Case History: José Marcos Mavungo
On 20 May 2016, the Supreme Court of Angola ruled to acquit human rights defender Mr José Marcos Mavungo. Having served over one year in prison on charges of ‘incitement to rebellion and violence’, the Supreme Court concluded that there was insufficient evidence to uphold these charges against the human rights defender.
José Marcos Mavungo is a member of the organisation Mpalabanda Associação Civica de Cabina – ACC (Mpalabanda – Civic Association of Cabina). Founded in 2003, Mpalabanda is one of the only human rights organisations operating in the Cabina region of Angola. The goals of Mpalabanda include peaceful opposition to war, oppression and corruption. Over time, Mpalabanda has also monitored the human rights situation in the region while documenting human rights violations by the government. In 2006, the Provincial Court of Cabinda imposed a ban on Mpalabanda for alleged involvement in politics.
- Top
- About
- 24 May 2016 : José Marcos Mavungo acquitted and released from prison
- 6 January 2016 : UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention calls for release of human rights activist José Marcos Mavungo
- 21 September 2015 : Conviction of José Marcos Mavungo a blatant violation of freedom of expression
- 3 September 2015 : Prosecutor requests 12 years imprisonment for HRD José Mavungo
- 18 May 2015 : Conditional release of Arão Bula Tempo and continued pre-trial detention of José Marcos Mavungo
- 10 April 2015 : Deteriorating health of detained HRDs Arão Bula Tempo and José Marcos Mavungo
On 20 May 2016, the Supreme Court of Angola ruled to acquit human rights defender Mr José Marcos Mavungo. Having served over one year in prison on charges of ‘incitement to rebellion and violence’, the Supreme Court concluded that there was insufficient evidence to uphold these charges against the human rights defender.
After considering José Marcos Mavungo’s Appeal to the Supreme Court, on 20 May 2016, the judges found that the charge of ‘incitement to rebellion and violence’ and the resulting sentence of six years’ imprisonment lacked concrete evidence. The human rights defender was subsequently released.
Arrested on 14 March 2015, José Marcos Mavungo was initially tried on charges of sedition on 19 March 2015. Having found no evidence for the charge of sedition, the Provincial Court of Cabinda called for further investigation. The human rights defender was charged with ‘incitement to rebellion and violence’ on 27 May 2015, but he was only informed of his indictment on 22 June 2015. Having been kept in detention throughout this process, he was indicted on 14 September 2015.
Front Line Defenders welcomes the acquittal and release of human rights defender José Marcos Mavungo and calls on the Angolan authorities to guarantee in all circumstances that human rights defenders in the country are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities, without fear of reprisals and free of all undue restrictions.
The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) has called on the government of Angola to immediately release Angolan human rights activist José Marcos Mavungo and grant him compensation.
The American Bar Association, ACAT France, Front Line Defenders, the Southern African Litigation Centre and the global law firm Morrison & Foerster LLP –– welcomed the opinion by the UNWGAD condemning as arbitrary and in violation of international law the arrest and conviction of José Marcos Mavungo.
“Freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are fundamental to a democracy and no one should be detained for legitimately exercising these rights,” said ABA President Paulette Brown. “The ABA calls upon the government of Angola to respect the UNWGAD’s decision and immediately release José Marcos Mavungo.”
Mavungo was arrested and detained in March 2015 on charges of rebellion for organizing a demonstration on human rights violations and bad governance in the Cabinda region of Angola. He was convicted in September 2015 and sentenced to 6 years in prison.
The petition to the UNWGAD was prepared by Morrison & Foerster LLP, submitted by the Southern African Litigation Centre and supported by ACAT France, the American Bar Association Center for Human Rights and Front Line Defenders. The ABA Center for Human Rights through its Justice Defenders Program, which coordinates pro bono legal support to human rights defenders, recruited Morrison & Foerster LLP to prepare this petition.
