Human Rights – 1998
1998
The Human Rights Division and the Ministry of Justice established local human rights committees in 4 provinces. MONUA reported that many human rights abuses were committed by the ANP, including “extrajudicial executions, torture, rape, arbitrary arrest and detention”. A dysfunctional judicial system failed, in almost every respect, at bringing perpetrators of gross human rights violations to justice. The prisons were reported as suffering from “gross violations of detaineesÕ rights.”1
The verification process broke down in light of the increased violence and the sanctions that were placed on UNITA. MONUA reported that “there have been no contacts between the Government and Mr. Jonas Savimbi and his group, and the joint mechanisms established for the implementation of the peace process at the national and local levels, including the Joint Commission, have been paralyzed.”2
In the last issuance of 1998, MONUA reported that the Angolan government and UNITA forces had continued to perform extensive military operations and that MONUA personnel, under phase IV of their security plan, were withdrawn from all provinces.3
The Uppsala Conflict Data Program coded the conflict between the Angolan government and UNITA as reaching the threshold of “war” in 1998 with over 1000 total deaths in the year. Coding for this case stops December 31 1998.