Others are continuing, such as those for Burundian, Rwandan and Angolan refugees.

Subject matter Arrest, detention and conviction of journalist for criticizing the Angolan President

Amnesty Law 7 00 applies to crimes against security which were committed within the sphere of the Angolan conflict, as long as its agents have presented themselves or may come to present themselves to the Angolan authorities .

2.1 On 3 July, 28 August and 13 October 1999, the author, a journalist and the representative of the Open Society Institute in Angola, wrote several articles critical of Angolan President dos Santos in an independent Angolan newspaper, the Agora.

More than 300,000 Angolan refugees have returned home since the signing of the peace accord in 2002.

11. Calls upon the international community to continue to assist the Angolan authorities, especially by providing humanitarian, financial and material assistance, in alleviating the suffering of the Angolan people, in particular children, women and the elderly, and calls upon the Angolan authorities to continue to allocate the necessary financial resources to implement economic and social policies and programmes that will improve the lives of the people of Angola

The largest outbreak of Marburg haemorrhagic fever in history struck the northern Angolan province of Uige in March.

Since 2003, the Government of Zambia had primarily been preoccupied with voluntary repatriation of Angolan and Rwandan refugees.

The author of the communication is Rafael Marques de Morais, an Angolan citizen, born on 31 August 1971.

WHO and other partners quickly moved to support the Angolan Ministry of Health in its efforts to contain the dangerous virus.

four police d'intervention rapide (PIR) battalions (two trained in Kinshasa by French instructors and two trained in Mbandaka by Angolan instructors).

The previous year, approximately 18,000 Angolan refugees, out of a planned 20,000, had been moved 43,500 had returned home in 2004.

Although considerable progress had been made with respect to the Angolan refugees, the Rwandans had shown a distinct reluctance to return to their country.

Self reliance strategies for Angolan refugees in Zambia, for Sudanese in Uganda, for Congolese in Gabon and for Sierra Leoneans in Guinea represented good examples of DAR.

The powers of the Angolan Governments known as the transitional Governments, which were made up of representatives of the signatories of the Agreement, included that of ensuring the security of property and individuals.

The fact that he was prevented from challenging the lawfulness of his detention while detained incommunicado also violated article 9, paragraph 4, as did the Angolan courts' failure to address his habeas corpus application.

The authors complain that their properties in Angola were seized, without compensation, during the transition to independence in 1974 to 1975, and that Portugal has not paid compensation for these actions of the Angolan authorities.

On the same day, his lawyer filed an application for habeas corpus with the Supreme Court, challenging the lawfulness of the author's arrest and detention, which was neither acknowledged, nor assigned to a judge or heard by the Angolan courts.

5.12 On the issue of exhaustion of domestic remedies, the Committee notes that the author raised the substance of his claims under article 9 in his application for habeas corpus, which, according to him, was never adjudicated by the Angolan courts.

Under the agreement, the State party recognized the Angolan people's right to independence and set out arrangements for the exercise of power during the transitional period, i.e. up to 11 November 1975, the date set for the declaration of independence.

With a return to peace, especially in Angola, and the absence of any major displacement, UNHCR and its partners concentrated on pursuing durable solutions for protracted refugee situations, including the repatriation of Angolan refugees and the continuation of the Zambia Initiative aimed at facilitating the local integration of refugees.

In the instant case, the Committee notes that the Provincial Court and, in particular, the Supreme Court examined whether the Press Law lawfully precludes the defence of the truth in relation to statements concerning the Angolan President, and it finds no evidence that their findings suffered from the above defects.

It recalls that the circumstances of the author's arrest and detention gave rise to violations of article 9, paragraphs 1 to 4, of the Covenant, and notes the author's uncontested argument that the State party's failure to bring him before a judge during his 40 day detention also violated article 38 of the Angolan Constitution.

Irrespective of the applicable rules of criminal procedure, the Committee observes that the author was arrested on, albeit undisclosed, charges of defamation which, although qualifying as a crime under Angolan law, does not justify his arrest at gunpoint by 20 armed policemen, nor the length of his detention of 40 days, including 10 days of incommunicado detention.

2.10 On 31 March 2000, the Provincial Court convicted the author of abuse of the press by defamation, finding that his newspaper article of 3 July 1999, as well as the radio interview, contained offensive words and expressions against the Angolan President and, albeit not raised by the accusation and therefore not punishable, against the Attorney General in their official and personal capacities.

Even if it were assumed that his arrest and detention, or the restrictions on his travel, had a basis in Angolan law, and that these measures, as well as his conviction, pursued a legitimate aim, such as protecting the President's rights and reputation or public order, it cannot be said that the restrictions were necessary to achieve one of these aims.

2.4 From 16 to 26 October 1999, the author was held incommunicado at the high security Central Forensic Laboratory (CFL) in Luanda, where he was denied access to his lawyer and family and was intimidated by prison officials, who asked him to sign documents disclaiming responsibility of the CFL or the Angolan Government for eventual death or any injuries sustained by him during detention, which he refused to do.