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Angola: Peace Statement
Angola: Peace Statement
Date distributed (ymd): 990701
Document reposted by APIC
+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
Region: Southern Africa
Issue Areas: +political/rights+ +economy/development+
+security/peace+
Summary Contents:
This posting contains a statement from the Angolan Group of
Reflection for Peace, calling for Angolans at all levels to
engage in dialogue to promote a new climate for peace and
sustainable development in that country.
+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Grupo Angolano de Reflexao para a Paz (GARP)
[Angolan Group of Reflection for Peace]
Peace Through Dialogue:
Patriotism and Solidarity or Betrayal!
Let Us Use Dialogue to Achieve Permanent Solution
To the National Conflict
[Optemos pelo Dialogo para a Solucao Definitiva
do Conflito Nacional]
Publication of GARP
[Members of the group are Daniel Ntoni-Nzinga, Theologian,
Anthropologist and Pastor; Carlinhos Zassala, Psychologist and
Professor at the Agostinho Neto University; Filomeno Vieira
Lopes, Economist; Francisco Tunga Alberto, General Secretary
of FONGA (Federation of Angolan Non-Governmental
Organizations); Ana Conceicao Pedro Garcia, Trade Unionist;
Gaspar Domingos, Theologian and Pastor; Rafael Marques,
Journalist.]
For more information contact via Rafael Marques, fax 244-2-34-
36-67 or via Rev. Daniel Ntoni-Nzinga, c/o American Friends
Service Committee, P.O. Box 4921, Johannesburg 2000, South
Africa; tel: 27-11-838-4807/8; fax 27-11-838-7139; e-mail:
ntonzi@icon.co.za.
22 June, 1999
To: Angolan Compatriots, Friends of Angola and
Comrades in the Struggle for Peace and Justice
in Africa Today
My dear Compatriots, Friends and Comrades,
Greetings from Luanda, capital city of the Republic of Angola.
As you all know, this is a country that is devastated by wars.
I said wars, because there are too many wars taking place at
the same time. One is the military war which is obvious and
physically devastating as it destroys hundred of thousands of
lives and families, villages and farms, bridges and factories,
towns and cities. This is the war everybody is talking about
even those living in cities such as Luanda which have yet to
experience, at this stage, the heat of the new but most
sophisticated arms recently brought into the country by the
warring parties.
The second war is moral and psychological. This war has been
eroding the sense of patriotism and national sovereignty. It
is, in fact a natural consequence which has also become a
cause of the ongoing military and economic wars. As a matter
of fact, this war undermines the destiny of the people and
nation of Angola, precipitating, thus, the total collapse of
the social fabric of the Angolan society. The morale of the
people - whether peasants or traders, workers or managers,
soldiers or governors, students or teachers - is very low.
This war is dispossessing Angolans of the traditional pride of
being citizens of the sovereign and combatant populations of
Angola.
Experience demonstrates that there are very few who are still
concerned genuinely with the life of the nation we all belong
to. The majority have succumbed to survival strategies which
sustain the culture of violence. Almost everyone is much
concerned with what can enable him/her to be alive tomorrow
but not many are still willing to risk the little they have
and work for the common good. Stories about compatriots who
have decided to fight fire with fire are many but not all of
them stand the test of history as we hear that some are part
of politically motivated processes. Embarrassingly, this is
not the way Angolans responded to the unjust wars imposed upon
them by Portuguese colonialism, the two ideological
belligerents of the cold war era and the apartheid regime of
South Africa.
The third war is economic. This war is an essential part of
the global economics of war which has turned vices such as
corruption and greed into values. This has almost legitimised,
successfully though, the culture of violence by reinforcing
its values of individualism and selfish security . There is no
doubt that corruption as well as the policies of laisser faire
have always been in place but they have gained much power
during the last decade. For this reason, dispossession has
become a common trend. For example, in the capital city of
Luanda, indigenous Angolans are moving towards peripheral
residential areas of the city, leaving the most secure spaces
inside the city centre to foreigners who pay exorbitant sums
for the relative comfort. The majority of those adopting this
scheme are doing it in order to complement their income and be
able to attend to the daily needs of their families and
immediate relatives.
