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The ongoing conflict in Cabinda
Description of the visit
1. Protestant Clergy The delegation held various short meetings with members of the Protestant clergy. It appeared that the Protestant churches had difficulties in understanding the delegation’s aims and intentions.
By contrast, the various meetings that took place with Catholic clergy during the course of the visit were more productive, with the Catholic Church already playing a leading role in the movement for peace and development in the province. 2. Visit to Yema (Southern Border with DRC) During the visit to Yema, less than 20 kms., from the capital centre of Cabinda, the delegation witnessed the extreme military presence along the roads and surrounding villages. Such extreme is more striking in villages where there are far more soldiers than civilians. The authorities claim that such a military might is intended to protect the local populations. However, this might is working out as an intimidating force, which inhibits a normal course of life for the local populations, especially because they have a deep sympathy for the independence movements. In Yema, the guiding idea was to informally meet with the locals along the roads to ease suspicions on eventual organised meetings. On average people mistrust the military presence of FAA, mostly due to the conduct of the soldiers. In many instances, in the process of terrorising locals, soldiers rape girls and married women in front of their parents and/ or husbands, as a demonstration of their unquestionable might. A number of locals provided vivid accounts on the referred matters 2. Catholic Youth A broad meeting, with more than 100 representatives of the Catholic Youth, took place in the Church of the Immaculate Conceição, in the city, under the moderation of priest Sevo. The delegation presented to the participants an overview of the essential discussions and outcomes from the Luanda Conference. The mood at the meeting was angry and defiant, with most speakers calling for absolute independence for the territory, rather than autonomy. When a member of the delegation emphasised the need for poverty reduction as a solution to Cabinda’s problems, he was directly contradicted by a speaker from the floor who said that nothing other than independence would do. Unanimously, the religious youth expressed their views on the local situation, without ever hiding, their independence claims. This position was later expressed in a joint letter, given by the youth to the delegation, in which they said, among other ideas, that they were fighting against what they termed as “the Angolan colonialism in Cabinda.” 3. Forum of NGOS in Cabinda In the meeting with the local representatives of the Forum of NGOs, the delegation also introduced the participants to concerns raised in the Luanda’s conference, as far as Cabinda is concerned. The delegation sought to sensitise their counterparts on the need for NGOs to adopt a more balanced approach to the situation to help reduce the hatred and bad feelings of Cabindas’ towards Angolans. Also, they had to take into account that many of FONGA members have their headquarters in Luanda. FONGA’s local co-ordinator, Mateus Nhanga, spoke of poverty reduction and development as the first step in solving Cabinda’s problems.4. N’Kutu (North )
The commune of N’Kutu, 160 kms., from the capital of Cabinda, also got special attention from the mission. This visit enabled the delegation to confirm the allegations according to which FAA military offensives have been forcibly rooting out entire communities to place them among the main roads, leaving them at the total mercy of humanitarian aid.
The delegation drove north to the mission settlement of Nkutu, which was under the control of FLEC until recently. On the way, the delegation passed the ChevronTexaco compound at Mayombe. A new perimeter fence is under construction, apparently part of increased security measures following the kidnapping by FLEC of various expatriate employees in Cabinda. Further north, the road passes through dense rainforest, the kind of terrain that has hitherto allowed FLEC to retain the military initiative despite the efforts of the FAA. At the mission station, residents appeared to be sympathetic with FLEC’s aims, and regarded military activity by FLEC as less of a problem than military activity by the FAA. People said that civilians were suffering as a result of the FAA’s attempts to defeat FLEC, since local villagers are suspected of helping FLEC with food or other necessities. On the way back to Cabinda town, the delegation stopped to speak to a group of some 500 villagers who are living in temporary shelters by the roadside. They said they had decided to leave their villages after repeated attacks by the FAA, during which civilians had been arbitrarily detained, and others had been killed or injured. The villagers said the soldiers had apparently been acting in reprisal against suspected actions by FLEC. As a matter of fact, five villages, from the Commune of N’Kutu, were razed to the ground and the people concentrated in the main road, under the control of the army. With this action, over 3,000 people were left with no means of subsistence .A young man from Piandinge village, Tiago Macosso, 26, was burnt alive, in September 19 2002, in a nearby military camp. The soldiers used a tyre and gasoline to set him alight. Macosso had been detained by FAA, along with other five men, during a wake. So far, the whereabouts of the remaining are unknown, as well there is no information on whether they are still alive, and in which conditions, or dead. Due to security reasons and to the fact that the area is currently a launching pad for more offensives, the villagers and religious entities advised the delegation to leave much earlier than expected. 5. Women The meeting with women deepened the understanding of the local population’s sentiments. Over 40 women participated in the meeting, hosted by a religious institution, and all of them were open about their pro-independence feelings. It lasted for a few hours as all the women wanted to speak their mind, which eventually happened. Women gave impassioned accounts of the problems faced by ordinary Cabindans: poverty, unemployment, the high cost of living, environmental pollution, forced conscription of their sons, attacks and other abuses by soldiers, especially rapes. They called for a cease-fire and a negotiated end to the conflict.6. Traditional authorities
Cabinda’s paramount chief co-ordinator, Soba Kongo, (elected by the traditional authorities) invited 20 colleagues from all over the province to meet the delegation at his residence in Simulambuco.
