Egypt
(2001)
The Constitution provides for freedom of
belief and the practice of religious rites; however, the
Government places restrictions on this right. Under the Constitution,
Islam is the official state religion and the primary source
of legislation. Accordingly religious practices that conflict
with Islamic law (Shari'a) are prohibited. However, in the
country the practice of Christianity or Judaism does not
conflict with Shari'a and, for the most part, members of
the non-Muslim minority worship without harassment and maintain
links with coreligionists in other countries.
There was a trend toward improvement in
the Government's respect for and protection of the right
to religious freedom during the period covered by this report.
Public schools began using curricular materials on Coptic
history, the Government implemented policies facilitating
church repairs, and seven Christians became deputies in the
People's Assembly (3 were elected and four were appointed
by the President). There was continued press and public discussion
of intercommunal relations and religious discrimination.
Nevertheless there were some Government abuses and restrictions
on the right to religious freedom. In January 2001, security
authorities arrested 18 citizens, most of them Baha'is, on
suspicion of "insulting religion;" 10 remained
in detention without charge at the end of the period covered
by this report. During the period covered by this report,
several intellectuals faced trial or charges related to writings
or statements on the subject of religion. Government discrimination
against non-Muslims persisted.
Religious discrimination in society is
a problem about which many citizens agree more needs to be
done; however, many argue that development of the economy,
polity, and society is the most effective and enduring way
to abolish prejudice. In February 2001, a criminal court
acquitted 92 of 96 defendants suspected of crimes committed
while participating in violence in the village of Al-Kush
in January 2000 that resulted in the deaths of 20 Christians
and 1 Muslim. In September 2000, a criminal court convicted
20 persons and acquitted 19 of crimes including assault and
arson committed in the neighboring village of Dar Al-Salaam.
By the end of the period covered by this report, the Court
of Cassation was considering whether to order a retrial of
the 92 suspects who had been acquitted of participation in
the violence in Al-Kush.
The subject of religious freedom remains
an important and active part of the bilateral dialog between
the U.S. and Egyptian Governments. Senior Administration
officials, the U.S. Ambassador, and members of Congress have
raised U.S. concerns about religious discrimination with
President Hosni Mubarak and other senior government officials.
In March 2001, members of U.S. Commission on International
Religious Freedom visited the country and discussed religious
freedom issues with a variety of Egyptian Government and
non-governmental representatives.
Section I. Religious Demography
The country has a total area of 370,308
miles, and its population is between 66 and 67 million. Most
citizens, approximately 90 percent, are Sunni Muslims. There
is a small number of Shi'a Muslims who constitute less than
1 percent of the population. Approximately 8 to 10 percent
of the population are Christians, the majority of whom belong
to the Coptic Orthodox Church. Other Christian communities
include the Armenian, Chaldean, Greek, Maronite, Roman, and
Syrian Catholic Churches. An evangelical Protestant church,
first established in the middle of the 19th century, has
grown to a community of 17 Protestant denominations. There
also are followers of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, which
was granted legal status in the 1960's. The non-Muslim, non-Coptic
communities range in size from several thousand to hundreds
of thousands. The number of Baha'is has been estimated at
between several hundred and a few thousand. The Jewish community
numbers fewer than 200 persons. There are very few atheists.
Christians are geographically dispersed
throughout the country, although the percentage of Christians
tends to be higher in upper (southern) Egypt and some sections
of Cairo and Alexandria.
There are many foreign missionary groups
that work within the country, especially Roman Catholics
and Protestants who have had a presence in the country for
100 years or more, although their mission involves education
more than proselytizing. The Government generally tolerates
missionary groups if they do not proselyte actively.
Section II. Status of Religious Freedom
Legal/Policy Framework
The Constitution provides for freedom of
belief and the practice of religious rites; however, the
Government places restrictions on this right. Under the Constitution,
Islam is the official state religion and the primary source
of legislation. Accordingly religious practices that conflict
with Shari'a are prohibited; however, in the country the
practice of Christianity or Judaism does not conflict with
Shari'a and, in general, members of the non-Muslim minority
worship without harassment and maintain links with coreligionists
in other countries.
