|
|
Ethiopia - Letter to P.M. Meles Zenawi
on Hijab at Mekele U
Dar
Al-Hijrah Community Center of DFW We are writing this letter to express our grave concern about the state of religious freedom in Ethiopian Colleges and Universities in general and about an alleged incident at Mekele University in particular; where the religious head scarf worn by Muslim women, commonly known as the Hijab, was banned. The wearing of Hijab does not infringe on anybody’s rights whatsoever and is an extension of a dress code for Muslim women prescribed by Islam. The Muslim women who chose to wear the Hijab at Mekele University were merely exercising their rights as granted by articles 11 and 27 of the Ethiopian Federal Constitution. Mr. Prime Minister, we are not asking for any special rights or privileges for Muslim women, we are just asking their constitutional and human rights to exercise their religion freely be respected. In light of the credible allegations of constitutional and human rights abuses we have received, we respectfully ask the Prime Minister to: 1. Establish an independent commission to initiate an immediate investigation into the matter and prosecution of all involved in the abuse of constitutional and human rights. 2. Place safeguards so that the constitutional separation of religion and government is respected at all levels of learning institutions and abuses like the one alleged here are never repeated. 3. Use all appropriate channels at your disposal so that any adverse actions that may have been taken by Mekele University against Muslim students as it relates to this or other similar incidents be reversed. 4. Using the appropriate government agency, make sure students affected by these unconstitutional measures be compensated and Mekele University issue apologies to both the affected students and their parents. Respectfully, President, Dar Al-Hirah Community Center of DFW CC Javier Solana H.E Jakaya
Kikwete, http://nazret.com/blog/index.php?blog=15&title=ethiopia_letter_to_p_m_meles_zenawi_on_h&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1 |
