Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
For information on the Light of the World Seventh Day Adventist Church [Seventh Day Light of the World; Sétimo Dia a Luz do Mundo; A Luz do Mundo] between 2016 and January 2019, including the church's ban and treatment of its members and leaders by the Angolan authorities, see Response to Information Request AGO106244 of February 2019.
1. Membership Card
Information on the Light of the World Church membership card was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
The information in the following paragraph was provided by a human rights defender at the Regional Forum for University Development (Fórum Regional para o Desenvolvimento Universitário, FORDU), an Angolan humanitarian NGO established in 2005 (FORDU n.d.) that has supported former members of the Light of the World Church since 2015 by providing care for widows, orphans and people with disabilities in the wake of the violence to which that group was subjected.
The Light of the World Church has not issued "any kind of membership card" since its establishment (Human rights defender 23 Sept. 2021). The human rights defender stated that, following clashes between the Angolan authorities and the Church in 2015, he received at his office all of the Church's documentation for managing [church business] and for safeguarding, and this did "not include any membership registration" (Human rights defender 23 Sept. 2021). The human rights defender also reported that he visited the Church's board every day [made up of 10 leaders who are in prison (Human rights defender 20 Sept. 2021)] and who confirmed to him that they "never … produced any documentation for [identifying] their members" (Human rights defender 23 Sept. 2021). He explained that "[a]t the moment the only … office [that] represent[s] this Church is our office (FORDU) and we are not providing any Membership Card" (Human rights defender 20 Sept. 2021). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
1.1 Appearance and Content of the Card
Information on the appearance of the Light of the World Church membership card or its content could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
1.2 Sample
Samples of the Light of the World Church membership card could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Human rights defender, Fórum Regional para o Desenvolvimento Universitário (FORDU). 23 September 2021. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.
Human rights defender, Fórum Regional para o Desenvolvimento Universitário (FORDU). 20 September 2021. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.
Fórum Regional para o Desenvolvimento Universitário (FORDU). N.d. Homepage. [Accessed: 29 Sept. 2021]
Additional Sources Consulted
Oral sources: Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture; Africa Criminal Justice Reform; African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights; Angolese human rights lawyer who has represented Light of the World Church members before the Angolese courts; anthropology professor at a Canadian university who has done research on religious movements and Pentecostal Christianity in Africa and Melanesia; Associação Justiça, Paz e Democracia; Associação Mãos Livres; Associação OMUNGA; Belgium – Commissariat général aux réfugiés et aux apatrides, Centre de documentation et de recherches (Cedoca); doctoral candidate at a Swiss university whose dissertation is on prophetic and Pentecostal religious movements in Angola; Friends of Angola; Mosaiko; professor and chair of the department of religion at an American university conducting research on religious movements and Christianity in Africa; professor and social anthropologist at a German university studying religion, social movements and the environment in Angola; professor at a British university doing research on Portuguese colonial heritage in Africa, including religion and Christian missionaries; professor of political science at a Swiss university whose research focuses on conflicts, peace policies and state formation in Sub-Saharan Africa; researcher specialized in human rights advocacy and the protection of NGOs in Africa; researcher whose research focuses on the sociology and anthropology of religious institutions in Angola, particularly the experiences of members of the Angolan evangelical and Pentecostal churches' diaspora.
Internet sites, including: Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture; Africa Criminal Justice Reform; African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights; Agence France-Presse; Agência Angola Press; Amnesty International; Angola – Instituto Nacional para os Assuntos Religiosos, Ministério da Cultura, Portal oficial do governo da república de Angola; Associação Justiça, Paz e Democracia; Associação Mãos Livres; Associação OMUNGA; CSW; France – Office français de protection des réfugiés et apatrides; France 24; Friends of Angola; Human Rights Watch; Jeune Afrique; Le Monde; Mosaiko; Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa; Radio France internationale.
