Angola

Located in southwestern Africa, Angola is still recovering from a 27-year civil war between rival former independence movements. Formerly a Portuguese colony until 1975, the country gained independence after a protracted liberation war followed by a bloody civil war. The socialist one-party system that emerged and the political party that has remained in place since the adoption of a multi-party system, has brought little prosperity to the majority of the population despite the country’s vast mineral and oil reserves.¹

Long time President Jose Eduardo dos Santos eventually stepped down in 2017 to be replaced by fellow MPLA member João Lourenço. Some restrictions on civil society and the press were eased after he took office in 2017, but that initial easing has since been reversed. A separatist conflict also continues to simmer.²

According to the most recent census (2014), an estimated 41% of the population is Roman Catholic and 38% is Protestant. 12% of the population are non-religious and the remaining 9% is made up of animists, Muslims, Jews, Baha’is, and other religious groups.³

Constitution and government

The Constitution⁴ protects freedom of thought, conscience and religion, as well as freedom of opinion and expression. It defines the country as a secular State under Article 10 and protects freedom of thought, religion and worship under Article 41 The Constitution recognizes and respects different religious groups, which are free to organize and carry out their activities if they abide by the Constitution and laws. However, the country has a long history of religious repression and, although it no longer promotes atheism, the State keeps religion tightly under government control.⁵

The government’s relationship with the Catholic Church is changeable. Angola has, however, reinforced its cooperation with the Church and signed a Framework Agreement with the Holy See in 2019⁶ in recognition of “the historical representation of the Catholic Church in Angola and its role in serving the spiritual, moral, social, cultural, pedagogical progress and well-being and public health of the Angolan people”.⁷ The Framework Agreement provides the Church a juridico-legal status in Angola and has enabled it to recover some of its properties that had historically been confiscated by the State.⁸ The terms of the Agreement enables the State to officially recognize Catholic wedding ceremonies. For all other religious groups, the government recognizes only civil wedding ceremonies.⁹

Although some representatives of the Catholic Church have been openly supportive of the ruling party, the Church has been critical of the authorities in recent years.¹⁰ In 2022, Catholic Bishops publicly criticized the government warning that the upcoming elections could be manipulated to keep the MPLA in power and that the ruling party was preventing the elections from being properly monitored.¹¹

Registration of religious groups

The country’s religious demographics have seen a marked shift since the end of the civil war. There has been a growth of evangelical and Pentecostal churches supported by Brazilian, Nigerian and Congolese missionaries.¹²

In 2019, the law on freedom of religion¹³ came into force. It requires religious groups to register, thereby allowing them to purchase property and use their property to hold religious events. Registration exempts religious groups from paying certain property and import taxes, and confers them with a legal status. Clergy must meet qualification requirements and religious doctrine must conform to the principles and rights outlined in the Constitution.

Unregistered groups have reported that the requirements are too burdensome and onerous for them to register. As a result there are an estimated 1,200 unregistered religious groups in the country, compared to an estimated 88 that are registered.¹⁴ In 2023 and 2024, no new registrations or licenses were granted, forcing many churches into a precarious situation where they exist under the constant threat of closure.¹⁵

A group’s status can be withdrawn for offenses against public order, morals or good customs or for causing harm to the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the country. These vague provisions allow considerable discretion in the control of recognized religions and have permitted the government to shut down many religious organizations, including those that challenge authoritarian rule, human rights abuses and lack of democracy.¹⁶

There is much debate in the country about the proliferation of “religious sects” and the National Institute for Religious Affairs has expressed concern about such groups exploiting vulnerable populations by forcing them to pay tithings, giving false promises of employment and involving them in criminal activities. It is reported that religious leaders have concerns about harmful practices in some Churches such as witchcraft and false miracles, but have also asked the government to recognize those religious groups that undertake positive activities in their communities.¹⁷

The Mount Sumi massacre

The most notorious attack on a religious group dates back to 2015. The “Mount Sumi massacre” took place against a 7th day Adventist splinter sect, A Luz do Mundo (Light of the World), who the government considered to have links with the opposition party, UNITA. According to the government, nine unarmed policemen were killed when they raided a camp seeking to arrest the sect leader. The police admitted killing 13 “snipers” who shot at them, but UNITA, media sources and human rights organizations report that around 1,000 sect members were massacred. The UN called for an independent commission of enquiry but the government refused.¹⁸

According to Freedom House, authorities clashed with Luz do Mundo members again in 2023 and police reported that three people were killed when they tried to deliver a warrant. Again witnesses dispute that figure.¹⁹

Registration of Muslim groups

There are no registered Muslim groups in the country, despite the fact that Muslim communities have vocally demanded this recognition as well as the right to worship freely.²⁰ The government claims that this is because the Ministry of Culture is unfamiliar with the way in which the Islamic community is organized and this has created a delay in the registration process. They have also stated that they consider some Islamic practices to violate the Constitution. It is worth noting that islamophobic articles have been published in State-run media. ²¹ 

Education and children’s rights

Religious instruction is not provided in the public education system in Angola. However, private schools are permitted to teach religion. ²²