The conviction and six-year prison sentence imposed on human rights activist José Marcos Mavungo is a travesty of justice and a blatant violation of the right to freedom of expression, association and assembly in Angola, said six human rights organisations today.
The organisations, the South African Litigation Centre (SALC), Lawyers for Human Rights, Front Line Defenders, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and Amnesty International are calling for his immediate and unconditional release. Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience.
“The conviction of José Marcos Mavungo is politically motivated and is the latest example of suppression of freedom of expression and blatant disregard for human rights in the country,” said Muluka Miti-Drummond, Regional Advocacy Director at the Southern Africa Litigation Centre.
“It comes days after the European Parliament’s resolution on Angola calling on the authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all human rights defenders, including José Marcos Mavungo, and to drop all charges against them.”
José Marcos Mavungo’s conviction yesterday appears to be based on his involvement in organising a peaceful demonstration and his alleged association with a group of unknown men said to have been found with explosives and flyers a day before the demonstration. No evidence of José Marcos Mavungo’s relationship with these men or of his involvement in the production of the flyers was presented during the trial.
According to Francisco Luemba, José Marcos Mavungo’s lawyer, the judge stated that he was guilty because the pamphlets “only appeared in Cabinda at a time when José Marcos Mavungo was organising to assemble the masses to rebel against the authorities”.
“It is hard to imagine how the court could have found any reasonable legal basis for arriving at a verdict of guilty given that no evidence was provided linking him to the publication of the pamphlets,” said Mary Lawlor, Executive Director of Front Line Defenders. “Furthermore, there was a complete lack of any evidence linking him to the explosives nor were the men with the explosives and with whom José Marcos Mavungo is accused of associating brought to trial.”
José Marcos Mavungo was arrested on 14 March 2015 and summarily tried on sedition charges on 19 March 2015. The court found no evidence for the charge of sedition against him and ordered further investigations. On 27 May 2015, he was formally charged with ‘rebellion’, but was only officially informed of his indictment on 22 June. His trial started on 25 August and he was convicted on 14 September. He was kept in pre-trial detention from the time of his arrest.
“José Marcos Mavungo’s conviction is particularly concerning in the light of the detention of 16 other individuals under similar charges in the country,” said Jacob van Garderen, National Director of Lawyers for Human Rights – South Africa. “It intensifies our concerns that these individuals are unlikely to receive a fair trial.”
On 20 June, police in Luanda arrested 13 people meeting to exchange opinions on the political situation. Two others were arrested following the meeting. All were accused of an attempted coup and denied bail. They remain in pre-trial detention, but have not yet been indicted. Another individual, Zenóbio Zumba, a military intelligence official, was reportedly arrested on 30 June under the same accusation as the other 15 and also remains in pre-trial detention.
“The Angolan government is obligated under human rights treaties to which it is a state party to respect the rights to freedom of opinion, expression, and assembly, which specifically protect the freedom to meet jointly to freely exchange opinions and peacefully demonstrate for change in areas of discontent,” said Arnold Tsunga, Africa Director of the ICJ.
“These rights are also protected by Angola’s Constitution, which further requires that the authorities ensure democratic participation of citizens and civil society in the resolution of national problems.”
“Despite committing to take measures to respect, protect and promote the rights to freedom of expression, opinion, association and peaceful assembly during its Universal Periodic Review last year, Angolan authorities continue to flagrantly suppress these rights,” said Muleya Mwananyanda, Amnesty International's Deputy Director for Southern Africa.
“Angola can only begin to demonstrate that these commitments were meaningful by unconditionally releasing José Marcos Mavungo, as well as other human rights defenders and political opponents.”
On 28 August 2015, on the last day of José Marcos Mavungo's trial, the sub-General Prosecutor in Cabinda, Mr Antonio Nito, asked the court in the Angolan province of Cabinda (Tribunal Provincial de Cabinda) to sentence the human rights defender to 12 years' imprisonment on the charge of inciting rebellion. The Court is scheduled to deliver its ruling on 16 September 2015.