The Constitution requires schools to offer
religious instruction. Public and private schools provide
religious instruction according to the faith of the student.
The religious establishment of Al-Azhar
and the Ministry of Awqaf engage in interfaith discussions
both domestically and abroad. First Lady Suzanne Mubarak
has supported the development of reading and other curricular
materials that advocate tolerance, which are distributed
under her patronage by literacy projects aimed at girls.
Restrictions on Religious Freedom
All mosques must be licensed, and the Government
is engaged in an effort to control them legally. The Government
appoints and pays the salaries of the imams who lead prayers
in mosques and monitors their sermons. In December 2000,
the Minister of Awqaf announced that of the more than 70,000
mosques in the country, the Government controls 52,000 mosques
and 11,000 mosques located in private buildings. In an effort
to combat extremists, the Government has announced its intention
to bring all nongovernment mosques under its control by 2002.
An 1856 Ottoman decree still in force requires
non-Muslims to obtain a presidential decree to build a place
of worship. In addition Interior Ministry regulations issued
in 1934 specify a set of 10 conditions that the Government
must consider prior to issuance of a presidential decree
permitting construction of a church. These conditions include
the location of the proposed site, the religious composition
of the surrounding community, and the proximity of other
churches. The Ottoman decree also requires the President
to approve permits for the repair of church facilities.
In December 1999, in response to strong
criticism of the Ottoman decree, President Mubarak issued
a decree making the repair of all places of worship subject
to a 1976 civil construction code. The decree is significant
symbolically because it places churches and mosques on equal
footing before the law. The practical impact of the decree
has been to facilitate significantly church repairs; however,
Christians report that local permits still are subject to
security authorities' approval. During the period covered
by this report, the President approved a total of 38 permits
for church-related construction, including 3 permits for
the construction of new churches; 5 permits for demolition
and reconstruction of churches; 21 permits for churches previously
constructed without authorization, 7 permits for construction
of additional church facilities; and 2 permits for comprehensive
renovation. The Government reported that governors issued
more than 350 permits for church-related repair in 2000,
an increase of 150 over those issued in 1999.
However, the approval process for church
construction continued to be time consuming and insufficiently
responsive to the wishes of the Christian community. Although
President Mubarak reportedly has approved all requests for
permits presented to him, Christians maintain that the Interior
Ministry delays--in some instances indefinitely--submission
to the President of their requests. They also maintain that
security forces have blocked them from utilizing permits
that have been issued, and that local security officials
at times blocked or delayed permits for repairs to church
buildings. For example, a permit issued in 1993 to repair
structural damage to a 110-year-old church in a village next
to Luxor remains unenforced due to "security reasons."
During the summer of 2000, newspapers published a May 22
letter from the secretary general of Assiyut governorate
to the head of the Assiyut counsel directing that all church
repair requests be screened by security before being approved.
However, in two cases during the period covered by this report,
President Mubarak took corrective action to overturn decisions
by local authorities. In February 2001, the governor of Qalyubia
ordered the demolition of a church building, and in March
2001, he ordered a halt to construction of another church
building. On both occasions, President Mubarak intervened
by revoking the orders and ordering the reconstruction of
the demolished building at the Government's expense.
As a result of these restrictions, some
communities use private buildings and apartments for religious
services. In March 2001, the Government donated a plot of
land to the Christian community to build a church in the
city of Al-Tour in the Sinai. The authorities had closed
the community's previous church in February 2000 for lack
of a permit. During the period covered by this report, a
new large Christian church was constructed in the neighborhood
of Al-Qalag in the city of Shebin Al-Qanater in Qalubiya
governorate; security forces had closed the Christian community's
historic church in that area in 1989.
