User:Mitchellf689/Halloween Massacre (Angola)

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 (**The Halloween Massacre (also known as the Three Day War) refers to events which took place from October 30 to November 1, 1992 in Luanda, Angola as part of the Angolan Civil War **) . On May 1, 1991 the Bicesse Accords were signed by the MPLA, led by José Eduardo dos Santos and by UNITA, led by Jonas Savimbi (CITATION). The accords were meant to bring about a political settlement between UNITA and the MPLA, and end the Civil War (CITATION).

The MPLA's victory and UNITA's defeat in the 1992 Angolan general election would result in UNITA withdrawing from the accords, questioning the fairness of the election results (CITATION). The rising tensions following the September election would result in a flare up of violence around Luanda, where armed MPLA supporters and police both harassed and murdered large numbers of UNITA and other opposition party supporters (CITATION).

The Angolan Civil War
Main article: Angolan Civil War

Ever since its independence from Portugual in 1975, Angola was gripped in a civil war between the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). The war was intensified with the direct and indirect involvement of outside super powers, which saw the conflict through the eyes of the Cold War. The MPLA, which claimed allegiance to Marxist-Leninist ideology, recieved direct support from Cuba with the backing of the Soviet Union and other communist states. Meanwhile, the UNITA sold itself as an anti-communist organization, recieving direct military support from South Africa with help from the United States. Ferocious combat was waged during this time period but the two sides were more or less at a stalemate. By 1991, the inability for either side to achieve victory, combined with the impending end of the Cold War brought the MPLA and UNITA to the negotiating table.

The Bicesse Accords
Main article: Bicesse Accords

Beginning in 1 May 1991, UNITA and MPLA forces agreed on a framework to beginning establishing peace in Angola between the two waring parties. This framework would evolve into the Bicesse Accords, signed by the People's Republic of Angola and UNITA on May 31, 1991 in Lisbon, Portugual. The United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics acted as observers, while Portugual mediated the talks. The accords set out a timetable, with certain conditions that each side agreed to meet by the specified date. There were several key parts of the agreement. The first was the beginning of a cease fire, with the initial stages taking effect at the beginning of May and entering into force upon the signing of the accords. There were also agreements about the end of foreign assistance to either side, the integration of UNITA forces into the Angolan armed forces and the scheduling of democratic elections, which were to take place "between 1 September to 30 November 1992".

The 1992 Election
Main article: 1992 Angolan general election

The 1992 elections, the first democratic elections held in Angola's history, took place from 29 September 1992 to 30 September 1992. The MPLA claimed victory in these elections, taking roughly fifty three percent of the vote, gaining one hundred and twenty nine seats in the legislature. UNITA, under the leadership of Jonas Savimbi, claimed thirty four percent of the vote and gained seventy seats. For the presidency, José Eduardo dos Santos of the MPLA was recieved with forty nine percent of the vote compared to UNITA Savimbi's forty percent. Despite having a higher percentage of the vote, dos Santos was shy of the fifty percent majority required to be reelected (CITATION). (**Because neither the MPLA nor UNITA obtained the required absolute majority of the presidential election, a follow-up election was necessary according to the constitution.**) Savimbi, in spite of the UN mission's declaration that the elections were generally free and fair, believed that the government had rigged the elections and began pulling UNITA's soldiers out of the new unified Angolan armed forces. This essentially marked the beginning of the end for the Bicesse Accords and rising in tensions between the two waring parties.

The Halloween massacre
Tensions stemming from the recent election boiled over on October 31. According to some reports, the violence was not sporadic, but had been planned for weeks. These included reports from residents of Luanda's suburbs "of arms were being distributed locally to government supporters and to former members of the security forces and militia" and even reports that "police stations served as centres of distribution". UNITA supporters were targeted in house to house searches by both police and armed government supporters, with some supporters possessing lists of local UNITA supporters who were to be rounded up. Some were summarily executed while others were taken to police stations and later released, though often after recieving vicious beatings. Other people disappeared completely, some human rights reports detailing accounts of securiy forces carrying out executions of suspected UNITA suporters and clandestine graves.

Many of the those targeted were of the Ovimbundu and Bakongo ethnic groups, which were the main supporters of the UNITA and considered to be potentially disloyal. Other opposition parties, which supported UNITA's claim that the 1992 election results were illegitimate, were also targeted in the violence. They included the Partido Social Democrata Angolano (PSDA), Angolan Social Democratic Party, Partido Democrático para o Progresso-Aliança Nacional Angolana (PDP-ANA), Democratic Progress Party/Angolan National Alliance and the Convenção Nacional Democrática de Angola (CNDA), Angolan National Democratic Convention.

Several leading officials from UNITA who were killed in the violence that occured in Luanda. These included UNITA vice president Jeremias Chitunda, top negotiator Elias Salupeto Pena and party secretary Aliceres Mango. The total number of deaths ranges, with some sources saying the deaths numbered as high as 30,000. The repercussions of the massacre are difficult to determine, as the peace agreement had been more or less null since UNITA's decision to pull out of it roughly a month before.