Ethiopia abusing religious freedom of Muslims-US body
Fri, 9 Nov 2012 18:25 GMT
Source: reuters // Reuters
* U.S. body says Ethiopian govt abuses religious freedoms
* Ethiopia says its fears rise of Islamic extremism
* Muslims protesters accuse govt of interference
By Aaron Maasho
ADDIS ABABA, Nov 9 (Reuters) - A U.S. panel on religious freedom accused the
Ethiopian government of trying to tighten control of its Muslim minority
amid mass protests, saying it is risking greater destabilisation of the Horn
of Africa region.
Ethiopia, which has long been seen by the West as a bulwark against Muslim
rebels in neighbouring Somalia, says it fears militant Islam is taking root
in the country.
However, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)
accused the government of arresting peaceful Muslim protesters, noting that
29 of them had been charged last month with what the authorities said was
"planning to commit terrorist acts".
Ethiopian Muslims, who make up about a third of the population in the
majority Christian country, accuse the government of interfering in the
highest Muslim affairs body, the Ethiopia Islamic Affairs Supreme Council
(EIASC). Thousands of Muslims have staged weekly mosque sit-ins and street
protests in Addis Ababa over the past year.
"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 Commission said in a statement issued on Thursday.
Ethiopian officials were unavailable for comment on the statement from the
Commission, whose members are appointed by President Barack Obama and senior
Congressional Democrats and Republicans.
Commission Chairwoman Katrina Lantos Swett called on the U.S. government to
raise the issue with Addis Ababa.
"USCIRF has found that repressing religious communities in the name of
countering extremism leads to more extremism, greater instability, and
possibly violence," she said.
"Given Ethiopia's strategic importance in the Horn of Africa ... it is vital
that the Ethiopian government end its religious freedom abuses and allow
Muslims to practice peacefully their faith as they see fit," she added.
"Otherwise the government's current policies and practices will lead to
greater destabilisation of an already volatile region."
Over the past six years Ethiopia has twice sent troops into Somalia to
battle Islamist rebels, including al Shaabab militants, and officials say
some of the protesters are bankrolled by Islamist groups in the Middle East.
The Commission backed the protesters' complaints that the government had
been trying since last year to impose the apolitical Al Ahbash sect on
Ethiopian Muslims. The government has denied this but dozens of Muslims have
been arrested since the demonstrations started in 2011.
Ethiopia is 63 percent Christian and 34 percent Muslim, according to
official figures, with the vast majority of Muslims adhering to the
moderate, Sufi version of Islam. (Editing by Drazen Jorgic and David Stamp)
