Authorities deliberately denied healthcare including urgent surgery and daily HIV medication. 

TikTok star among the five was jailed after critiquing the President on the social platform

‘Angola’s government must respect everyone’s rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and end arbitrary detention and torture in the country’ – Sarah Jackson

Amnesty International campaigned extensively for the release of the five arbitrarily detained government critics in Angola with petitions, public statements, events and supported them through their families and legal representatives during their imprisonment. One of the detainees, Neth Nahara, was featured in Amnesty’s 2024’s Write for Rights campaign, with over 21,000 UK supporters sending letters appealing for her release.

Ana da Silva Miguel, also known as Neth Nahara, was arrested on 13 August 2023 after broadcasting a video on TikTok criticising President João Lourenço. The next day, Angola’s first stage court convicted her of an “outrage against the state, its symbols and bodies”. She was sentenced to six months in prison and fined one million kwanza (approximately $1,200). Last September, Angola’s second stage court extended Neth’s sentence to two years, following an appeal by the public prosecutor. During her imprisonment, authorities denied Neth her daily HIV medication for eight months, which severely impacted her health. 

Police arrested the other four activists on 16 September 2023 in Luanda before a planned protest in solidarity with motorcycle taxi drivers. 

On 25 December 2024, Angola’s President Joao Lourenço announced pardons for Neth Nahara and activists Adolfo Campos, Hermenegildo Victor José (known as Gildo das Ruas), Gilson Moreira (known as Tanaice Neutro) and Abraão Pedro Santos (known as Pensador). 

Authorities released Neth Nahara on 1 January 2025 and released the other four on 6 January 2025. 

Sarah Jackson, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for East and Southern Africa said: 

“At last, Neth Nahara, Adolfo Campos, Gildo das Ruas, Tanaice Neutro and Pensador are free. We are overjoyed that they are home with their loved ones. 

“Though we celebrate their release, these five people should never have been locked up. Authorities arrested them solely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. We look forward to them receiving the medical care that authorities deliberately denied them in prison. 

"Angola's government must respect everyone’s rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and end arbitrary detention and torture in the country. They must urgently hold accountable anyone suspected of responsibility for violating the rights of these five activists."

Write for Rights 2025:

Amnesty is calling on people across the UK to take part in its flagship letter writing campaign, Write for Rights, in support of individuals from around the world who have been persecuted, jailed, or face human rights abuses for standing up for their rights.   

In this year’s campaign, Amnesty will campaign with and for individuals who are suffering abuses, including:

• Oqba Hashad, an Egyptian business student, has been arbitrarily detained for nearly five years without trial solely because of his brother’s human rights activism. Despite a court order for his release, he remains detained in horrific conditions, including being denied a proper prosthetic leg. Prison authorities have interrogated Oqba on multiple occasions about his brother’s activism and contact with his family. Egypt, as a state party to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, must ensure detainees with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation and health services. 
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• Professor Şebnem Korur Fincancı, head of the Turkish Medical Association, faces more than seven years in prison because of her human rights work. Professor Fincancı is a prominent human rights defender, anti-torture advocate and forensic medicine expert. In October 2022, she was arrested and put in pre-trial detention. A criminal investigation was launched against her after she called for an independent investigation into allegations that Turkish armed forces might have used chemical weapons in Kurdistan Region of Iraq in comments during a live TV interview. Professor Fincancı was later convicted of trumped-up charges of “making propaganda for a terrorist organisation”. She is currently awaiting the result of an appeal, but also faces additional charges linked to her human rights work. 

Power of the pen: Recent successes from previous Write for Rights campaigns 

Human rights defender Rita Karasartova was arrested in 2022 along with 26 others for opposing a new border agreement that gave control of a freshwater reservoir to Uzbekistan. She was initially detained for organising ‘mass disorder’ and later charged with attempting to ‘violently overthrow the Government’, which carries a potential 15-year sentence. Rita and at least 21 others were acquitted on 14 June this year: a significant victory for justice and human rights in Kyrgyzstan, even though the prosecutor has filed an appeal against the ruling. 

She subsequently expressed her gratitude for the countless letters she received from Amnesty supporters during the campaign, emphasising that each one gave her immense hope and strength, reinforcing her belief in the power of solidarity. 

In 2021, Amnesty campaigned for Egyptian human rights lawyer Mohamed Baker, who received a presidential pardon in July last year and was released from prison the following day. He is now safely reunited with his loved ones. 

Cecillia Chimbiri and Joanah Mamombe were acquitted by the Zimbabwean High Court in July 2023 of communicating falsehoods and obstructing the course of justice. The two – together with Netsai Marova, who did not face trial as she is out of the country – were arrested and abducted in May 2020 following a protest about the Government’s failure to provide social protection during the Covid 19 pandemic. Amnesty campaigned for them during the 2022 Write for Rights campaign.