In January 1996, human rights activist
Mamdouh Naklah filed suit challenging the constitutionality
of the Ottoman decree's 10 conditions governing the building
of places of worship for non-Muslims. In December 1998, an
administrative court referred Naklah's case to the State
Commissioner's Office, which in September 2000, recommended
rejecting the suit on the grounds that Naklah had no standing
to file suit. In October 2000, upon receiving a rebuttal
from Naklah, the court returned the case to the State Commissioner's
Office, and requested an opinion on the constitutionality
of the 10 conditions. The State Commissioner's Office had
not issued an opinion on this matter by the end of the period
covered by this report.
In 1960 President Gamal Abdel Nasser issued
a decree (Law 263 for 1960) banning Baha'i institutions and
community activities. All Baha'i community properties, including
Baha'i centers, libraries, and cemeteries, were confiscated.
This ban has not been rescinded.
Political parties based on religion are
illegal. Pursuant to this law, the Muslim Brotherhood is
an illegal organization. Muslim Brothers speak openly and
publicly about their views, although they do not explicitly
identify themselves as members of the organization, and they
remain subject to government pressure. Seventeen independent
candidates backed by the Muslim Brotherhood were elected
to the People's Assembly in the November 2000 parliamentary
elections.
During the year, several authors faced
trial or charges related to writings or statements considered
heretical. In May 2001, a lawyer sued feminist Nawal Al-Saadawi
for allegedly insulting Islam in comments she made during
a magazine interview, and claimed that Al-Saadawi was an
apostate and should be forcibly divorced from her Muslim
husband. In June 2001, the Public Prosecutor rejected the
complaints. The lawyer also filed an apostasy suit against
Al-Saadawi in the Cairo Personal Status Court, which postponed
a decision on the matter until July 2001.
Various ministries legally are authorized
to ban or confiscate books and other works of art upon obtaining
a court order. The Islamic Research Center at Al-Azhar University
has legal authority to censor, but not to confiscate, all
publications dealing with the Koran and Islamic scriptural
texts. In recent years, the Center has passed judgment on
the suitability of nonreligious books and artistic productions.
For example, the Islamic Research Center at Al-Azhar University
ruled in 1999 in favor of distribution of the book "My
Father Adam: The Story of the Creation Between Legend and
Reality," written by Abdel Sabour Shahine. An Islamist
lawyer sued the Sheikh of Al-Azhar and several other senior
Islamic figures in an effort to block publication of the
book; the Court of First Instance rejected the suit in November
2000 and the plaintiff appealed the decision the same month.
The Court of Appeals rejected the plaintiff's appeal on June
18, 2001.
In 1995 an administrative court ruled that
the sole authority to prohibit publication or distribution
of books and other works of art is vested in the Ministry
of Culture. This decision invalidated a 1994 advisory opinion
by a judiciary council that had expanded Al-Azhar's censorship
authority to include visual and audio artistic works. The
same year, President Mubarak stated that the Government would
not allow confiscation of books from the market without a
court order, a position supported by the then-Mufti of the
Republic, who is now the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar.
In 1997 human rights activist Mamdouh Naklah
filed suit seeking removal of the religious affiliation category
from government identification cards. Naklah challenged the
constitutionality of a 1994 decree by the Minister of Interior
governing the issuance of new identification cards. In March
1998, the court referred the case to the State Commissioner's
Office, which had not issued an opinion by the end of the
period covered by this report.
The Constitution provides for equal public
rights and duties without discrimination due to religion
or creed, and in general, the Government upholds these constitutional
protections; however, government discrimination against non-Muslims
exists. There are no Christians serving as governors, presidents
of public universities, or deans. There are few Christians
in the upper ranks of the security services and armed forces.
Although there was improvement in a few areas, government
discriminatory practices include: Suspected statistical underrepresentation
of the size of the Christian population; failure to admit
Christians into public university training programs for Arabic
language teachers (because the curriculum involves the study
of the Koran); discrimination against Christians in the public
sector; discrimination against Christians in staff appointments
to public universities; and payment of Muslim imams through
public funds (Christian clergy are paid by private church
funds).
