1. The African Commission recommends that the Government of Angola should:
I. Ensure that all the relevant stakeholders, including human rights NGOs, are involved in the preparation of periodic reports;
II. Ensure that future reports conform to the Guidelines on State Reporting under the African Charter and the Maputo Protocol;
III. Take the necessary measures to ratify and domesticate the following regional and international legal instruments:
- The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Court Protocol), and make the declaration under Article 34(6) of the Court Protocol to allow direct access for individuals and NGOs to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights;
- The African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance;
- The African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention);
- The African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption;
- The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and its Optional Protocol;
- The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination;
- The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol;
- The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families;
- The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide;
- The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; and
- The Optional Protocol to the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
IV. Adopt the appropriate legislative measures, plans, policies and programmes to give effect to the provisions of the African Charter and the Maputo Protocol;
V. Ensure dissemination of the African Charter and the Maputo Protocol to the public, including through translating the texts into the local languages;
VI. Include current statistics and gender disaggregated data in the next periodic report;
VII. Include, in the next periodic report, specific information on the provision of legal and judicial assistance services to underprivileged citizens;
VIII. Establish an independent national human rights institution in accordance with the Paris Principles;
IX. Adopt specific legislation criminalizing torture in accordance with the provisions of the Guidelines and Measures on the Prohibition and Prevention of Torture, Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Robben Island Guidelines);
X. Ensure training on and dissemination of the Robben Island Guidelines to all judicial personnel and prison officers;
XI. Provide in its next Periodic Report, comprehensive information on prisons and conditions of detention;
XII. Take all necessary measures to reduce overcrowding in prisons, such as adopting alternative sentencing policies and imposing non-custodial sentences such as community service;
XIII. Adopt all appropriate measures to ban forced evictions without prior consultation and ensure adequate compensation to people who are evicted from their homes;
XIV. Take all necessary measures to ensure allocation of the required budget to the health sector;
XV. Strengthen reproductive health programmes and policies in order to ensure increased access to family planning by women and adolescent girls;
XVI. Increase the number of health centres in order to reduce the high maternal and child mortality rate, with emphasis on providing free, adequate and available services to rural women and women from indigenous communities;
XVII.Strengthen existing education policies and programmes to ensure reduced gender disparity at all levels of education;
XVIII. Take all necessary measures to implement the Law against Domestic Violence enacted in 2011, including through adopting a national plan of action on violence against women and girls;
XIX. Adopt a national plan of action for implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1325, in order to increase the participation of women in conflict prevention and management;
XX. Adopt affirmative action measures in order to increase the representation and participation of Angolan women in all decision-making institutions;
XXI. Ensure that relevant programmes are put in place to protect and provide assistance to migrants and refugees living in the country;
XXII. Expedite the process to finalize the study and review of the Law on the Status of Refugees by the Inter-sectoral Commission, in order to guarantee the rights of refugees in Angola;
XXIII.Expedite measures taken in the area of programmes to remove anti-personnel mines and other explosive ordinances;
XXIV. Strengthen its public policy services, programmes and projects which ensure protection of the rights of people with disabilities;
XXV. Continue to take all necessary measures to improve care for the elderly, including through development of a National Action Plan for the Protection of Older Persons, and concerted implementation of Decree No.14/06 on the Regulation of the Conditions of Installation and Operation of Elderly Care Homes;
XXVI. Adopt legislative measures and establish relevant policies and programmes to address human trafficking, with emphasis on the protection of women and children;
XXVII.Adopt legislative measures to recognize the rights of indigenous communities in Angola, and strengthen the existing programmes and policies regarding them, with adequate financial resources provided;
XXVIII.Take all necessary measures to guarantee the rights of persons working in extractive industries;
XXIX. Guarantee free access to anti-retroviral drugs, ensuring access to vulnerable groups, specifically women, children and indigenous communities;
XXX. Strengthen programmes to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS, in particular programmes targeting youths;
XXXI. Continue to take all necessary measures to guarantee that free and compulsory primary education is universal, including ensuring access to children from indigenous communities;
XXXII. Take the appropriate legislative measures to decriminalize press offences and guarantee freedom of expression and access to information;
XXXIII. Adopt legislative measures to guarantee freedom of association and ensure the protection of human rights defenders;
XXXIV. Inform the African Commission, in its next Periodic Report, of measures taken to ensure implementation of the recommendations contained in the present Concluding Observations, and in the Promotion Mission report of April 2010.
