FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 8, 2012| By USCIRF
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is
deeply concerned about the increasing deterioration of religious
freedoms for Muslims in Ethiopia. Since July 2011, the Ethiopian
government has sought to force a change in the sect of Islam practiced
nationwide and has punished clergy and laity who have resisted. Muslims
throughout Ethiopia have been arrested during peaceful protests: On
October 29, the Ethiopia government charged 29 protestors with terrorism
and attempting to establish an Islamic state.
“These charges are only the latest and most concerning attempt by the
Ethiopian government to crush opposition to its efforts to control the
practice of religion by imposing on Ethiopian Muslims a specific
interpretation of Islam,” said USCIRF Commissioner Azizah al-Hibri.
“The individuals charged were among tens of thousands peacefully
protesting the government’s violations of international standards and
their constitutional right to religious freedom. The Ethiopian
government should cease interfering in the internal affairs of its
Muslim community and immediately and unconditionally release those
wrongfully imprisoned.”
Since July 2011, the Ethiopian government has sought to impose the
al-Ahbash Islamic sect on the country’s Muslim community, a community
that traditionally has practiced the Sufi form of Islam. The
government also has manipulated the election of the new leaders of the
Ethiopia Islamic Affairs Supreme Council (EIASC). Previously viewed as
an independent body, EIASC is now viewed as a government-controlled
institution. The arrests, terrorism charges and takeover of EIASC
signify a troubling escalation in the government’s attempts to control
Ethiopia’s Muslim community and provide further evidence of a decline in
religious freedom in Ethiopia.
“The U.S. government should raise with the new leadership in Addis
Ababa the importance of abiding by Ethiopia’s own constitution and
international standards on freedom of religion of belief. USCIRF has
found that repressing religious communities in the name of countering
extremism leads to more extremism, greater instability, and possibly
violence,” said USCIRF Chair Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett. “Given
Ethiopia’s strategic importance in the Horn of Africa and that Muslims
account for more than one-third of all Ethiopians, it is vital that the
Ethiopian government end its religious freedom abuses and allow Muslims
to practice peacefully their faith as they see fit. Otherwise, the
government’s current policies and practices will lead to greater
destabilization of an already volatile region.”
Background
Ethiopian Muslims traditionally are Sufis. Article 27 of the Ethiopian
constitution guarantees religious freedom and “the independence of the
state from religion.”
However, due to a concern about the rise of Wahhabism in Ethiopia, the
government in July 2011 brought al-Ahbash imams from Lebanon to train
Ethiopian imams and Islamic school educators on that sect’s beliefs to
teach their students and worshippers. The government dismissed from
their positions those who refused to be trained in or teach al-Ahbash
and closed mosques and schools. Beginning in December 2011, protests
have been held almost every Friday outside of mosques after prayers.
While these demonstrations have taken place nationwide, they are
centered at the Awalia Mosque and Islamic school in Addis Ababa.
As the protests continued, an Arbitration Committee of 17 Islamic
leaders was created this past spring to negotiate with the government
about: 1) respecting the Ethiopian constitution’s guarantees of
religious freedom; 2) ending government imposition of al-Ahbash on
Ethiopian Muslims, while allowing al-Ahbash to operate equally with
other religious communities; 3) re-opening and returning schools and
mosques to their original imams and administrators; and 4) holding new
elections for the EIASC, and having these elections take place in
mosques, rather than in neighborhood government community centers, to
ensure that the community’s selections would be honored.
By July, the negotiations had failed and the protests increased in both
size and frequency. In response, the Ethiopian government started to
crack down on and intimidate the demonstrators, surrounding them with
armed guards and conducting house-to-house searches. Between July 13
and 21, the government arrested all 17 members of the Arbitration
Committee and at least 70 protestors. (While the government has
confirmed 70 people were arrested, demonstrators place the number in the
hundreds). Human rights organizations reported that the police used
excessive force against individuals during the arrests and while in
detention. While many were released after being held for a short time,
nine of the Arbitration Committee members remain in jail.
The charges the government leveled on October 29 were the first issued
against any of the arrested protestors, including the nine Arbitration
Committee members who were not released with their colleagues in July.
The individuals charged were first detained and held in Maikelwai
federal police detention center, which frequently houses political
prisoners and is known for abusing prisoners, including torturing them
during interrogations. The individuals detained also were charged under
the nation’s anti-terror law which has been used to target dissent,
rather than to stop terrorism.
Protestors now hold up yellow or white placards to signal that they are
peaceful and to condemn the arrests and charges. While the
demonstrations largely have been peaceful, there have been a few violent
incidents: On October 21, 2011 four Muslims were killed as they
stormed a jail attempting to free protestors and in April 2012 five
people were killed protesting the dismissal of an imam who refused to
propagate al-Ahbash.
To interview a USCIRF Commissioner please contact Samantha Schnitzer at
sschnitzer@uscirf.gov or (202) 786-0613.
08,Novemeber 2012
United states commission on International Religion Freedom.
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