U.S. Mission to International
Organizations in Geneva

As delivered by Sean Garcia

The United States welcomes the Angolan delegation to the UPR Working Group.

We recommend that Angola:

1. Ease registration requirements for religious groups and reopen places of worship closed during Operation Rescue.
2. Establish credible investigations and judicial accountability for allegations of unlawful or arbitrary killings by government security forces, to include a public finding.
3. Implement standardized nationwide procedures for identifying victims of trafficking in persons (TIP) and populate regional TIP databases.

We are impressed with the notable steps Angola has taken to improve its human rights record, including tackling corruption, prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, and decriminalizing adult consensual same-sex conduct.

We remain concerned by credible reports of government crackdowns on human rights activists and civil society, including through arbitrary arrests and detention.  We applaud Angola’s constitutional prohibitions against discrimination on the basis of religion, and provision for freedom of conscience, religious belief, and worship; however, we are concerned that these freedoms are not always upheld.