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Document #2111949
USDOS – US Department of State (Author)
The constitution provides for the free practice of religious beliefs, provided public order is maintained, as well as for self-governance by religious groups without government interference. The constitution also states religious freedom must be respected and religious discrimination is punishable by law. The law requires all faith-based organizations to register with the government to acquire legal status as associations.
The government continued to work closely with Muslim religious leaders in a campaign to stop abuse of children in some Quranic schools, or daaras, through a modernization program, while relevant legislation remained pending in the National Assembly. A government inspectorate established to support daaras and graduates of Arabic language education began operations in 2023. President Macky Sall refused to issue pardons for Quranic school teachers imprisoned for abuse or exploitation of their students despite a tradition of annual prison pardons associated with major events and holidays. The government continued to provide direct financial and material assistance to religious groups for use primarily in maintaining or rehabilitating Islamic and Christian places of worship and related infrastructure.
The country’s religious leaders continued to emphasize the high value they and the population placed on tolerance and peaceful coexistence among faith-based communities. Many observers believed that traditional Sufi Muslim brotherhoods played constructive roles in calming periods of political tension and street violence in March 2021, July 2022, and June 2023. Local and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) continued to highlight abuses of students (known as talibe) at some daaras, where young children residing to learn Quranic teachings were sometimes forced by school leaders to beg on the streets to collect funds for the daaras. For example, Amnesty International published a report stating that “unsanitary conditions in many daaras and the lack of interest in the well-being of the children shown by some Quranic teachers result in serious malnutrition and health problems. Talibe children also faced abuse from some Quranic teachers and their assistants. Quranic teachers confirmed to Amnesty International that shackling was a common practice, particularly for runaways, to prevent their escape.” Local press outlets reported on August 25 that two girls, aged 16 and 18, drowned during a session of “mystical baths” and ritual chanting that was organized by Abdou Fall, a self-proclaimed traditional religion practitioner, to save them from “possession.” Police arrested and detained Fall. At year’s end, Fall remained in pre-trial detention.
The Ambassador and U.S. embassy officers engaged regularly with government officials, religious leaders, and other civil society stakeholders to promote religious freedom and harmony and discourage violent extremism. The embassy continued to fund, and an NGO-implemented, a three-year program to reduce forced child begging in some communities by, among other things, converting privately run daaras into community-based schools.
The U.S. government estimates the total population at 18.4 million (midyear 2023), with 97.2 percent of the population identifying as Muslim, according to government statistics. Most Muslims are Sunni and belong to one of several Sufi brotherhoods, each of which incorporates unique practices, including some aspects of Indigenous beliefs. Although figures vary, a 2021 Institut Mozdahir International study estimates there are one million Shia Muslims in the country, or approximately 6 percent of the population. Approximately 2.7 percent of the population is Christian. Christian groups include Catholics, Protestants, and groups combining Christian and Indigenous beliefs.
Most Christians live in towns in the west and south.
The constitution defines the country as a secular state and provides for the free practice of religious beliefs, provided public order is maintained, as well as self-governance by religious groups free from state interference. The constitution prohibits political parties from identifying with a specific religion. It states that religious freedom must be respected, and religious discrimination is punishable by law.
Muslims may choose either the civil family code or sharia to adjudicate family conflicts, such as marriage and inheritance disputes. Civil court judges preside over civil and customary law cases, but religious leaders informally settle many disputes among Muslims, particularly in rural areas.
By law, all faith-based organizations, including religious groups and NGOs representing religious groups, must register with the Ministry of Interior to acquire legal status as associations. To register, organizations must provide documentation showing they have existed for at least two years; a mission statement; bylaws; a list of goals, objectives, activities, or projects implemented; and proof of previous and future funding. They must also pass a background check. Registration enables a group to conduct business, own property, establish a bank account, receive financial contributions from private sources, and receive applicable tax exemptions. There is no formal penalty for failure to register other than ineligibility to receive these benefits. Registered religious groups and nonprofit organizations are exempt from taxation on donations received.