Anti-Semitism is found in the Government
press and increased in late 2000 and 2001 following the outbreak
of violence in the Israel and Occupied Territories (see Section
III). In April 2001, columnist Ahmed Ragheb lamented Hitler's
failure to finish the job of annihilating the Jews. In May
2001, an article in Al-Akhbar attacked Europeans and Americans
for believing in the false Holocaust. The Government has
advised journalists and cartoonists to avoid anti-Semitism.
In May 2001, the Administrative Court of
the State Council (which hears disputes between the Government
and citizens) overturned an August 2000 decision by the Ministry
of Social Affairs barring human rights activist Mamdouh Nakhlah
from membership on the board of the Youssef Al-Ramy Organization,
a Christian charitable association operating in Cairo. The
court rejected as inadequate the "security reasons"
cited by the Ministry for barring Nakhlah's membership.
In 1996 upon agreement with Coptic Orthodox
Pope Shenouda, the Minister of Awqaf, Hamdy Zaqzouq, established
a joint committee to address a dispute with the Coptic Orthodox
Church that originated in 1952. At that time, the Government
seized approximately 1,500 acres of agricultural land from
the Church and transferred title to the Ministry of Awqaf,
which is responsible for administering religious trusts.
Based on the committee's recommendations, more than 800 acres
have been returned to the Church during the last few years.
The committee continued to review claims to the remaining
disputed property. In August 2000, the Coptic Orthodox Church
won a lawsuit to reclaim several plots of land in greater
Cairo that had been seized by private or Government institutions
before 1952.
According to a 1995 law, the application
of family law, including marriage, divorce, alimony, child
custody, inheritance, and burial, is based on an individual's
religion. In the practice of family law, the State recognizes
only the three "heavenly religions:" Islam, Christianity,
and Judaism. Muslim families are subject to the Personal
Status Law, which draws on Shari'a (Islamic law). Christian
families are subject to canon law, and Jewish families are
subject to Jewish law. In cases of family law disputes involving
a marriage between a Christian woman and a Muslim man, the
courts apply the Personal Status Law.
Under Islamic law, non-Muslim males must
convert to Islam to marry Muslim women, but non-Muslim women
need not convert to marry Muslim men. Muslim women are prohibited
from marrying Christian men. Muslim female heirs receive
half the amount of a male heir's inheritance, while Christian
widows of Muslims have no inheritance rights. A sole female
heir receives half her parents' estate; the balance goes
to designated male relatives. A sole male heir inherits all
his parents' property. Male Muslim heirs face strong social
pressure to provide for all family members who require assistance;
however, this assistance is not always provided. In January
2000, the Parliament passed a new Personal Status Law that
made it easier for a Muslim woman to obtain a divorce without
her husband's consent, provided that she is willing to forego
alimony and the return of her dowry. However, an earlier
provision of the draft law that would have made it easier
for a woman to travel without her husband's consent, was
rejected.
The Coptic Orthodox Church excommunicates
women members who marry Muslim men, and requires that other
Christians convert to Coptic Orthodoxy in order to marry
a member of the church. The Coptic Orthodox Church does not
permit divorce.
Abuses of Religious Freedom
The Government occasionally prosecutes
members of religious groups whose practices deviate from
mainstream Islamic beliefs, and whose activities are believed
to jeopardize communal harmony. For example, in January 2001,
the Government arrested 18 persons in the southern Egyptian
city of Sohag--most were Baha'is and some where Muslims--on
suspicion of violating Article 98(F) of the Penal Code ("insulting
a heavenly religion") and other possible charges. By
the end of the period covered by this report, 10 Baha'is
remained in detention without being formally charged.
In June 2001, the Public Prosecutor referred
to a State Security Court a group of 52 men arrested in Cairo
in May 2001 on suspicion of homosexual activity and unorthodox
religious practices. Two of the defendants, who allegedly
advocated a belief system combining Islam and tolerance for
homosexuality, were charged with "insulting Islam,"
a violation of Article 98(F) of the Penal Code. Their trial
was pending at the end of the period covered by this report.