Ironically, this strategy was first adopted by top government
officials, who, ten to fifteen years ago, attributed
themselves luxurious houses at a low cost which they now rent
to foreigners for incredible sums of money while still
charging the state for house allowances. This aspect of the
economics of war has also made it impossible for people
without money to settle in the new urbanised areas of the
capital city where the right to land occupation is now
determined by the dollar factor.
Another aspect of this war consist of the mismanagement of
human resources. As indicated very recently in an article
about the inadequate use by Sonangol of qualified human
resources with university degrees, who are leaving the company
to go and work in subsidiaries of foreign companies based
within Angola. This process of brain drain, as it is called
elsewhere, debilitates the capacity of the Angolan people and
state to be in charge of the economy, making sustainable
development impossible. Subsequently and because of the
dictates of globalisation, many of the so-called friendly
foreign investors have been strengthening their capacity on
the ground to take out from Angola as much as they want
without effective control by the respective national
institutions.
Using the current confusion in the country, contracts are
being signed most of which mortgage the future of Angola as
huge quantities of our precious resources, such as oil and
diamonds, are given away in exchange for dollars and arms.
These deals and subsequent contracts weaken further the
technical and administrative capacity of the state
institutions as personal gains dictate the purposes and use of
the acquired equipment and money. Worse is the fact that the
economics of war have created a culture of robbery which
enable both political and military leaders to misappropriate
national, especially mineral, resources under the pretext of
private entrepreneurial initiatives. Stories from the war
zones also reveal that low ranking political activists and
soldiers have also joined their superiors in taking advantage
of the vulnerability of ordinary citizens, especially those in
war torn zones, to dispossess them of basic resources and
property such as clothes, money, furniture and even houses.
This means that the war of dispossession has reached a stage
which makes everybody vulnerable in the face of the power of
gun. Because of this, new social and economic relations are
being established, reinforcing hence the already painful
social and economic imbalances, which are essentially part of
the root causes of the present crisis. This also means that
foreign actors involved in such operations are taking part in
processes of robbery and dispossession which still force the
Angolan nation to surrender steadily its control over the
national economic resources and management to foreign forces.
Ironically, these and/or their allies have also been advising
the government and the armed opposition on the type of
economic and financial policies to adopt, thus determining,
indirectly though, the popular economic behaviour and ethics
which continue to inflict painful experiences upon the Angolan
people and nation.
The most terrifying dimension of the economics of war is
embedded in the sale and purchase of deadly arms and weaponry
which are maiming and destroying hundreds of thousand of
Angolans who live as hostages in territories controlled by the
power of guns. We now know that about 1.9 millions of Angolans
have been displaced from their homes while about 2.3 millions
are still living in their usual residential areas but under
the threat of either displacement or total destruction.
Ironically, these sons and daughters of our beloved mother
land are now being marketed to the world humanitarian industry
by the authors of their misery. Therefore, it is right to say
that such populations are the obvious victims of the more than
3 billions dollars, spent on their behalf, in arms and
equipment during the last twelve month. It is very unfortunate
that both sides of the armed conflict only know how to use
public resources to purchase arms and other deadly means while
leaving to the mercy of the people of good will through the
world charitable institutions to attend to the needs of the
victims of their war. This is the tragedy we are called to
face with love, courage and honesty.
In response to these developments, an Angolan Group of
Reflection for Peace (Grupo Angolano de Refleixao para a Paz
- GARP) was created on a Easter Friday in April this year.
This was the culmination of reflections that have been taking
place in different forms and places among ordinary citizens of
the country. The group that formed GARP met on a number of
occasions during the week of Easter to reflect on the
situation in the country and concluded that dialogue is the
only viable road to peace, which implies that war cannot bring
peace. In other words, the group chose to stand against the
official positions of the armed opposition and ruling parties,
that is, of UNITA and the government, which have opted
respectively for war as a means to settle the protracted
conflict.