The law requires associations, including religious groups and NGOs affiliated with them, to obtain authorization from the Ministry of Women, Family, Gender, and Child Protection to operate. The legal registration requirement allows the government to monitor organizations engaged in social development and to identify any programs these organizations implement to ensure they operate according to the terms of their registration. Foreign NGOs, including those affiliated with religious groups, must also obtain authorization from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. To maintain their authorization, each association and domestic and foreign NGOs must submit an annual report, including a financial report, and activity reports every three months, which the ministries use to monitor for irregularities and potential threats against national security. In addition, all NGOs must also be part of the government-NGO Strategic Partnership Council, set to be chaired by the Prime Minister but which had not begun operations by year’s end.
By law, religious education may be offered in public and private schools. The government permits up to four hours of voluntary religious education per week in public and private elementary schools. The government allows parents to choose either an Islamic or Christian curriculum. There is an opt-out available for parents who do not wish their children to attend.
The country is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The government continued to work closely with Muslim religious leaders in a campaign to stop abuses against children in some daaras through a modernization program, while child protection legislation remained pending in the National Assembly. The government’s 2022 modernization initiative to support daaras and graduates of Arabic language education began its second phase in 2023.
Over the course of the year, judicial officials attempted to increase prosecutions for forced begging by children from daaras by reinforcing antitrafficking-in-persons legal provisions through a judiciary circular and training. For the second year, President Sall refused to issue pardons for Quranic teachers imprisoned for abuse or exploitation of their students, despite a tradition of annual prison pardons associated with major events and holidays. According to a local Muslim NGO, approximately 50 such teachers were imprisoned at year’s end.
The government continued to provide direct financial and material assistance to religious groups for use primarily in maintaining or rehabilitating Islamic and Christian places of worship and related infrastructure or for underwriting special events. Government assistance funded a highway to the Mouride Sufi holy city of Touba and a road linking a new conference center to the Great Mosque in Kaolack, as well as support for prominent religious events, such as the Sufi Grand Magal pilgrimage to Touba in September, the Sufi Gamou celebration in Tivaouane in October, Hajj pilgrimages for Muslims, and Catholic pilgrimages to the Holy Land and Rome. There continued to be no formal procedure for applying for assistance. All major religious groups continued to have access to the funds and competed for them on an ad hoc basis. President Sall occasionally visited and supported beneficiaries of the funds, particularly on the eve of Islamic religious celebrations.
The Ministry of Education continued to provide partial funding to schools operated by religious groups that met national education standards. Catholic schools generally maintained the strongest academic reputations; the majority of students attending Catholic schools continued to be Muslim. There were 354 registered Catholic schools, and 1,200 registered Franco-Arab schools; the latter had a dual system of education that incorporated both the French and Quranic school traditions. A total of approximately 762,100 students from all religious backgrounds attended an estimated total of 4,800 schools, including unregistered Islamic daaras. Local experts noted that unregistered Islamic schools outnumbered Catholic schools, as many parents informally sent their children to these establishments to learn the Quran.
In October, a mob in the city of Kaolack exhumed and burned the body of an alleged lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex community member who had been secretly buried in a local cemetery after being refused burial in several mosque-run cemeteries in the region. The Khalif General, the top leader of the brotherhood, of the local Leona Niassene Sufi Brotherhood expressed “deep indignation” and “categorical condemnation” of the criminal acts of exhuming and desecrating a body, which he said could not be justified or tolerated. The government opened an investigation and arrested four people on October 31 in association with the criminal activity.
On August 25, local press outlets reported that two girls, aged 16 and 18, drowned during a session of “mystical baths” and ritual chanting that was organized by, Abdou Fall, an alleged traditional religion practitioner to save them from “possession.” At the time of the drownings, 70 people were awaiting treatment from Fall. Police arrested and detained Fall. At year’s end, Fall remained in pretrial detention.
