Conor Foley
1. Introduction
This report forms part of a broader HPG research project that assesses the role of land tenure in conflict and post-conflict situations, and how humanitarian organisations tackle these issues in their programming. It aims to provide a basis for discussing how human rights and humanitarian organisations have responded to the principal landrelated challenges in Angola, and sets these in the context of the broader problems facing the country as it makes the transition from emergency relief to a process of longer-term development.(1)
Angola has a very low population density, and so there is no acute shortage of arable land of reasonable quality. While there are a few recorded cases of disputes over land between returnees in rural areas, these appear to be isolated exceptions. Nevertheless, Angola's experiences highlight the importance of ensuring that issues in the emergency relief phase are more closely integrated into longerterm planning.
Land rights in Angola tend to be treated primarily as a development issue, requiring reforms which can only be implemented in the longer term. Much of the focus of land rights programmes is therefore on legislative change and a strengthening of administrative and adjudicative capacities. The issue of land-grabbing in rural areas often also receives considerable attention, and some argue that it could become a potentially serious concern. However, most disputes over land rights are currently taking place in urban areas. The situation relating to land rights in Angola poses more complex problems than in other, comparable post-conflict societies, and needs to be seen in a wider political, social and economic context.
Land access, tenure and rights are cross-cutting issues that impact across a number of different sectors. In the humanitarian phase, land encompasses issues related to displacement and return, human settlements, agriculture and livelihood, economic development, environmental protection, urban and rural planning, security, land mines and unexploded ordnance (UXOs) and justice and the rule of law. It also encompasses issues relating to women and children's rights, cultural and customary law institutions and the reintegration of former combatants into society.
In the development phase, land and property rights assume a critical importance as investment and economic activity resume. Like many other countries emerging from conflict, Angola has adopted a new economic model in recent years, based on encouraging private investment and a reduced emphasis on central planning. The market, rather than the state, is now regarded as the main engine of economic growth, and the concept of a 'right to private property', which was previously regarded with considerable suspicion, has been officially embraced by the authorities.
However, most land in Angola is held under customary title and people do not have documents proving their rights to it. In a context where large numbers of people have been displaced from their homes, in some cases for several years, and where official mechanisms lack the capacity to deal with adjudication claims in a fair and transparent manner, this poses a potentially significant challenge. Customary land tenure is currently not recognised by Angolan law, and this risks creating a gap between the formal legal situation and the reality facing most people living without formal tenure rights. Interviewees for this report believe that a failure to deal with this issue could jeopardise Angola's peaceful long-term development.
Forced evictions have become one of the most controversial political issues in Angola. According to a report by Human Rights Watch in May 2007, the government has 'forcibly and violently evicted thousands of people living in informal housing areas with little or no notice. In violation of Angola's own laws and its international human rights obligations, the government has destroyed houses, crops and residents' personal possessions without due process and has rarely provided compensation'.(2)
Notes
(1) As well as the published literature cited in this report the author is drawing on previous personal experience working on housing, land and property rights projects in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia (Aceh), Liberia and Uganda.
(2) 'They Pushed Down the Houses', Forced Evictions and Insecure Land Tenure for Luanda's Urban Poor, Human Rights Watch, HRW Index No.: A1907, 15 May 2007.