sentenced each to 45 days’ imprisonment and a fine of 22,000 kwanzas (USD135). Those who paid the fines had their sentences suspended and were released immediately while the others served their full prison terms. The protesters were calling for, among other things, an end to persecution and arbitrary imprisonment of their members, and for the release of political prisoners in Kakanda Prison in Lunda Norte. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION Repression of the right to freedom of association persisted. The space in which human rights defenders, political activists, journalists, broadcasters and civil society organizations could exercise their civil and political rights was increasingly restricted. On 11 July, however, the Constitutional Court struck down the NGO law which had been passed by presidential decree No. 74/15 in 2015. The law had restricted the legal framework within which NGOs could operate, and empowered the Public Prosecutor’s Office to suspend national and international NGO activities on suspicion of money laundering, or illegal or harmful acts against “Angola’s sovereignty and integrity”. The decree imposed burdens on civil society organizations, including excessive requirements and unwieldly procedures for NGO registration; excessive control over NGO activities; funding restrictions and sanctions. UNFAIR TRIALS On 25 September, six people, five of whom had been held in prolonged pre-trial detention for one year, were brought to trial before Luanda Provincial Court on charges of “organizing terrorism”. However, the trial was adjourned the same day when the Public Prosecutor failed to appear in court alleging health reasons. The Court granted the substitute prosecutor’s plea to be allowed more time so that he could familiarize himself with the case. Five of the accused remained in detention while a sixth, the wife of one of the detained, remained under house arrest at the end of the year. Amnesty International Report 2017/18 SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS In March, the government proposed an amendment to legislation under the Penal Code which would de-criminalize abortion in cases where a woman’s pregnancy was the result of rape, or when the pregnant woman’s health was at risk. Parliament rejected the proposal. The final parliamentary vote on the legislation was scheduled for later the same month, but was postponed indefinitely following a public outcry against Parliament’s rejection of the government’s proposal to liberalize the abortion laws. LAND DISPUTES Ongoing land acquisition for business, mainly in southern provinces of Cunene and Huíla, continued to devastate local communities who relied on the land for their livelihoods. In April and May, the government of Huíla presented its Transhumance Project, which included plans to appropriate a water fountain used by the community of Capela de Santo António in the Kahila area of Gambos municipality. Capela de Santo António is home to 600 families who depended on the fountain for drinking water, and for their livestock and irrigation. The community was not consulted over the plans and the authorities did not conduct an environmental impact assessment. The government of Huíla remained determined to seize the community's water fountain in violation of the Constitution and laws including the Land Law and the Environmental Law. In June, it came to light that the Angolan government had authorized the AgroIndustrial Horizonte 2020 mega project to appropriate 76,000 hectares of fertile land without the free, prior and informed consent of the affected communities. The land is in the west of Ombadja municipality and the south of Curoca municipality, both in Cunene province. It is home to 39 communities of 2,129 families with 10,675 children who live by the Cunene River. They have historically relied on agriculture and livestock for their livelihoods. By the end of the year, vegetation on 15,000 hectares had been destroyed, including trees used for food and firewood, 75