Child marriage

Child marriage is common, particularly in rural areas.²³ While the minimum age of marriage is set at 18 years, boys are permitted to marry at 16 and girls at 15 years with parental consent. The UN has recommended that Angola revises its Family Code to remove all exceptions to the minimum age, including in customary law.²⁴

Family, community and society

The UN has expressed concerns that Angola has not yet adopted a general law on equality and non-discrimination, and that certain minority groups face stigmatization and discrimination.²⁵

Women’s rights

Traditional and cultural beliefs and practices contribute to the persistence of gender discrimination and gender based violence. The UN has recommended that Angola make efforts to adopt a comprehensive law to prevent and combat all forms of violence against women and prohibit harmful practices, such as levirate marriages and dowries.²⁶ Women in rural areas particularly lack independent land rights and married women without children face the risk of being dispossessed of their property by their in-laws.²⁷ When the Penal Code was revised in 2019, abortion was decriminalized in cases where there is a serious risk to the life or health of the mother or fetus or in the case of rape.²⁸ The Catholic Church was strongly opposed to this change and the New Apostolic Church also spoke out against it although it was reported to “respect other people’s choices on the matter.”²⁹

Witchcraft accusations

Despite opposition to the practice from the Catholic Church, belief in witchcraft is common and those accused, including children and women, face mistreatment, torture and even death.³⁰ In 2024, it is estimated that 50 people died after being forced to drink a herbal potion to prove they were not witches.³¹

LGBTI+ rights

Angola decriminalized same-sex relations in 2019. It has also prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation.³² Religious groups were reportedly divided in their opinions, but did not come out publicly against the legal changes. Angolan society has long been more tolerant of LGBTI+ people than most other countries on the continent.³³ Recording artist and fashion designer, Coreon Du, the son of the former President, Eduardo dos Santos, is openly gay and a long-time critic of homophobia in the country.³⁴ However, the LGBTI+ community still suffers from discrimination and violence in practice. During Angola’s latest UN Universal Periodic Review in January 2025, LGBTI+ rights organizations reported that violence against LGBTI+ people is underestimated and poorly addressed or investigated, and that there has been an increase in verbal and physical attacks, as well as hate speech online and in the media. LGBTI+ rights organizations also report struggling to obtain registration partly due to stigma.³⁵

Freedom of expression, advocacy of humanist values

The Constitution guarantees freedom of expression, freedom of the press, and the right to peaceful assembly. However, since the Constitution was ratified in 2010, Angolan authorities have regularly restricted citizens’ right to free expression. Pro-democracy demonstrators have been beaten by police and their rallies violently disrupted. Several journalists have also been beaten in an attempt to prevent media coverage of anti-government demonstrations.

In 2024, a new National Security Law was enacted.³⁶ The bill had been criticized by human rights organizations for allowing excessive government control over the media, including censorship, disruption of telecommunications services and police surveillance. They claim the law will undermine already fragile press freedoms, freedom of expression, and association.³⁷

Media Freedom

The State owns the majority of the media and even private outlets align themselves with the government.³⁸ Journalists are often threatened and sometimes physically attacked for their work.³⁹ Online media also suffer from government interference. In 2023, the online outlet Camunda News closed following a campaign of harassment, which its owner blamed on the government.⁴⁰ There are also numerous reports of police beating reporters covering protests and confiscating reporting equipment.⁴¹

Subjects related to religion, the Catholic Church or sexuality are either ignored or treated with caution by the media.⁴²

Defamation

Defamation, insult and calumny are criminal offences under the Penal Code,⁴³ punishable by fines or prison sentences with increased sentences if the crime was committed through an information system or the media.⁴⁴ Article 333 of the Penal Code outlaws insulting the president or any other sovereign body, an offense punishable by a prison sentence or a fine. Such charges and defamation suits have often been used against journalists by members of the government.⁴⁵

Freedom of assembly

When the Lourenço administration first came to power there were signs of greater tolerance towards protesters, but this was short-lived, and peaceful demonstrations continue to be met with violence and brutality by the authorities,⁴⁶ in some cases leading to deaths.⁴⁷ Human rights defenders, journalists and protestors continue to be arbitrarily detained and sometimes prosecuted.⁴⁸ In 2024, Angola’s National Assembly approved a bill on the Crimes of Vandalism of Public Goods and Services⁴⁹ that provides prison terms of up to 25 years for people who participate in protests that result in vandalism and service disruptions.⁵⁰

Freedom of association

NGOs are closely monitored by the Angolan authorities. In May 2023, the first draft of a bill was passed to restrict NGO activity. According to the provisions of the bill, NGOs would be prohibited from engaging in activities that could be considered subversive and a supervisory body would be given the power to audit, dissolve or limit their operations. The bill was still being debated at the time of writing.⁵¹

Human Rights organizations reported that in March 2023, 48 people were arrested at a human rights training workshop in the contested enclave of Cabinda. Although most were released within two days, some were detained for over a month before being released pending trial on charges of criminal association and rebellion.⁵²

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