Protection of Religious Freedom under the Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia: The Case of Waaqeffannaa
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2017-04-30
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Abstract
The FDRE Constitution has been guaranteed the rights to religious freedom and avows religious
equality by avoiding discrimination based on religion. But, no study has been conducted to look
at the practical applicability of these constitutionally guaranteed fundamental human rights as
applied to adherents of Waaqeffannaa. Hence, the main issue addressed in this paper is whether
the constitutionally guaranteed rights to religious freedom has been implemented properly in
congruence with international human rights instruments and the provisions of the FDRE
Constitution concerning Waaqeffannaa. Thus, this study explores the protection accorded to
religious freedom regarding Waaqqeffannaa. It looks at the current status of Waaqeffannaa in
Ethiopia and the scope of protection religious freedom accorded to Waaqeffannaa in practical
terms. Furthermore, it looks into factors that hinder religious status and practical application of
religious freedom to Waaqeffannaa. To generate the necessary data for this research, qualitative
approach has been used extensively. The major tools employed for gathering primary data were
interview; both structured and semi-structured interview and focused group discussion.
Secondary data was generated from review of written sources particularly books, journals,
reports and academic research works. The analysis of the bulk of data collection in the course of
the study revealed that Waaqeffannaa lost its religious status for about two decades even though
the FDRE Constitution avows the protection of religious freedom. Ethiopian government have
officially banned Waaqeffannaa religious group and restricted the rights to religious freedom of
adherents of Waaqeffanna unlawfully. The analysis revealed that the current religious freedom
to Waaqeffannaa, the Waaqeffatootas’ freedom to worship and access to land to build religious
shrines and cemeteries has been limited by regional and local government authority. Although
Waaqeffannaa has been recognized as religion and restored its religious status in 2013, its
adherents have limited freedom to worship, access land for building galmoota (places of
worship) and hujuba (cemetery) and discriminated by government officials at different level.
Therefore, the government is expected to pursue the religious equality to achieve the full
realization of all human rights in the country. Freedom to equal opportunity to take part in and
benefit from public resources, like land and public media, has to be respected for the adherents
of the indigenous religion Waaqeffannaa
Description
Keywords
Ethiopia, Freedom of religion, indigenous religion, Waaqeffannaa and Oromo