Forced Evictions in Angola

Angola's government has been criticised for forcibly evicting thousands of people from their homes to free land for new housing projects in Luanda.

A report by Amnesty International also says the Catholic church has been involved in evictions in the capital.

According to Amnesty, homes have been demolished repeatedly in one district since September 2004 to make room for new public and private housing.

It says none of the affected residents has received compensation.

Neither have they been offered adequate alternative accommodation, the human rights group says.

Amnesty International's report claims that nearly all the forced evictions involved excessive use of force by the Angolan authorities.

It also says that many forced evictions in the last two years have been carried out apparently at the request of the Catholic church.