Beitrag vom 30.04.2023

UNITED STATES COMMISSION on INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

April 2023

Abuses against Fulani Muslim Civilians – Religious
Freedom Implications in West and Central Africa

Overview

Across west and central Africa, escalating violence and abuses against Fulani
Muslim civilians are negatively impacting religious freedom for many communities.
Governments and state-backed forces in Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Central African
Republic (CAR), Benin, and Togo have targeted Fulani Muslim civilians with violence
and human rights abuses based on their ethnoreligious identity or assumptions
regarding their religious beliefs. Some governments have strategically exploited
Muslim sites and holidays to target and commit abuses against Fulani Muslims. This
issue update documents common abuses against Fulani Muslim civilians and their
implications for religious freedom in west and central Africa.
The scope of this report is limited to state-sponsored abuses against civilians based on
Fulani Muslim identity. It aims to elucidate a specific and often misunderstood aspect
of violence dynamics impacting religious freedom in west and central Africa. It is
important to note that civilians of other ethnoreligious backgrounds across a variety of
faiths also face significant violence and religious freedom threats in the region.