Religious Freedom Concerns in the Horn of Africa

This factsheet highlights challenges facing freedom of religion or belief in several countries in the Horn of Africa, including Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia. In recent years, crises, insurgencies, and authoritarian regimes in the region have yielded religious repression and attacks on houses of worship and religious leaders. The authoritarian government in Eritrea refuses to register new religious organizations and prosecutes individuals for expressing or adhering to their religious beliefs, including detaining dozens of religious prisoners of conscience. In the context of Ethiopia’s civil war, both government and rebel actors have targeted worshippers and religious infrastructure with violence. In Somalia, militant Islamist group al-Shabaab has attacked mosques in its campaign to establish religious governance in the country, while authorities in Somalia and semi-autonomous Somaliland show worrying commitments to enforcing specific interpretations of Islam. U.S. embassies and State Department regional bureaus setting policy priorities for the region should incorporate analyses of religious freedom risks into their policy- and decision-making protocols and ultimately strengthen efforts to promote freedom of religion or belief in the context of these security and human rights crises.