On a personal note, I must say that the publication of this
statement, on a Easter Friday, add an important element to the
significance of the statement which continues to inspire my
own commitment to the peace process. In publishing such a
statement, at the time the majority chose silence while the
warriors flex their muscles, members of the group opted for
risking their own lives by swimming into dangerous waters.
Secondly, the fact that five ordinary citizens decided to
promote dialogue and made public their choice on a Easter
Friday also means that they opened a new phase in the struggle
against the culture of violence which continues to express
itself through wars of dispossession.
After a month of work together, the group of five decided to
expand so that its principle of inclusiveness and national
cohesion develops right from the beginning. Hence, new members
are joining the group, especially women and young people from
all walks of life, on the sole basis that they are committed
to work for lasting peace in the country. The Group has been
working presently on a Manifesto para Paz (Peace Manifesto)
which is now available and intended to spearhead contacts with
leaders of religious, civic and political sectors of the
Angolan society as well as in seeking the solidarity of the
international community.
The third step of this process is to promote a movement of
Angolans for Peace, which should catalyse popular
participation through both reflections and actions by the
civil society towards lasting peace in Angola. The envisaged
movement is expected to be a national platform of social
movements and organisations that adhere to the principles of
peaceful settlement of the national conflict. The process is
to promote guidelines, principles and actions that may serve
as premise for lasting peace and democratic governance in
Angola.
In order to consolidate such an endeavour and sustain the
culture of peace and sustainable development, the GARP also
intends to facilitate the establishment of an instrument which
should serve as a centre for strategic studies and actions, a
home for peace makers and builders with technical know how
that may support the Movement of Angolans for Peace. I am
pleased to say that many Angolans and Friends of the Angolan
people have expressed interest in joining hands with GARP so
that the whole country and the world at large adhere to the
agenda of peace in Angola today.
To achieve these goals, the GARP decided to promote a campaign
of sensitisation which should encourage solidarity by the
people and nations of the world with the people and nation of
Angola. This is to be done through contacts with social
movements, governments and inter-government institutions of
the international community. The main purpose of this campaign
is to share the following principles adopted by the group for
achieving peace, which are to be shared with civic
organisations inside and outside the country:
1. Dialogue is the only road to peace, which means that talks
between Angolans on the root causes and their consequences
must:
- start sooner rather than latter;
- stop the option of killing each other now and leaving talks
for latter;
- be inclusive both in terms of issues and participation;
- forge national consensus which should produce the overdue
project of the Angola we want;
2. Angola needs a lasting peace, which implies that:
-
peace through military victory will only delay prospects for
permanent resolution of the conflict;
-
Angolans must avoid another temporary (military based)
solution, as it happened in 1975/6, 1992 and 1994 but work for
a long lasting settlement of the protracted national conflict;
-
the next peace process must be inclusive, that is people's
oriented, and sustained by the cardinal principles of
democratic governance;
3. Angolans must initiate and be in charge of the next round
of negotiations for peace, which should:
-
provide the country with a credible start of a culture of
peace and democratic governance;
-
outline principles, strategies and policy guidelines that
express the fundamental aspirations of the people towards
sustainable peace and development.
We believe firmly that internal initiatives must be supported
by the solidarity movement for them to bear the desired
fruits. For this reason, visits to local places and national
institutions are being planned for the GARP to share its
vision for peace and for the country we want with all sectors
of the Angolan nation. These visits are also intended to
create space for dialogue and to seek the solidarity of the
peace loving people of this world in support of our resolve
for lasting peace in Angola. The next step will be a visit to
regional and international cities and institutions in Southern
Africa, Europe and America.
The third and most important step is to take place in
September which may take the form of a National Convention for
Peace. The meeting is intended to gather representatives of
the Angolan civil society movement and define principles and
strategies that may contribute to the emergence of active
solidarity among social movements inside and outside the
country towards a culture of peace and sustainable development
in Angola. The envisaged national gathering is expected to
consolidate the struggle for peace and become the national
platform of the Angolan movements and organisations interested
in working together for Peace and Development.