The remaining 50 detainees faced charges unrelated to religious
beliefs or practices.
In October 2000, the Government released
without charge 48 persons who had been arrested in March
2000 on suspicion of membership in a religious group established
in 1969 by Salim Al-Faramawy; the group advocates the belief
that members should isolate themselves from the State and
society and abjure the use of science and technology, including
medicine. Faramawy also advocated the consumption of dogs
and cats, a practice prohibited by Islam. After Faramawy's
death in 1991, his son-in-law, Mohamed Gouda, reportedly
assumed leadership of the group.
On November 11, 1999, the State Security
Prosecutor arrested 50 persons in Cairo suspected of heresy
against Islam. On November 15, 1999, 30 of the detainees
were released and the remaining 20 were charged with degrading
Islam, inciting strife, and meeting illegally. The lead defendant,
a woman named Manal Wahid Mana'a, who claimed that the Prophet
Mohammed spoke to her, was accused of attempting to establish
a new Islamic offshoot. On September 5, 2000, a State Security
Emergency Court in Boulaq sentenced Mana'a to 5 years' hard
labor, 3 other defendants to 3 years' hard labor, 7 to 1
year of hard labor, 2 to 6 months in prison, and 2 to a fine
of $375 (1000 Egyptian pounds). One of the defendants died
in prison, reportedly from ill health, during the investigation.
On January 27, 2001, a State Security Court
sentenced Salaheddin Mohsen to 3 years in prison for "insulting
Islam" through his writings. Mohsen originally had received
a 6-month suspended sentence in a trial that ended in June
2000, but the Public Prosecutor appealed the sentence on
the grounds that the sentence was too lenient and the Government
ordered a retrial.
In June 2001, the Public Prosecutor ordered
the release, pending an appeal, of author Ala'a Hamed, who
had been convicted of insulting Islam in a novel in 1998;
his appeal was pending at the end of the period covered by
the report.
On July 16, 2000, the Dar Al-Salaam court
sentenced a Christian, Suryal Gayed Ishak, to 3 years' hard
labor for "insulting Islam" during a public dispute
with a Muslim in 1999. Ishak's attorney appealed the conviction,
claiming that Ishak was accused falsely. The Public Prosecutor
appealed the sentence. On March 27, 2001, Suryal's sentence
was reduced to 1 year and Suryal (who had been incarcerated
for more than a year) was released.
Cairo University professor Nasr Abu Zeid
and his wife continue to live abroad following the 1996 Court
of Cassation ruling that affirmed lower court judgments that
Abu Zeid is an apostate because of his controversial interpretation
of Koranic teachings. In August 2000, the Supreme Constitutional
Court rejected Abu Zeid's contestation of the constitutionality
of the 1996 ruling.
In August 1999, the public prosecutor reopened
and expanded an investigation of police torture of mostly
Christian detainees that took place during the police investigation
in August and September 1998 of the murder of Samir Aweda
Hakim and Karam Tamer Arsal in the largely Coptic village
of Al-Kush in Sohag governorate. However, during the period
covered by this report, the investigation reportedly made
little progress. It is unclear whether religion was a factor
in the 1998 actions of the police officers. Some human rights
groups outside Egypt believe that religion was a factor in
the Al-Kush murder investigation, but most human rights and
Christian activists in the country do not. Police abuse of
detainees is a widespread practice that occurs regardless
of a detainee's religious beliefs.
On June 5, 2000, a criminal court in Sohag
city convicted Shayboub William Arsal of the 1998 murder
of Hakim and Arsal. The court sentenced Shayboub to 15 years
hard labor. An appeal was pending at the end of the period
covered by this report. The Christian community of Al-Kush
believes that Shayboub, a Christian resident of Al-Kush,
was accused and convicted of the crime because of his religion.
