Angola has begun registering voters for the long-awaited elections, which are set to take place before the end of 2007. These are the country’s first elections since a peace process culminated in elections in 1992. The country’s main armed opposition movement subsequently rejected their outcome, plunging the country into another 10 years of war.
However, the country’s political opposition has already cried foul, saying that it is not being allowed free access to voter registration offices.
The registration process is initially being held in only a third of the country’s municipalities. Election officials have said that many opposition parties have failed to respect proper procedures and have therefore not been issued with cards that allow monitors access to registration sites.
Meanwhile, in a report on media freedom in Angola issued this week, Human Rights Watch expressed concern that a new media law, which was passed by the national assembly in February this year, still falls short of international human rights law.
The report states that ”given the government of Angola’s poor record in protecting freedom of expression, the press law is especially crucial in the pre-election period to ensure that the press can report freely in the run-up to national elections”.
While the new law has made many important changes, it maintains excessive penalties for crimes such as defamation and leaves licensing procedures for new private broadcasters largely to the discretion of government, said Human Rights Watch.