Therefore, simultaneously to the exercise outlined above, the
GARP is working on a process and principles that may bring
about a new Angolan vision for peace and development which
should outline the values of the Angola we want. Angolans,
inside and outside the country, who want and are committed to
a lasting solution to the national conflict, will be invited
to participate in the production and dissemination of this
important document as an expression of their commitment to
lasting peace. Eminent Personalities from all walks of life
are being approached for this and we are pleased to have
already registered the support of many.
We know that there are many initiatives taking place at this
very moment. We do not intend to represent all of them but
want to be part of the emerging movement towards peace so that
we may contribute significantly to the new and long awaited
era of peaceful. Your solidarity in support of the peace
initiatives in Angola today is crucial. Allow me, therefore,
to also remind you that your continued active solidarity with
the people of Angola today is the only best way of honouring
and even rewarding the sacrifices made by the heroic people
and nation of Angola during the last onslaught of the African
liberation process against colonialism and its surrogate, the
apartheid regime in Southern Africa. The opposite to this is
and will always be an act of betrayal of a nation that has
paid the highest price, sacrificing the lives of its own
children, its national dignity and economic resources in
support of the world solidarity with the racially based
oppression of the peoples and nations of Southern Africa.
My dear friends and comrades in the struggle for peace, we are
running behind time, especially as the wars mentioned above
are reinforcing trends towards desperation and total
destruction of the Angolan society. As a wise African said to
us one of these days, this is not the time for peace loving
people to relax but work speedily for solutions towards
sustainable peace and development.
Looking forwards to receiving suggestions, from you all, about
what we can do together for peace to become real in the lives
of all Angolans today and forever.
Optemos Pelo Dialogo Para a Solucao Definitiva
Do Conflito Nacional.
Let Us Opt for Dialogue to Achieve Permanent Solution
To the National Conflict.
Yours faithfully
Daniel Ntoni-Nzinga
Coordinator
Grupo Angolano de Reflexao para a Paz (GARP)
PEACE THROUGH DIALOGUE
Luanda, April 2, 1999
The time has come to address, in the public fora, the
promotion of dialogue as the only way to seek adequate
solutions to end the Angolan holocaust. Such a dialogue must
be inclusive, in regards to all the groups and different
aspirations of civil society, and throw away the idea that
without foreigners Angolans are incapable of talking to each
other, and devise their own way to achieve national
reconciliation.
War, contrary to what has been announced by the government,
will not end with war. It will continue to devastate the
Angolan people and their poor material belongings. War has
broken out, again, proving that its main target are the
population, the unprivileged ones! The fundamental of the
Angolan Nation project are the people! The destruction of the
Angolan Nation project by the war is how one can explain the
levels of mortality and displacement of thousands of lives.
On the other hand, it seems to be rather difficult to talk
about peace and peace initiatives, without first addressing
the issue of justice. The act of acting out of the truth of
the facts.
What is the importance of the state institutions compared to
the Angolan people? Are the institutions more important than
the people? Such questions are essential to define the level
of priority to the resolution of the Angolan conflict. For
such, the impartiality and the setting up of a social
consciousness is the starting point in search of national
solutions to the conflict.
Concerning the current situation of Angola, a lot has been
said and it is enough to generate an internal wave, a wave
in favour of the defenceless victims that are slaughtered
every day throughout Angola. The least Angolans can do for
themselves, at this point, is to abandon fear and challenge
the terror so as to call upon the reason of power holders, who
do not hold the truth, to answer for the Angolan holocaust.
It is unjustifiable for Angolans, who are still sensible, to
continue lamenting the fate of their sisters and brothers from
Malange, Kuito, Maquela do Zombo, Andulo and Bailundo, as if
it was a foreign holocaust.
