Ethiopian government’s meddling in religious affairs upsets Muslims
With hands clasped together as a symbol of unity, lines of Muslims gather under the beating sun outside Addis Ababa’s Anwar mosque after Friday prayers.
They gather — as they have all this year — to protest what they call unconstitutional government interference in religious affairs, heightened by the election of Muslim leaders this month the protesters say were not free or fair.
“We have requested an election, a peaceful one, a democratic one, and we didn’t get (it),” said Zeinu Lopiso, 26, a merchant near Anwar mosque, speaking at a recent demonstration where hundreds took part.
Zeinu, like many other protesters, refused to cast a ballot in the Oct. 7 elections to appoint the leaders of the Supreme Council on Islamic Affairs, the community’s main representative body.
Zeinu opposed holding elections in government offices instead of mosques, complaining the government handpicked candidates after 17 Muslim leaders were jailed during protests in July, prompting accusations of a police crackdown.
Nine leaders remain in prison without charge, while eight have been released but could face charges, according to their lawyer.
“We have appointed those (jailed) leaders by putting our signatures to paper,” Zeinu said, as fellow worshippers knelt in prayer.
“They are representatives of the Muslim community and they are innocent, they are not terrorists, so we want the government to free them all,” he added.
According to official figures, Muslims make up 34 percent of the country’s 83 million people. The Islamic Council reported that 7.5 million people voted in this month’s ballot.
Ethiopia is a key Western ally in the fight against militancy in the volatile Horn of Africa region, including in neighboring Somalia, where Addis Ababa invaded last year to battle Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab militants.
The Ethiopian constitution calls for secular a government and bars authorities from interfering in religious affairs.
This month, Ethiopia’s new Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said the government respected religious freedom, but that extremist groups were plotting unrest, and that authorities would take necessary measures to curb such acts.
Despite Shimeles’ claim of noninterference, some observers say the government wants to stem extremism from taking hold in the country, despite scant evidence to suggest a growing threat from within Ethiopia.
“At the moment, there is nothing that would point us in that direction,” said Terje Ostebo form the University of Florida, an expert on Islam in the Horn of Africa.
He said the arrests of the 17 Muslim leaders were an attempt to quell the protests.
Protesters say they will continue to hold demonstrations until their jailed leaders are released and their concerns are addressed by the government.
“I don’t expect the protests to cool down, not as long as those Muslim leaders are in prison,” said Zeinu.
