May 25, 2012, ADDIS ABABA (OnIslam) \u2013 Ethiopian Muslim activists are reporting torture and abuses by security forces over growing opposition to an alleged government campaign to indoctrinate the community with Ahbashism campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn Ethiopian activist died after being tortured by electric shock and inhumane acts by government security forces,\u201d villager Ibrahim Nuseyra told OnIslam.net.<\/p>\n
He said a female activist, Firdaws, died last week after being tortured by security forces after attending a meeting called for by the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (Majlis).<\/p>\n
The meeting, led by Federal Affairs Minister Dr\u00a0<\/em>Shiferaw<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>Tekelemariam, was attended by only three members, including Firdaws.<\/p>\n Ibrahim said the female activist left the meeting after the Ethiopian minister insulted the Muslim Provincial Committee and branding its members as \u201cterrorists\u201d.<\/p>\n As she drove her car back home, the activist was reportedly kidnapped by security forces and taken to an unknown location.<\/p>\n \u201cThey tortured her with electric shock and beaten her in an inhumane way,\u201d Ibrahim said.<\/p>\n The activist was later placed at her home gate.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen her family and villagers got her at the gate, she was neither able to speak nor stand or move,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone couldn\u2019t believe what was happening, we were crying, we knew nothing about what to do,\u201d Ibrahim recalled.<\/p>\n She was later taken to hospital and sent to Saudi Arabia for a proper medical treatment.<\/p>\n \u201cBut she died in hospital due to severe injury and nervous system damage,\u201d Ibrahim said.<\/p>\n The villager said that the mother of the dead Muslim activist was also kidnapped by security forces.<\/p>\n Torture<\/strong><\/p>\n Muslims say that the torture of activists was not the first incident in Ethiopia.<\/p>\n \u201cThree weeks before, another Ja\u2019efer mosque Muslim lady preacher was kidnapped after her preach on the way back home,\u201d Ahmed Sulayman, another activist, told OnIslam.net.<\/p>\n She \u201cwas tortured and beaten before being brought back on the street.\u201d<\/p>\n Last month, seven Muslims were killed by security forces in Assasa town in Arsi province of Oromiya regional.<\/p>\n Ethiopia\u2019s Muslims have taken to the streets in the past weeks to protest government\u2019s interference in their religious affairs.<\/p>\n Muslims say the government is spearheading a campaign in collaboration with the Majlis to indoctrinate their community with the ideology of a sect called \u201cAhbash\u201d.<\/p>\n The government of Ethiopian Premier Meles Zenawi has put the Ahbash in charge of the religious affairs of Ethiopia\u2019s Muslims.<\/p>\n Muslims say the government move is in violation of the constitution, which prevents the government interference in religious affairs.<\/p>\n Muslims also accuse the Ahbash of launching an \u201cindoctrination program\u201d in predominantly Muslim areas, forcing people to attend \u201creligious training\u201d camps or risk police interrogation and possible arrest.<\/p>\n Founded by Ethiopian-Lebanese scholar Sheikh Abdullah al-Harari, Ahbash are seen by the West as a \u201cfriendly alternative\u201d to Wahabi ideology, which the West sees as extreme and militant.<\/p>\n Muslims say Ahbash imams are being brought over from Lebanon to fill the Majlis and teach Ethiopians that \u201cWahabis\u201d are non-Muslims.<\/p>\n Ethiopian Muslims are estimated at 30 million, making up nearly 35 percent of the country\u2019s 90 million population.<\/p>\n