Harassment of human rights defender and journalist Mr Coque Mukuta
On 1 May 2012, unidentified individuals broke into the home of human rights defender and journalist Mr Coque Mukuta for the third time in recent months, which represents the most recent act of harassment against the journalist, who has been the subject of several threats and intimidation.
Coque Mukuta works for Radio Despertar and has been covering anti-government demonstrations in the past in Angola. He was the co-author of the book Os Meandros das Manifestações em Angola – I Volume (The Troubled Ways of Demonstration in Angola – Book I), which described the anti-government demonstrations organised in Angola in 2011 and early 2012 and how security forces violently disrupted the demonstrations and harassed those taking part in them. He has been the subject of several threats and intimidation, including break-ins at his home and has received threatening letters.
On 1 May 2012, unidentified individuals broke into the home of human rights defender and journalist Mr Coque Mukuta for the third time in recent months, which represents the most recent act of harassment against the journalist, who has been the subject of several threats and intimidation.
Coque Mukuta works for Radio Despertar and has been covering the anti-government demonstrations in Angola. He was the co-author of the recently published book Os Meandros das Manifestações em Angola – I Volume (The Troubled Ways of Demonstration in Angola – Book I), which describes the anti-government demonstrations organised in Angola in 2011 and early 2012 and how security forces violently disrupted the demonstrations and harassed those taking part in them.
On the nights of 1 May, 29 and 27 April 2012, unidentified individuals broke into Coque Mukuta's home. On the first occasion, at approximately 10:45pm, individuals entered his home and reportedly stayed until 3am the following day. On the morning of 28 April 2012, the journalist went to the Cazenga Police Station to submit a formal complaint. The following day, on 29 April, a similar situation occurred when individuals entered his house at approximately 11:55pm. This time the police quickly arrived and patrolled the area until the following morning. On 1 May 2012, intruders entered Coque Mukuta's home for the third time, at approximately 11:50pm and reportedly stayed for more than an hour. Nothing was stolen during these three incidents.
On 15 April 2012, Coque Mukuta was stopped at the airport in Angola on his way back from a trip to Brazil where he had promoted his book. He had 300 copies of the book with him and had to wait at the airport for several hours until he was able to leave with his luggage.
On 21 March 2012, a group known as Jovens Organizados para Defesa da Paz (Organized Youth for the Defence of Peace) delivered a letter to his house threatening the journalist. It read “Koke Mukuta é melhor mudares de bairro, bandido” (Coque Mukuta, it is better if you move to another neighboorhood, you thief) and “Você não tem medo, cuida-se” (You are not scared, watch out).
In January 2010, the National Assembly of Angola approved a new Constitution which guarantees freedom of assembly and peaceful demonstration. In addition, national laws allow demonstrations to take place without previous government authorisation. Nevertheless, since 2009, the Angolan government has taken action to ban or prevent the majority of peaceful demonstrations from taking place. In 2011, a non-partisan youth movement, inspired by the Arab Spring, organised a number of anti-government demonstrations in Luanda. The authorities responded with excessive use of force and intimidatory actions such as detaining participants and journalists and spreading fear amongst the public by alleging the risk of civil war due to the demonstrations.
