A human rights activist wants Nicki Minaj to cancel her upcoming concert in Angola, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The Queens rapper is billed to perform at the Show Unitel Boas Festas, Christmas festival this Saturday (Dec. 19).
Angola is a county that has long been accused of suppressing the rights of its citizens, including limiting freedom of speech, police beatings and unlawful killings, harsh prison conditions, discrimination, human trafficking, violence against women and children, and lack of due process.
President José Eduardo dos Santos, who has been in power for more than three decades, faces ongoing allegations of governmental corruption. Per the Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2015, the country continues targeting journalists and activists with “defamation lawsuits, arbitrary arrests, unfair trials, intimidation, harassment, and surveillance.”
Thor Halvorseen, head of Human Rights Foundation, penned a letter to Minaj noting a Hip-Hop artist jailed in Angola for attending a meeting on democracy and non-violence. “As a strong-willed independent artist, shouldn’t you be advocating for the release of the imprisoned rapper Luaty Beirao,” reads the letter. “Rather than entertaining the dictator and his thieving family?”
In addition, the letter accuses the president’s billionaire daughter of being the beneficiary of “blood diamond” profits, and attempts to further discourage Minaj from performing. “Ms. Minaj, you are well known for being involved with charities such as the Get Schooled Foundation, which helps motivate young people to graduate from high school and succeed in college,” Halvorseen writes. “If you move forward with this performance for the dictator and his family, you will be in league with the people stealing educational resources and opportunity from young Angolans.”
Recording artists usually run into trouble for going to Angola. John Legend and Mariah Carey received similar backlash over separate performances, and in 2012, a promoter sued Nas, claiming he and his son were kidnapped and held at gunpoint after the rapper skipped a New Year’s Eve show in Angola.
So far, Minaj hasn’t pulled out of her performance, which she promoted on Instagram last week. Halvorseen plans to post the letter on his website.
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Photo: WENN
