Media Reform – 1995
1995
Although the Lusaka Accord and Angola’s constitution guaranteed freedom of expression and of the press, the Government violated these laws in practice. In January 1995, the editor of the Luanda-based newspaper Imparcial Fax Ricardo de Mello was shot on the stairs of his home. His wife said that he had recently been threatened by military agents of the MPLA to stop criticizing the Government’s handling of the war. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), “De Mello was killed at the height of his publication’s unprecedented coverage of high-level government corruption” (1995). A group of men attempted to abduct Mariano Costa, a reporter, demanding to see his identification, but he was able to flee. Another reporter, Mario Paiva, a writer for Reuters, was told he would be shot by an agent of the Angolan Home Affairs Information Department (SINSO). Paiva stated that his home was under surveillance by SINSO agents.1
UNITA continued to broadcast on its illegal station “Vorgan”. No announcements regarding media reforms were made and no evidence of the initiation of reforms was found. In February 1995, UNITA held its 8th ordinary congress in Bailundo, Huambo Province with 1,230 delegates from every province in Angola. The UNITA congress adopted 21 resolutions dealing with the peace process and future plans. Number 13 dealt with the freedom of the press and media: “The eighth congress demands the institutionalization of a free and exempt press. The eighth congress condemns the intimidation and assassination of journalists as is the case of the late Ricardo de Mello. Without a free press there is no democracy.”2