There is concern at reports that Lourenco Adao Agostinho and William Tonet, recently arrested on criminal charges, are in fact being persecuted because of their human rights work. Lourenco Agostinho, Secretary General of the Angolan Human Rights Association (ADHA) was arrested on 5 May 1994 on charges of embezzlement. On 18 February 1994 he had been prevented at the airport from leaving the country to attend a seminar of non-governmental human rights organizations in Guinea-Bissau. His trial has been postponed until 24 May, and he is currently being held at a prison in Viana. William Tonet, President of ADHA was arrested between 28 and 30 April 1994 on charges of rape. He was released on bail on 9 May. It is believed these charges may be linked to the publication by the ADHA in January 1994 of a report criticizing prison conditions in Luanda.
