AFRICA/ANGOLA - IN THE CABINDA ENCLAVE (700,000 DRUMS OF OIL A DAY), THE DRAMA OF WAR AND HUNGER. AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED DENOUNCES INJUSTICE

Monday, 12 January 2004

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Roma (Fides Service)- Fides has received a new complaint with regard violation of human rights in the Angolan enclave of Cabina separated from Angola by a strip of land belonging to Democratic Congo. According to Portuguese branch of Aid to the Church in Need, ACN a Catholic aid organisation directly dependent on the Holy See the vicar general of Cabinda diocese, Rev. Raul Tati, said on Radio Ecclesia (a local Catholic radio) that “the people continue to suffer grave abuse at the hands of the Angolan army”. The Religious denounces a situation of total impunity which derives from the action of the military: “since the outbreak of war we have denounced repeated cases of flagrant abuse of human rights”. According to Rev. Tati in the past week tension has risen: “The number of military has increased and this means that the war in Cabinda continues, despite official declarations to the contrary”.
Another Catholic priest, Father Casimiro Congo, who works at the Immaculate Conception parish also denounced violation of human rights in an interview with Lisbon based Radio Renascença: “the Angolan government is using an iron fist with the people of Cabinda”.
Last year ACN Lisbon launched a campaign in support of Angola with the slogan “Indifference is a crime” with the aim “contributing with a collection of funds to the formation of priests and seminarians in Angola and for the Church to be recognised as the only credible institution for the promotion of peace and reconciliation in Cabinda and in Angola” (see Fides 14 2003
http://fidesserver/gestione/news/anno/mese/notizia.php?id=1188&tabella=news_eng
For years the Cabinda enclave has been the centre of a civil war between the army of Luanda and separatist rebels FLEC (Front for Liberation of the Cabinda Enclave) fighting for the region’s independence from Angola.
Cabinda is rich in oil producing 700,000 drums a day, two thirds of Angola’s total income.
Fides is preparing an information sheet on Cabinda. (L.M.) (Fides Service 14/1/2004 lines 33 words 357)