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Teleservice

Teleservice Sociedade de Segurança e Serviços Lda, is the largest private security company in Angola. It counts many international oil companies among its clients including the state-owned Sonangol group.

History

Teleservice was founded in 1993 as a private military company charged with protecting the Angolan mining and oil sectors during the Angolan Civil War.[1] It was a partnership between several former Angolan military leaders; Joaquim Duarte da Costa David, former director of Sonangol; and Gray Security Services Ltd, a South African security firm with connections to the mercenary company Executive Outcomes, which operated in Angola until December 31, 1998, when South African citizens were banned from participating in foreign conflicts.[2][3] The officers involved included:

In 1995, the Divisão Marítima da TELESERVICE was created to perform security operations in rivers and offshore.[7]

In 2002, Teleservice transitioned from a PMC to a civilian security company with a pivot away from armed security services.[1]

As of October 2024, Teleservice employs more than 5,000 Angolans.[8]

  • General António dos Santos França, who was then President of DeBeers Angola (10% stake)[3]
  • General João de Matos, former Chief of General Staff of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) (10% stake)[3]
  • General Luís Pereira Faceira, former Chief of General Staff of the People's Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA) (9% stake)[3][4]
  • General António Emilio Faceira, commander of the Special Forces Commando Battalion, formerly of FAPLA then of FAA (8% stake)[3]
  • General Armando da Cruz Neto, then Governor of Benguela and former Chief of General Staff of the FAA (7%)[3]
  • General Paulo Pfluger Barreto Lara, then Inspector-General of the General Staff of the FAA (6%)[3][5]
  • General Adriano Makevela Mackenzie, head of military training at the joint chiefs of staff of the FAA[5]
  • General Carlos Alberto Hendrick Vaal da Silva, then Inspector-General of the General Staff of the FAA[3][5]
  • General Manuel Hélder Vieira Dias, then Minister of State and head of the Intelligence Bureau at the Presidency[6]

Crimes against humanity, exposure, and coverup

In 2011, Angolan journalist and anti-corruption activist Rafael Marques published Diamantes de Sangue: Corrupção e Tortura em Angola (Blood Diamonds: Corruption and Torture in Angola), an exposé alleging severe human rights violations by personnel of Teleservice, the FAA, and other private security companies protecting the operations of the diamond mining companies in the provinces of Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul. The exposé included more than five hundred reports of massacres, murders, rapes, mutilations, extortion, corpse desecration, organ removal, beatings, torture, slavery, and similar abuses.[3][6] França, de Matos, Luís Faceira, António Faceira, Neto, Lara, Mackenzie, da Silva, and Dias were all named both in the report and in a criminal complaint then filed by Marques.[9][10] In December of that year, over 18,000 people in the region, including 3,000 in the town of Cafunfo, took place in political demonstrations demanding the withdrawal of Teleservice. Teleservice withdrew in March 2012.[11]

The generals named in the report tried to press charges in 2013 in Portugal, where Diamantes de Sangue was published by Tinta da China, for defamation. The attorney general there dismissed the charges, as he felt the report was well-researched and credible.[12]

In 2015, following Marques's receipt of an international journalism award, the generals pressed twenty-four charges of defamation against him in Angola, with a potential prison time of nine years and a fine in excess of $1,200,000. He was convicted of one, and given a six-month sentence deferred by two years,[13] however Angolan authorities including Minister of the Interior Ângelo de Veiga Barros and Head of State Intelligence and Security Services Eduardo Filomeno Barber Leiro Octavio did recognize the existence of the human rights violations and material damages included in Marques's report.[14][15][16] After an open statement by over 30 jewelers and press freedom and human rights NGOs in support of Marques, the charges against him were dropped under the provision that Diamantes de Sangue was not to be reprinted.[6][12][17]

Services

Teleservice offers a variety of security-related services, including providing security for oil rigs and other offshore facilities, industrial security, property security, cash-in-transit services, VIP and personal security escorts, and security risk assessment and management services.[18]

Clients

Teleservice is or has been employed by the following clients:

See also

References

  1. eBizguides Angola: All you need to know to do business and have fun 2008^
  2. W. Martin James. Historical dictionary of Angola Scarecrow Press, 2011^
  3. Rafael Marques. Diamantes de sangue: corrupção e tortura em Angola Tinta da China, 2011^
  4. Angola: Reserve General Highlights Army's Professional Posture AllAfrica, Dec 10, 2014, retrieved August 7, 2024^
  5. Rafael Marques. Blood Diamonds: Letter to President Dos Santos Maka Angola, 2013-02-21, retrieved 2024-08-07^
  6. Rafael Marques de Morais. Corruption in Angola, Money-Laundering in Portugal and the Impact on Human Rights 2013-03-04, retrieved 2024-08-06^
  7. MARITIME SECURITY (ISPS) teleservice.co.ao, retrieved 2024-08-06^
  8. Yola do Carmo. Jornal de Angola - Notícias - Revista norte-americana divulga potencial económico de Angola Jornal de Angola, retrieved 2024-08-06^
  9. Angola: Criminal Complaint Lodged Charging Generals With Crimes Against Humanity allAfrica.com, 2011-11-14, retrieved 2024-08-06^
  10. Michelle Graff. Journalist who exposed industry abuses now on trial nationaljeweler.com, August 8, 2016, retrieved 2024-08-06^
  11. Rafael Marques de Morais. Police and Military Crackdown After Women's Protest in Lunda-Norte 2013-06-18, retrieved 2024-08-06^
  12. Charges against 'Blood Diamonds' journalist dropped nationaljeweler.com, retrieved 2024-08-06^
  13. David Smith. Angolan journalist given suspended jail term over blood diamonds book The Guardian, 2015-05-28, retrieved 2024-08-06^
  14. Eduardo Gito. Diamantes de Sangue. Ministro reconhece violação de direitos humanos no Cuango Novo Jornal, 2015-03-31, retrieved 2024-08-06^
  15. Eduardo Gito. Jornalista Rafael Marques começou a ser ouvido Novo Jornal, 2015-05-19, retrieved 2024-08-06^
  16. Eduardo Gito. Julgamento de novo adiado Novo Jornal, 2015-04-25, retrieved 2024-08-06^
  17. Maka Angola. (English) Blood Diamonds: Angolan Generals Defeated in Court Case in Portugal 2013-02-12, retrieved 2024-08-06^
  18. Teleservice www.teleservice.co.ao, retrieved 2024-08-06^
  19. Profile of the private security sector in Angola Swisspeace, 2008, retrieved 2024-08-06^
  20. Maka Angola. Diamond Digger Shot Dead in Cafunfo 2012-09-15, retrieved 2024-08-05^