Branden Kartchner

The population of Mali is an estimated 16 million persons. Muslims constitute 95 percent of the population and Christians around 3 percent. The constitution protects religious freedom and the state is identified as secular. The state also provides freedom of conscience and bans religious-based discrimination. The government has created a commission composed of Catholic, Protestant, and Islamic leaders. Missionaries are allowed in the country and specialize in providing education and health care. However, the state has experienced serious instability that undermines the government’s ability to protect religious freedoms. The state and public education is mandated to be secular.

In January of 2012, Tuareg rebels and Islamic extremists attacked and seized control of Northern Mali and declared the territory an independent Islamist state. The Islamists have made it a point to destroy items they deem idolatrous. The Islamists destroyed shrines and religious objects, some over a thousand years old. Both the French and a regional force provided support to the destabilized Malian government during the conflict. Since 2012, the Malian government and rebels have agreed to a peace deal in which the government agreed to hold elections and the rebels tentatively agreed to cede control of previously conquered cities; however, the agreement has been fragile and the rebels have reneged on their commitments. As a result of the conflict, thousands of Malians have been internally displaced.

Sources: Religion and the State: An International Analysis of Roles and Relationships; BBC News