Angolan authorities must immediately release four activists wrongfully detained for one year whose health has drastically deteriorated behind bars, Amnesty International said.
Police arrested the four activists on 16 September 2023 in Luanda ahead of a planned protest in solidarity with motorcycle taxi drivers. Since then, Amnesty International has documented significant declines in their health amid a pattern of authorities deliberately denying them medical care at multiple different prisons, including urgent surgery, which amounts to torture and other ill-treatment.
“One year in prison simply for peacefully protesting is a travesty of justice. Angolan authorities must release these activists now, especially given their worsening medical conditions,” said Vongai Chikwanda, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for East and Southern Africa.
“Deliberately denying medical care to people in prison is torture. The denial of health care to prisoners also has potentially fatal consequences and may violate the right to life. Not another day should go by with them behind bars or without receiving the medical care they urgently need,” said Vongai Chikwanda.
A pattern of refusing care
Adolfo Campos, leader of the Angolan Revolutionary Movement and an employee at a local newspaper, entered prison in good health, but during the past year in Calomboloca Prison, he has gradually lost much of his vision and is now completely deaf in his left ear.
In early February 2024, Campos was urgently admitted to the prison hospital, where doctors recommended surgery at an external facility. However, prison authorities blocked that procedure and have yet to respond to a 7 February request from Campos’ lawyer for a hospital transfer for surgery.
Throughout his incarceration, prison guards have kept Campos in an overcrowded cell with more than 100 other inmates, where he sleeps on the floor. There are frequent fights, including stabbings.
Hermenegildo Victor José, known as Gildo das Ruas, is a member of the Malangina Resistance Movement and also had no health issues before his incarceration at Luanda Central Prison. In June, he started complaining of fevers and body aches, but prison authorities did not permit him to see a doctor until 1 August. The doctor diagnosed spinal deviation which prevents him from standing for more than 30 minutes due to pain. It is unclear how Gildo’s condition developed, though he was not assaulted.
A prison doctor prescribed a wheelchair and a lumbar prosthesis for Gildo. His lawyers delivered the wheelchair on 15 August, but he was prevented from using it for at least four days. Authorities also denied two family visits to Gildo in August.
Two years of suffering
Gilson Moreira, known as Tanaice Neutro, is a musician and frequent government critic who has suffered more than two years of denied medical care at the hands of prison authorities. In January 2022, police arrested Tanaice after he allegedly called President Lourenço a “clown.” At the time, Tanaice was suffering from a severe and painful condition that has occasionally prevented him from moving his bowels, and he had scheduled surgery abroad. Prison authorities did not allow this procedure to go ahead.
In October 2022, after reviewing photos and medical testimony, a judge ordered Tanaice’s immediate release for treatment, but prison authorities defied that order, keeping him locked up for another eight months while preventing his family from delivering medication. Tanaice also suffered from headaches, fever and suicidal ideation while incarcerated.
After his June 2023 release, Tainace rescheduled his surgery for November, but police arrested him in September along with the other activists. Initially, prison guards placed him in solitary confinement for 36 days in Kakila Prison, which amounts to torture or other ill-treatment, before transferring him to Calomboloca Prison. To date, they have not allowed Tanaice to undergo his surgery.
Tanaice also suffers from back and leg pain, has been denied proper bedding during cold weather and has been assaulted by other inmates.
Only the fourth activist, Abraão Pedro Santos, known as Pensador, has not yet experienced significant health deterioration in prison. Pensador is a member of the Civil Society Contestant Movement and leader of the Black Panther Revolutionary Movement.
However, prison guards have refused medical care to another arbitrarily detained dissenter, influencer Ana da Silva Miguel, known as Neth Nahara. Police arrested Neth in a separate case in August 2023 after she criticized President Lourenço in a live TikTok video.
Neth publicly disclosed her HIV-positive status in 2020, but authorities at Luanda Central Prison prevented her from accessing her daily HIV medication for months, leading to an emergency hospitalization on 3 December 2023. The authorities only allowed her to receive her medication in April 2024, eight months after her arrest. Authorities must release Neth immediately.
“We see a troubling pattern of Angolan authorities withholding medical care as a means of punishing peaceful dissent, amounting to torture. The authorities must ensure the detainees can receive the medical care they need,” said Vongai Chikwanda.
“The authorities must immediately release the jailed activists and allow everyone in the country to freely exercise their human rights as guaranteed by Angola’s constitution and international human rights obligations,” said Vongai Chikwanda.
Background
On 19 September 2023, a Luanda court summarily tried and convicted the four activists of “disobedience and resisting orders.” No evidence was presented at the trial, but witness reports and videos circulated show the activists lying on the ground not resisting during the arrests. The court sentenced them to two years and five months in prison and fined them 80 000 Kwanza (approximately USD 100) each.
