mining sectors to prostitution in massage parlours. Non-citizen women, including Chinese women recruited by Chinese gangs, are also exploited for sex. Angolans are trafficked into South Africa, Namibia, Portugal and the Netherlands for both sexual and labour use. Minors are forced to carry out criminal activities, such as transporting illicit goods, as well as sex, domestic and street work. Workers from numerous countries have their passports withheld, are threatened with violence, denied food and confined by private sector actors active in mining and construction.

Southern African organised crime groups are typically involved in human trafficking, alongside drug, firearm, vehicle and people smuggling. Trafficking in precious stones is a growing concern for Angola. Crime networks engage in multiple criminal areas, using the same trafficking routes to move illegal produce, often bringing violence, insecurity and economic loss.

Arms trafficking

Angola has been implicated in arms trafficking, with the country being used as a route for arms to reach other African nations. Arms trafficking in Angola has been fuelled by the country's porous borders and ineffective national legal codes governing firearms commerce.

The availability of arms has prolonged conflicts in Africa, making them more lethal and resulting in millions of refugees and displaced persons. The proliferation of small arms and light weapons has also led to a resurgence of crime and armed gangs, the recruitment of child soldiers, and sexual violence against women and girls.

While there have been international and regional efforts to reduce the flow of weapons into sub-Saharan Africa, these initiatives have had limited success due to the lack of effective enforcement of UN sanctions, criminalization of embargo violations, and penalization of financial institutions that act as conduits for weapons purchases.

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