The traditional leaders laid emphasis on the need a cease-fire and negotiations between the government and FLEC as a first step towards ending the conflict. They tended to identify the actions of the FAA as being the main obstacle to peace in Cabinda. 7. Provincial Government Unfortunately, the Provincial Government declined a formal request for an official meeting with the delegation, on the grounds that the Governor had to travel and only him could address the issue. Conclusions 1. Throughout their visit, the delegation had a chance to observe the economic situation and level of development in the province. The cost of living is high: Since Cabinda has no working port, goods have to be flown from Luanda, or transported overland from the nearby Democratic Republic of Congo or the Republic of Congo, necessitating the payment of taxes or bribes when the goods cross the border. An estimated 80% of informal sector trade in Cabinda is conducted by migrants from the two Congos, thus limiting the opportunities for Cabindans themselves to benefit from this sector. 2. The oil industry relies heavily on skilled contract labour from overseas, and relative to the amount of money invested in the industry, it provides very few jobs for local people. Another issue of complaint is the allegation that the few jobs created by the oil companies, are preferably given to Angolans (as locals say) or even Congolese naturals in detriment of the natives. 3. Although Cabinda appears better-developed than some other provinces of Angola, most affected by war, there are complaints that development projects are inappropriately targeted. Many of the construction projects appear to be sponsored directly by one or another oil company, and local people do not believe that the government is adhering to its undertaking that 10% of oil revenue from Cabinda be invested in the province. Annual revenue from oil in the province is currently in excess of one billion US dollars. Also, the factors that have destroyed the economy of the Angolan interior - large-scale infrastructure damage and forced population movements - do not apply to Cabinda, again raising the question of why the level of development in the province is below potential. 4. Local people complain for not obtaining any advantage from the vast oil wealth the province generates (over 700,000 barrels a day). They complain that only the oil multinationals enjoy the profits along with Luanda’s government, which uses the money but only to feed corruption and the dominant elite. 5. There are no industries or any other economic activities, in the territory, that could be generated by the oil industry. Thus, oil is seen as one of the indirect causes of local people’s suffering. Other remarks With the information data available, the team and Cabinda’s steering committee are working on a Human Rights Report to be published soon. Currently a petition to end war in the Enclave is also being circulated in Cabinda and Luanda to mobilise public opinion against the military option, which has resorted effectively in the massacre of innocent civilians. Such a policy is aimed at silencing the dissenting voices of local populations. The military operations are being conducted through the territories of DRC and Congo-Brazzaville, especially the jet fighters that depart from DRC to bomb target areas without being noticed in the capital of Cabinda, where there are means of communication and people with the ability to denounce outright. In our opinion, even though violence is rising in the territory, it is possible to foster a process of dialogue for a political settlement of the conflict. Only by promoting dialogue as the privileged tool for conflict resolution and reconciliation we will succeed in promoting lasting peace and an effective and peaceful process of changes and democratisation in Angola.Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s) and not do necessarily reflect the views of the AfricaFiles' editors and network members. They are included in our material as a reflection of a diversity of views and a variety of issues. Material written specifically for AfricaFiles may be edited for length, clarity or inaccuracies.
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