Angola case study
This case study focusses on an example of successful public oversight in the anocratic political context of Angola (Vreeland, 2008; Verde, 2021). It assesses how public oversight of intelligence-driven surveillance can stop government abuses of these capabilities, with the collaboration of private sector actors on an international scale. The case study makes the argument that international pressure can compensate for limited opportunities for national mobilisation, with positive implications for sustaining public oversight nationally. This case study focusses on a famous case, known as the 15+2 or Luanda Reading Club. Three elements came into play in this case: the courts, the security services and public oversight. In fact, it was public oversight that obliged to the resolution of the problem, created by the disastrous performance of the courts and security services in this case, through the hasty approval by parliament of an amnesty law after a massive international outcry at their conviction. The 15+2 case demonstrated that an intense national and international public uproar can constitute effective public oversight, which can lead to political power restraining itself and modifying its oppressive decisions. This will be the essential point of the case study: to study and explain the specific public reaction to understand if it is possible to contribute to an oversight model for an anocratic regime.
Newspaper articles
Rui Verde, ‘Lei da bufaria generalizada’ (Generalised buffoonery law), Maka Angola, 5 February 2024
Interviews
Rui Verde, interview with Radio Despertar on Angola’s National Security Bill, 10 February 2024