07 October 1999
Angola Mired in Military Standoff, Human Rights Expert Says
(Citizens are losers, Alex Vines tells NDI) (750) By Jim Fisher-Thompson Department of State Washington File Staff Writer Washington -- The failure of the Angolan government's third major offensive this year against the rebel movement UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) has resulted in a military stalemate with "dreadful" human rights ramifications for the nation's war-weary people, says Alex Vines of Human Rights Watch/Africa. Vines, whose report "Angola Unravels: The Rise and Fall of the Lusaka Peace Process" was recently published by Human Rights Watch, told an October 6 meeting sponsored by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) that Angola's long civil war is now draining the very lifeblood of the nation. Vines said that in the most recent fighting, between 1.7 million and two million people have been displaced and the Angolan government has begun to use land mines again in violation of the Ottawa agreement banning their use. When he recently asked a top Angolan official why the government was once again using the devices -- which have crippled thousands of innocent non-combatants -- he was told that "it is war, and a government has every right to defend itself." A cease-fire and peace agreement brokered in Lusaka also has proved ineffectual, and while UNITA forces indulge in "the indiscriminate shelling of cities" held by the government, the government itself has "indiscriminately bombed areas held by UNITA," he added. Rumors that the government is employing cluster bombs and powerful air-fuel bombs, he said, also "need examining." The most recent offensive launched by the army of Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos was basically "a face-saver" after the last two [military] disasters, Vines explained. Small gains were made by government forces, he said, but UNITA remains alive, well armed, and active. At the same time, Vines said that UNITA's "military capacity has been exaggerated." He characterized UNITA as basically a mixed guerrilla force with some armor, as many as four Russian T-74 tanks, and heavy artillery. But the rebels are short on fuel, he explained, which prevents them from capitalizing on military victories. In acknowledging the government's history of failed military campaigns against the rebels, Vines said a top Angolan official recently told him that the main aim now is "to weaken UNITA's military capacity." Yet the Angolan army has had trouble even with that limited goal because of government disorganization, Vines said. The U.S. government, along with the United Nations, has condemned the continued use of military force by UNITA, charging that the political intransigence of its leader, Jonas Savimbi, is a key block to reaching a sustainable peace agreement. Vines said senior Angolan government officials have told him they view Savimbi as "a war criminal" -- though they are willing to negotiate with other UNITA officials. Nonetheless, Vines said, he believes Savimbi is "a significant part of a potential solution" to the conflict in Angola, which has raged on and off since the nation attained independence from Portugal in 1975. Noting that he was in Washington to attend a State Department-sponsored meeting on diamond sales and the small arms trade in Africa, Vines told the NDI meeting that an embargo on buying diamonds from UNITA imposed last year by the United Nations is a good idea but should have been done earlier. Savimbi has funded his movement with sales that amounted to as much as $400 million a year in the early 1990s, Vines added, but because the diamond fields have been exhausted, sales should only reach $150 million to $200 million this year. There have been some positive developments on the human rights front, Vines said, noting that on the government side harassment of the media still continues, but "the press is much more open and robust than before." He mentioned that the Catholic Church has begun to take a greater interest in reporting on the affairs of the nation and that "its radio station has done some excellent reporting" on the war and its effects on the civilian population. Former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Chester Crocker recently summed up the Angolan stalemate in a New York Times article he wrote in August entitled "Death Is the Winner in Africa's Wars." In the article, Crocker said: "Opportunists with a Leninist sense of power are in charge on both sides in Angola. Neither places a high priority on peace or people. Barring victory, both prefer war over peace."
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