The Habitat International Coalition – Housing and Land Rights Network (HIC-HLRN) of has learned of current and planned forced evictions in the Arco-Iris Zone of Lubango City, in Angola’s southwestern Huíla Province. Between May 12 to June 12, 2012, authorities and their agents in Lubango bulldozed an estimated 250 residential homes, following a period of intense intimidation and threats of eviction since March 7, 2012. The actions have left over 250 families homeless or subject to forced relocation.
The Lubango forced evictions and demolitions that have already been carried out as well as those that are threatened in the future, violate international law and Angola’s international and national human rights obligations and commitments. The victims of these violations are entitled to reparations, and standards of justice require the prosecution of those responsible for violating the human rights of those who have been dispossessed and evicted.
HIC-HLRN recommends that the State of Angola adopt the following urgent measures:
- To stop the demolitions immediately;
- To find ways to resettle the evicted people and enter into meaningful consultations with them so as to implement a proper rehousing process;
- To provide reparation to the families of those who died and organize compensatory mechanisms for all those who already lost their homes.
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