The public prosecution in Sohag has taken no action on charges
of witness tampering in Shayboub's trial that were raised
in 1998 against Bishop Wisa and Arch-Priest Antonious.
Neither the Constitution nor the Civil
and Penal Codes prohibit proselytizing. While no such incidents
involving Christians were reported during the period covered
by this report, in past years several dozen Christians who
were accused of proselytizing were harassed by police or
arrested on charges of violating Article 98(F) of the Penal
Code, which prohibits citizens from ridiculing or insulting
heavenly religions or inciting sectarian strife. In May 2001,
authorities arrested five members of the Seventh-Day Adventist
Church while they were distributing leaflets to Christian
families. The authorities claimed that the leaflets included
criticism of the Catholic Church, which might incite strife
among Christians. The five Adventists were released after
pledging not to distribute such materials in the future.
While there are no legal restrictions on
the conversion of non-Muslims to Islam, in past years police
harassed Christians who had converted from Islam; however,
there were no such reports during the period covered by this
report. In cases involving conversion from Islam to Christianity,
authorities in the past also have charged several converts
with violating laws prohibiting the falsification of documents.
In such instances, converts, who fear government harassment
if they officially register the change from Islam to Christianity,
have altered their identification cards and other official
documents themselves to reflect their new religious affiliation.
However, there were no reports of such charges during the
period covered by this report. In August 2000, the Government
lifted travel restrictions on two converts to Christianity
who were imprisoned in 1991 and later released; the two subsequently
were able to travel to other countries without harassment.
An estimated several thousand persons are
imprisoned because of alleged support for or membership in
Islamist groups seeking to overthrow the Government. The
Government states that these persons are in detention because
of membership in or activities on behalf of violent extremist
groups, without regard to their religious affiliation. During
the period covered by this report, security forces arrested
large numbers of persons allegedly associated with the Muslim
Brotherhood. Most observers believe that the Government was
seeking to undermine Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated candidates
in the elections to the People's Assembly, the Shura Council,
and professional syndicates.
In past years, Coptic Christians have been
the objects of occasional violent assaults by the Islamic
Group and other terrorists. Some Christians have alleged
that the Government is lax in protecting Christian lives
and property. However, there were no reports of terrorist
attacks against Christians during the period covered by this
report.
Forced Religious Conversion
There were reports of forced conversions
of Coptic girls to Islam by Muslim men. Reports of such cases
are disputed and often include inflammatory allegations and
categorical denials of kidnapping and rape. Observers, including
human rights groups, find it extremely difficult to determine
whether compulsion was used, as most cases involve a Coptic
girl who converts to Islam when she marries a Muslim boy.
According to the Government, in such cases the girl must
meet with her family, with her priest, and with the head
of her church before she is allowed to convert. There were
no reports of forced religious conversion carried out by
the Government. However, there are credible reports of Government
harassment of Christian families that attempt to regain custody
of their daughters, and of the failure of the authorities
to uphold the law (which states that a marriage of a girl
under the age of 16 is prohibited, and between the ages of
16 and 21 is illegal, without the approval and presence of
her guardian) in cases of marriage between an underage Christian
girl and a Muslim boy.
There were no reports of the forced religious
conversion of minor U.S. citizens who had been abducted or
illegally removed from the United States, or of the Government's
refusal to allow such citizens to be returned to the United
States.
Improvements and Positive Developments
in Respect for Religious Freedom
During the period covered by this report,
the Government took several steps to promote and improve
religious freedom and tolerance. For example, government
primary, middle, and secondary schools began using a new
history curriculum incorporating the Coptic and Byzantine
periods of Egyptian history. The curriculum was developed
over several years with the advice and support of Christian
intellectuals and the Coptic Orthodox Church.
President Mubarak's December 1999 decree
making the repair of all places of worship subject to a 1976
civil construction code continued to facilitate church repairs.
In two instances during the period covered by this report,
President Mubarak intervened to reverse orders to demolish
buildings belonging to Christians churches, in one of the
cases ordering that a building be rebuilt at the government's
expense.
