Relazione di Amnesty International rivela coinvolgimento CCR in sgomberi forzati in Angola

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Relazione di Amnesty International rivela coinvolgimento della Chiesa Cattolica negli sgomberi forzati in Angola
20/01/2007 | Africa
Un residente cerca di ricostruire la sua casa, dopo essere stato sfrattato con la forza dalla sua precedente abitazione.Amnesty International ha reso pubblico un rapporto che definisce in dettaglio gli sgomberi forzati subiti da migliaia di famiglie in Angola, un paese situato nella parte sud orientale dell’Africa. Secondo l’organizzazione di difesa dei diritti umani, dal 2001 le autorità dell’Angola hanno sfrattato decine di migliaia di persone con la forza, arrivando a picchiare donne e bambini e a sparare contro i residenti che cercavano di rimanere nelle proprie abitazioni.

Uno dei dati rivelati dal rapporto di Amnesty è il coinvolgimento della Chiesa Cattolica negli sgomberi. Come afferma Tawanda Hondore, direttrice aggiunta del Programma Regionale di Amnesty International per l’Africa: “è inquietante che molti degli sgomberi forzati degli ultimi anni siano stati realizzati, a quanto pare, su richiesta della Chiesa Cattolica”.

Secondo Amnesty, nel 1998, su richiesta di Papa Giovanni Paolo II il governo dell’Angola ha devoluto alla Chiesa i terreni che essa possedeva prima dell’indipendenza del paese, senza tener conto delle famiglie che vi avevano vissuto per anni.

In diverse occasioni, la polizia angolana ha cercato di sgomberare le oltre 2000 famiglie che vivono lì, avendo la Chiesa manifestato la necessità di disporre dei terreni della zona per costruire un asilo.
Secondo Tawanda Hondora: “la Chiesa Cattolica non dovrebbe chiedere alle autorità angolane di sfrattare le persone che abitano su terreni la cui proprietà è stata concessa loro. Tuttavia il principale responsabile degli sfratti è il governo dell’Angola, e come tale non solo è tenuto ad arrestare tali azioni illegali, ma anche ad offrire aiuto alle vittime di sgomberi precedenti che continuano a non avere un’abitazione, a dare istruzioni chiare al personale incaricato di far rispettare la legge perché non partecipino ad altri sgomberi forzati, e a portare in tribunale i responsabili di violazioni dei diritti umani”.

Sebbene lo scorso anno il governo dell’Angola abbia riconosciuto come le persone sfrattate con la forza meritassero un indennizzo, finora nessuno dei residenti ha ricevuto alcun risarcimento.

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Mauri

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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE

AI Index: AFR 12/002/2007 (Public)
News Service No: 007
15 January 2007

Embargo Date: 15 January 2007 00:01 GMT


Angola: Catholic Church involved in forced evictions


Amnesty International today released a report revealing the scale and extent of forced evictions in Angola, and expressing particular concern at forced evictions carried out by Angolan authorities, apparently at the request of the Catholic Church in Angola.

The organization said that nearly all of the forced evictions were accompanied by excessive use of force, which sometimes involved police beatings of children and women -- including one pregnant woman -- and indiscriminate shooting at residents attempting to protect their homes.

According to the report, Lives in ruins: forced evictions continue, thousands of families have been forcibly evicted since 2001 -- nearly always without notification to the families affected. Tens of thousands have been left without shelter, with hundreds of families still living their lives in ruins.

Since September 2004, the homes of residents in the Kilamba Kiaxi municipality have been demolished repeatedly to make room for public and private housing projects. In 2006, the Angolan government publicly acknowledged the right to compensation of those forcibly evicted, and proclaimed that it was reviewing its housing strategy with a view to responding to the housing needs of its urban population. Thus far, none of the affected residents of Kilamba Kiaxi has received compensation or alternative adequate accommodation.

"Despite these claims by the government, the housing situation in Luanda has not improved -- in fact, hundreds of families are still homeless after having been forced from their homes," said Tawanda Hondora, Deputy Director of Amnesty International's Africa Programme. "Disturbingly, many forced evictions in the last two years have been carried out apparently at the request of the Catholic Church."

In 1998, the Angolan government formally returned to the Catholic Church land the Church owned prior to independence, in response to a request by the late Pope John Paul II when he visited Angola in 1992. However, families have been living on this land -- in the Wenji Maka neighbourhood of Luanda -- for several years, or even decades in some cases.

When granting the land title to the Catholic Church, Angolan authorities reportedly did not take into consideration those people already living on the land, and national police have repeatedly tried to expel over 2,000 families in the area where the Catholic Church intends to build a sanctuary.

In response to Amnesty International's request for information regarding the Catholic Church's involvement in these forced evictions, the Archbishop of Luanda stated the Church, when reclaiming title over land, had asked the government to provide land in other areas for the affected individuals (Eh gia',poteva chiedere al governo di fermare gli sfratti suoi terreni donati,invece nisba . The Archbishop also alleged that in many instances individuals put up constructions on land when they found out that the Church had intentions to use the land. The Archbishop further justified the actions of the Church by saying "summum ius summa iniuria" (extreme law, extreme justice) -- or, as the Archbishop interpreted it, "justica absoluta pode desembocar em injustica" (absolute justice can result in injustice).)

"The Catholic Church should not ask the Angolan authorities to evict people occupying land to which the Church has been granted title," said Tawanda Hondora.

"However, the primary responsibility for forced evictions rests with the Angolan government, which must not only stop all such illegal action, but also provide assistance to victims of previous forced evictions who remain without shelter and issue clear orders to law enforcement personnel that they must not take part in any further forced evictions and prosecute those responsible for human rights violations."

Background
The Angolan government is reportedly planning the biggest urban project ever attempted in Africa, and is implementing other construction projects with the support of the Chinese government. The resulting increased pressure for urban land is resulting in forced evictions of the poorest families of Luanda from various neighbourhoods in the capital city, driving such families into ever deeper poverty.





Public Document

da www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=48744

Angolan Church leaders defend forced evictions

Luanda, Jan. 19, 2007 (CWNews.com) - The Archdiocese of Luanda, Angola, is defending itself against criticism from human-rights groups over the forcible eviction of squatters from archdiocesan land in the town of Kilamba Kiaxi.

Amnesty International has expressed concern about the government programs to remove settlers from the Church-owned lands, reporting that the evictions have prompted several outbursts of violence, and thousands of people are being left homeless.

In response the Luanda archdiocese has argued that the squatters built their homes “opportunistically and irresponsibly” on land that was rightfully owned by the Church. “When some of the occupants refused to leave,” the archdiocesan statement said, Church leaders “had no choice but to call for the intervention of the legitimate authorities to restore order.”

While voicing regret about the violence that has accompanied the evictions, the archdiocese said: “Without respect for the law there can be no peace or democracy. In addition we must recall that the local Catholic Church has always been at the service of the people.”

Church leaders pointed out that the government had been asked to find new homes for those who were evicted, but Amnesty International charged that no such action had been taken. “In fact, hundreds of families are still homeless,” reported Tawanda Hondora, a spokesman for the group.

The land in question, which was seized by the Angolan government from the Catholic Church in the years after the African country won its independence, was returned to the ownership of the Luanda archdiocese in 1998. (In restoring the property, the government was responding to a request made by Pope John Paul II (bio - news) during a visit to Angola several years earlier.) Church leaders plan the construction of a church and “various social-service centers” on the land.