Church in the World

Angolan Church accused of forced evictions

Amnesty International has accused the Catholic Church in Angola of sanctioning the forced eviction of slum-dwellers from church-owned land.

The report Lives in Ruins: forced evictions continue, highlights the plight of thousands of people whose homes have been demolished as part of a government programme, aided by funds from China, to build a mega-city for the burgeoning population of the country's capital, Luanda. The eviction of 2,000 of these people was "apparently at the request of the Catholic Church in Angola", according to the report.

To accompany the report, Amnesty has issued a strongly worded press statement, headed "Angola: Catholic Church involved in forced evictions", which alleges that excessive force was used during the evictions, sometimes involving "police beatings of women and children" and "indiscriminate shooting".

The report's author, Muluka-Anne Miti,  told The Tablet that the Church was to blame for not following the procedures outlined in international law, such as engaging in prior consultation, giving slum-dwellers notification and arranging for compensation or alternative accommodation.

"We're not against the Church taking the land; we're against the way they have done it, which has been in violation of human rights," Ms Miti said. However, she added that "the primary responsibility for the evictions lies with the Angolan Government because they have not put into place proper legislation or human rights-based housing policy."

The Church contradicted Amnesty's claims that it had wanted the land for a sanctuary and university, saying it hoped to build schools and crèches. The land was confiscated from the Church by the Government at independence in 1975. The late Pope John Paul II had requested during a visit in 1992 that it be returned, which it was, after a six-year delay. Early attempts to build by the Church failed because there were still people living on the land.

The report does not say, and Ms Miti said she could not comment on, how long the Church had been asking the authorities to clear the land. However, the report cites a fax from the Archbishop of Luanda that stated the Church had asked the Government to provide other areas of land for those who lived there.

The auxiliary bishop in Luanda, Anastácio Cahango, told The Tablet that recent newcomers had destroyed building work the Church had begun on a school when they moved on to the land, and some had settled in order to receive compensation from the Government, even though they had homes elsewhere. He also said that it was the slum-dwellers who had alerted Amnesty to the problems. "We didn't have enough money to erect walls to prevent people occupying the land - we don't know what to do next," he added.

Accepting that state-level corruption and self-interest were more to blame than the Church for the problem, Ms Miti admitted that Amnesty was not lobbying the Government about Angola's use of its vast oil wealth nor the Government's need to be more open and accountable in its financial dealings. However, she acknowledged both were necessary.