Political reform and religious violence in some Ethiopian regions since 2018: Evidence from Sidama, Somali, and Oromo

Abstract

In the post-1991 period, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front clearly endorsed the separation of state and religion. More importantly, the government is obliged to deliver equal protection for the peaceful worshiping and well-being of religious institutions. However, there is little or no protection given to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Christians, specifically in the post 2018 political transition. Therefore, this study examines the most devastating and selective murdering and slaughtering of Orthodox Christians and the demolition of the church a few months after a new governmental transition took place in April 2018. To do so, this paper applied the theory of “religious victimization” to analyze the interplay between the so-called political reform and religious practice since 2018. In this respect, a qualitative research approach with a case research design was used: ten in-depth interviews, three focus group discussions, field observations, and secondary sources analysis. According to the findings, thematic analysis was applied by arranging items in the team based on their similarities. The results of the study also revealed that there were mass killings and demolition of orthodox Christian properties in the Ethio-Somalia, Oromia, and Sidama regions of Ethiopia. Vandalism was supposed to be systematic and well-planned. In this study, the researchers strongly recommend that the government identify intervention strategies to stop the atrocities of Ethiopian Christians.

Keywords

• Church burnings
• Demolition properties
• Ethiopian orthodox church
• Political transition
• Religious freedom
• Mass killings