Angola’s Crackdown On Protesters Could Fuel Separatist Violence

Using harsh justice to resolve a political struggle could lead to youth radicalisation and violence in eastern Angola.

On 30 July, an Angolan court sentenced 198 people – men, women and the elderly – to four to eight years in jail for various crimes including criminal association, rioting, rebellion and damage to public property.

They had been part of a peaceful protest last year in support of the autonomy of the Lunda people in the diamond-rich Lunda Sul Province in eastern Angola. The protesters…