Local and international NGOs continued to highlight abuses of talibe at some daaras, where young children residing to learn Quranic teachings were sometimes forced by school leaders to beg on the streets to collect funds for the daaras. For example, in December 2022, Amnesty International published a report saying “unsanitary conditions in many daaras and the lack of interest in the well-being of the children shown by some Quranic teachers result in serious malnutrition and health problems. Talibe children also faced abuse from some Quranic teachers and their assistants. Quranic teachers confirmed to Amnesty International that shackling is a common practice, particularly for runaways, in order to prevent their escape.” The problem of forced begging by children from daaras remained widespread, according to several NGOs.
Local media outlets and NGOs continued to report cases of physical and sexual abuse of daara students by some Quranic teachers. For example, media reported that in June, Quranic teacher Serigne Khadim was arrested on charges of raping 27 female students, aged between 6 and 16, according to local media. In some communities, religious, NGO, and local government leaders, in keeping with the President’s announced daara modernization program, sought to combat the problem through economic and educational programs that would prevent children from begging in the first place. Local women’s groups also assisted in the care of children within daaras to prevent child begging.
The country’s religious leaders continued to emphasize the high value they and the population placed on tolerance and peaceful coexistence among faith-based communities. Academics, NGOs, and local press reported the Muslim and Christian communities had a longstanding history of religious harmony and mutual respect, and it was common to encounter interreligious families, comingled cemeteries, and inclusive religious festivals. For example, in March and April, when Ramadan and Lent partially overlapped, communities fasted together and offered each other food and shared meals to break the fasts in tandem.
According to local media, the traditional Sufi Muslim brotherhoods are widely respected and highly influential in society. Local press and religious associations such as the Unitary Framework of Islam in Senegal (CUDIS) said they played constructive roles in calming periods of political tension and street violence in March 2021, July 2022, and June 2023 by sending emissaries between sides to mediate disputes and encourage calm.
Local press reported September’s Grand Magal pilgrimage attracted more than five million pilgrims, a record for the event, including high-level participation from the government, the diplomatic corps, and foreign delegations.
The Ambassador and embassy officers also met regularly with senior government officials from the Ministries of Justice; Education; Interior; and Women, Children, and Families; the Office of the Prime Minister; and the Office of the Presidency to discuss religious freedom and harmony, ways to discourage violent extremism, conditions faced by students at daaras, and the government’s efforts to combat forced child begging at those Quranic schools.
The Ambassador and embassy officers also engaged regularly with religious leaders, and other civil society stakeholders to promote religious freedom and harmony and to discourage violent extremism. During meetings with leaders of the country’s largest Sufi brotherhoods, embassy officials discussed the country’s tradition of religious harmony and stability as well as the role of Sufism in maintaining religious tolerance, respect, and nonviolence.
In September, embassy officials attended the annual Grand Magal pilgrimage to the Mouride Brotherhood’s holy city of Touba and met with the Khalif General to show respect for religious freedom and harmony.
Also in September, embassy officials participated in the annual Gamou celebration in the Tidiane Brotherhood’s holy city of Tivaouane and met with senior religious leaders and discussed the importance of religious freedom and harmony. The Tidiane Brotherhood represents approximately 45 percent of the country’s population.
In October, the Ambassador visited the Niass community of the Tidiane Brotherhood in the Kaolack region, where he stressed U.S. support for religious freedom.
The embassy continued to fund an NGO-implemented, three-year program to reduce forced child begging in some communities by, among other things, converting privately run daaras into community-based schools. The program included engagement with religious leaders and support for families in rural communities to prevent children being sent to urban centers where they might be forced to beg. The program aimed to provide protection, education, and welfare services to 6,500 victims of forced child begging.
On November 9, Department of State officials from the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons visited the country in November to support efforts by the embassy and the government to combat forced begging by talibe children.
The embassy continued to provide financial support for another NGO’s work with the Ministry of Women, Family, and Child Protection setting up national reception centers for vulnerable children, including those attending Quranic schools, who were victims of forced begging, to provide them education, clothes, hygiene kits, and monthly food allowances.
Through an international organization, the embassy also continued to fund a program to provide training and technical assistance to the government to create standard operating procedures for police, gendarmes, and magistrates with clear guidelines for the identification, investigation, and referral of victims in trafficking in persons cases. Most of such victims were children attending Quranic schools who are forced to beg for the schools.
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