PETITION TO THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATE OF AMERICA - US-AFRICA SUMMIT 2022

PETITION TO THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - US-AFRICA SUMMIT 2022

The Cabindan diaspora in the USA comes through this Petition to address the U.S.-Africa Summit 2022 and request the good offices of the United State of America to help, on one hand, to resolve the political conflict which involves the people of Cabinda, and Angola, led by President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, who will be present at the Summit, to stop the killing of both Cabindans and Angolans innocent lives for oil.  

I. State Point

Cabinda is located in Central Africa, between DRC and the Republic of Congo, without any borders with Angola. Cabinda was known as a Portuguese Colony by the UN RES/2144 of December 1966 and by then African Union Organization as the 39th African territory to be decolonized. Unfortunately, Cabinda was illegally declared as a simple province of Angola in Alvor (Portugal) in 1975, in a process of annexation of a discontinuous territory, which sins in two fundamental aspects:

◆ The violation of the agreements, which placed Cabinda under the Portuguese protectorate, among which, that of  the Simulambuco Treaty: 02/01/1885

◆ The fact that they were third parties, namely, Portugal and the leaders of the Angolan liberation movements, to make such a decision on January 15th, 1975, in Alvor, without even taking into account the opinion and will of the people of Cabinda. 

This historical error had and continues to have serious consequences, which we will now quote:

1. Since 1974, there has been an intense climate of insecurity and unrest in Cabinda, the result of the political-military conflict that continues in that territory, opposing its people to the government of Angola. Indeed, as soon as the people of Cabinda realized that Portugal, their protector, would not return the territory which they assumed to protect in 1885 to their rightful owners, by allowing the guerrillas of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, MPLA, invading the territory, they resorted to arms, unleashing an armed and political struggle to free Cabinda from the hands of what is commonly called an invader, neo-colonialist or even an occupying force similar to the current Russian invasion of Ukraine. This struggle, which began to have greater expression on the eve of Angola's independence, continues to claim human lives today. 

2. In socioeconomic terms, Cabinda and the Cabindans live under the curse of economic resources, which their soil and subsoil have had the blessing of owning. It is no secret that it was because of its enormous wealth that Cabinda did not achieve independence during the process of decolonizing the former Portuguese territories in Africa. It happens, however, that Angola calls the territory a province, but in practice, it is treated as a colony, a bare land, occupied for eminently economic purposes. It only serves to explore the raw materials that the metropolis needs to feed its industry. 

3. The Cabindans exist in extreme poverty while oil production is estimated at 900,000 barrels per day, Cabinda has, until today, more than 90% of its population living on less than US $ 1 per day. In addition to serving an anti-democratic and cruel regime to the detriment of the Angolan people, oil money from Cabinda was at the center of financing the fratricidal war, which devastated that country and remains, unfortunately, the great fund to finance the stark corruption that Angola occupies in the podium on a world scale. 

4. The security situation in Cabinda is quite worrying. Since the independence of Angola, Cabinda has become a military fortress, currently counting more than 40,000 troops, mostly from Angola. This massive presence of soldiers causes terror in the populations, who do not escape the exaction of these armed men, who consider all Cabindans as independentists. Hence the rapes of women and adolescents and summary executions of defenseless civilian populations. 

5. Regarding civil liberties, Cabinda is the only territory known as Angolan with war portraits, where peaceful demonstrations are not allowed, and any attempt is immediately repressed by security forces. In the middle of the 21st century, Cabinda still had political prisoners, which is unacceptable in a state called the rule of law.

The political conflict in Cabinda causes total instability in the region, with the neighboring countries of Cabinda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Republic of Congo, paying a very high price. Angola, acting as the region's superpower, has never been embarrassed or disgusted to transport its military incursions abroad, under the pretext of persecuting the Cabindan freedom fighters, who are accused of hiding in those countries. 

In short, the violation of human rights, both on the part of the governors - who are distinguished, among others, by the serious economic crimes against that people -, of the security and police services, as well as of the army's personnel, is a constant in Cabinda, with its authors to remain unpunished and with total silence from the international community. 

Cabinda, a defrauded dream 

1. Cabinda does not deserve to live in a situation of disgrace that is going on right now, were it not for the postponement of his dream of independence. To restore the dignity of its people and the truth of history. There are two possible solutions to put an end to this situation of injustice against the people from Cabinda:

a) A well-negotiated autonomy that creates autonomous local structures, with vast powers to assume the destiny of its people in matters of development and reconstruction, modeled on certain discontinuous regions such as Madeira and Acores in Portugal;

b) A Referendum organized by the UN, allowing Cabinda to regain sovereignty, which he lost in 1885, when, through the signing of the treaties with Portugal in 1883, 1884, and 1885, he came under the protection of Portugal, known under the UN RES/2144/ October 26, 1966, as a Portuguese colony. Cabinda needs and deserves its right to a voice, to choose its own destiny; 

2. After seeing his dream postponed by the unreasonable ambitions of unscrupulous entities, Cabinda wants to rise as soon as possible as an evolved and exemplary society in the heart of Africa. Therefore, we intend to build a society based, fundamentally, on democratic principles; a society of law, guided by social justice, with equal rights and opportunities for all; a society where everyone will have the same stimulus and support from the state to “climb” as high as possible, without, however, neglecting the duty of “putting a safety net underneath” so that, who does not get attached and fall, will not have to get hurt. 

To conclude, and given all of the above information, the People from Cabinda ask the Government of the United States of America through the Africa Summit 2022 to deign to actively participate in the search for a convenient and lasting solution to the conflicts in Africa, in the implementation of good governance, in the development and reconstruction of Cabindan territory as well, its protection and security, to make a model of true democracy and development in Africa. 

Portland, December 10, 2022 

Annexed:

● International Amnesty Reports of Cabinda Violations

● Human Rights Watch Reports of Cabinda Violations 

CONTACTS: Cabindan Diaspora in the USA 

By the Cabindan Diaspora in the USA 

Signatures by hand and online signatures        

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