José Marcos Mavungo's trial began on 26 August 2015. On 28 August 2015, the prosecutor requested the maximum penalty for the crime of rebellion of 12 years' imprisonment. Throughout the trial, the prosecution presented no evidence to support the charges against the human rights defender. The alleged evidence on which the charges were based, namely explosives and pamphlets which Angolan secret service officers had supposedly apprehended prior to a march which José Mavungo had organised, were not presented in court.The court's ruling is due to be delivered at a hearing scheduled for 16 September 2015.
José Marcos Mavungo was arrested without a warrant on 14 March 2015 as he was leaving morning mass. To date, he is being held in pre-trial detention on fabricated charges of rebellion. Fellow human rights defenders Messrs Domingos da Cruz, Afonso Mayenda (also known as Mbanza Hanza), Luaty Beirão, Manuel Nito Alves, and Albano Bingo, along with nine youth activists, who were arrested in Angola on 20 and 21 June 2015 are also being held in pre-trial detention on the same fabricated charge of rebellion and are also expected to be sentenced in mid-September.
On 13 May 2015, human rights defender Mr Arão Bula Tempo was conditionally released pending trial after two months of imprisonment solely for his involvement in the organisation of a peaceful protest against human rights violations and bad governance in Cabinda. As a condition for his release, he must not leave the country without authorization. Mr José Marcos Mavungo, who was also arrested for planning the protest continues to be detained for investigation. His health remains unstable. Both human rights defenders are accused of committing crimes against the security of the state.
On 20 March 2015, Arão Bula Tempo and José Marcos Mavungo were charged with “collaboration with foreigners to constrain the Angolan state” and “rebellion”, respectively, both considered crimes against the security of the state. These accusations are in relation to a peaceful demonstration to denounce corruption, human rights violations and bad governance in Cabinda, which was scheduled to take place on the day of their arrest. Conviction on the charge of rebellion is punishable by up to 15-years' imprisonment, whilst the charge of collaboration with foreigners carries a potential 10-year sentence.
The human rights defenders were initially detained on 14 March 2015, in the province of Cabinda. José Marcos Mavungo was arrested for planning the demonstration, at a Church compound as he was going to his regular morning mass. Arão Bula Tempo was arrested by security forces in Cabinda near the border with Congo Brazzaville, reportedly for having invited journalists from the Republic of the Congo to cover the demonstration.
Front Line Defenders has received worrying reports concerning the health of human rights defenders Messrs Arão Bula Tempo and José Marcos Mavungo. On the afternoon of 9 April 2015, José Marcos Mavungo was transferred from the Central prison of Yabi to the Intensive Care Unit at the Central Hospital in Cabinda due to serious heart problems. On the same morning, Arão Bula Tempo received treatment at the same hospital due to arterial hypertension, and has since returned to prison. The human rights defenders have been detained on account of their human rights work since 14 March 2015.
Over the last week, the lawyers and families of Marcos Mavungo and Bula Tempo have expressed concerns at the fragile and deteriorating health conditions of the two human rights defenders while they remain in detention. In particular, Arão Bula Tempo had been increasingly suffering from palpitations, anxiety attacks and headaches. On 1 April 2015, Arão Bula Tempo suffered from a hypertensive crisis and was urgently attended to by a doctor at the prison, who confirmed his fragile condition. Arao Bula Tempo suffers from chronic arterial hypertension and needs constant treatment.
On 16 March 2015, Arao Bula Tempo and José Marcos Mavungo were transferred to the Central prison of Yabi in Cabinda following their arrest on the morning of 14 March 2015 in the province of Cabinda. They are charged with sedition in relation to their organisation of a peaceful demonstration to denounce corruption and bad governance in Cabinda. The demonstration was planned to take place on the same day that they were arrested. Reportedly, the authorities had pressured the organisers of the demonstration not to hold the event. The human rights defenders have as of yet not been informed of the date of their hearing.