The sentiment being forged in Luanda, the capital of Angola,
whereby all the decision making and social definition centres
are concentrated, must not continue to scorn what is happening
elsewhere in the country.
We have been witnessing, with deep concern and sorrow,
incitation to hatred, to death penalty of those labelled as
enemies, and thus, we see an Angolan sowing hatred in the
chest of other Angolan, on behalf of a power that does not
serve the people.
In mainly the rural areas, civilians are being killed just for
the sake of having been left alive by one of the belligerents,
under the accusation of being informers of the enemy. Those
who sometimes refuse to join any of the warring parties often
also face the same destiny.
Since the resumption of the all out war, last December, more
than 700,000 people have been forced to leave their homes and
are living as displaced in inhumane conditions, relying
exclusively on the mercy of the humanitarian industry. The
dead are no longer being counted, neither the civilians nor
soldiers while material loss is also being unaccounted for.
By far, what seems to be important is the will of a dozen of
Angolans who seem immune from the sufferings of the entire
people and have remained indifferent to the suffering of the
people. Moreover, who are strangers to the cultural
revindications of the majority of the people.
This war, is about covering up the total depletion of the
country's human, mineral and financial resources. And aims to
weaken the individual capacity of citizenship for the majority
of Angolans.
The current war, imposed on the Angolan people, it is not more
than the cover up of the lack of political and ideological
arguments, as well as the lack of social, economic and
cultural achievements from the perpetrators of the national
tragedy. The denial of politics in Angola hides minority
groups interests which are carried out through the destruction
of the country.
War has not been serving the Angolan people. They do not want
war, regardless of its motivation, because this is a war
against themselves and in which they are the only defeated
ones.
No one has the right to talk on behalf of the people to carry
out this civil war, either with the argument of defending the
sovereignty or of resistance. People have not been consulted.
It no longer matters to point the finger to who is doing the
war for the power and/or for enrichment or the maintenance of
individual privileges. Therefore, it is important to gather
together all the civil society sensibilities, eager for peace
and social justice in order to converge the utmost public
interests and peaceful struggle for a common and just cause.
To end with the hatred and political intrigue which foments
the division and destruction of the Angolan people.
As a reminder, successive peace processes for Angola have
failed one after the other due to the lack of political
willingness from both government and UNITA, in tune with the
immediate interests of the International community in Angola.
There is still an opportunity for the resolution of the civil
war: the recourse to civil society is the only surviving
factor to set the fundamentals for overcoming the war. There
is an urgent need for the intervention of civil society, with
its own and autonomous voice, with the absolute denial of the
war idea and as the main factor of harmonising all interests,
humanly justifiable, which exist in society.
The absolute promotion of an internal dialogue, and with every
local stakeholder, is the only way to seek adequate solutions
towards the end of the Angolan holocaust.
Since Alvor, passing by Momba‡a, Gbadolite, Bicesse, Addis
Ababa, Abidjan up to Lusaka, the peace talks for Angola have
always been mediated and pressed by foreigners.
As Angolans, we have to abdicate the alarms of our intolerance
which leads as to wars, and then having to wait for outsiders,
supposedly neutral, to mediate our crisis.
Angolans must be able and bear the responsibility for
developing an internal capacity for mediating the conflict,
from the bottom to the top. We must show our political and
civic maturity in the resolution of the conflict's causes
which generate violence among us.
It is time to join hands, unite mind and hearts, and to work
together towards the common goal: PEACE.
Luanda, April 2 1999
The Angolan Group of Reflection for Peace
Daniel Ntoni Nzinga - Reverend
Carlinhos Zassala - Professor of Agostinho Neto University
Filomeno Vieira Lopes - Economist
Francisco Tunga Alberto - General Secretary, FONGA
Rafael Marques - Journalist
This material is being reposted for wider distribution by the
Africa Policy Information Center (APIC). APIC's primary
objective is to widen the policy debate in the United States
around African issues and the U.S. role in Africa, by
concentrating on providing accessible policy-relevant
information and analysis usable by a wide range of groups and
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