In November 2000, three Christians were
elected to the People's Assembly (the first to be elected
to parliament in 10 years), and President Mubarak appointed
an additional four Christians to the People's Assembly.
In contrast to previous years, there were
no reports during the period covered by this report that
converts to Christianity were subjected to harassment by
the security services. Hassan Mohamed Ismail Mohamed, one
of four converts previously prevented from traveling, was
able to travel abroad in August 2000.
In May 2001, President Mubarak inaugurated
a complex, run by the Ministry of Tourism, to support religious
tourism in Old Cairo, a district that includes Christian,
Jewish, and Muslim holy places. The Ministry of Housing and
the organization American Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Athra Kadisha
are expected to complete construction of a highway-bridge
through the ancient Basatin Jewish Cemetery in Cairo in October
2001. The project is designed to be a modern highway--part
of Cairo's Ring Road--that traverses a cemetery but respects
Jewish religious strictures against moving or disturbing
burial sites.
In September 2000, the Government extended
official recognition to the Maadi Community Church, an independent
interdenominational church, thereby allowing the church to
buy property and hold services.
In May 2001, Minister of Culture Farouk
Hosny declared the burial place of Rabbi Ya'coub Abu Hasira
an official antiquity site protected by the Government.
Building on actions first taken in late
1999, government-owned television and radio continued to
expand the amount of programming time devoted to Christian
issues, including live broadcast of Christmas and Easter
services and documentaries on the country's monasteries and
other aspects of Christian history. In August 2000, a version
of Sesame Street especially designed for the country by the
Children's Television Workshop with assistance from the U.S.
Agency for International Development (USAID) began broadcasting.
Among the aims of the program is the promotion of tolerance,
and one of the principal characters is a Christian. During
the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in December 2000, the most
popular miniseries on government television was a drama explicitly
addressing issues related to Muslim-Christian relations in
the country; the drama provoked widespread public debate
in print and broadcast media. There were no discriminatory
programs in the broadcast media. Government and independent
newspapers published a broad spectrum of news and views on
religious topics, including respectful debates between Christian
and Muslim clerics.
The Minister of Education has developed
and distributed curricular materials instructing teachers
in government schools to discuss and promote tolerance in
teaching.
Section III. Societal Attitudes
Muslims and Christians share a common history
and national identity. They also share the same ethnicity,
race, culture, and language. Christians are geographically
dispersed throughout the country, and Christians and Muslims
live as neighbors. At times religious tensions flare up,
and individual acts of prejudice occur. Members of both faiths
practice discrimination. The majority of citizens agree that
more needs to be done to eliminate discrimination, but argue
that development of the economy, polity, and society is the
most effective and enduring way to abolish social prejudice.
On July 26, 2000, gunmen killed Christian
farmer Magdy Ayyad Mus'ad and wounded five other persons
in Giza province, allegedly because of objections to a church
Mus'ad built. Authorities charged a person with the killing
but released the suspect on bail in October 2000; by the
end of the period covered by this report, no trial date had
been set. On December 11, 2000, Father Hezkiyal Ghebriyal,
a 75-year-old Coptic Orthodox priest, was stabbed and seriously
wounded in the village of Bardis, near Sohag. Police arrested
the suspected attacker. At the end of the period covered
by this report the suspect remained in prison pending an
ongoing investigation. Several other Christians were wounded
in sectarian disputes in other provinces, including 4 in
Fayoum in August 2000, 3 in Minya in October 2000, and 8
in Alexandria in December 2000. The authorities arrested
Muslims and Christian suspects in several of these incidents,
but all had been released by the end of the period covered
by this report. The case of Ahmad and Ibrahim Nasir, who
were sentenced to 7 years in prison for the September 1999
murder of a monk in Assiut, remained pending at the end of
the period covered by this report. The Court of Cassation
had not yet set a date to hear an appeal by the Public Prosecutor
seeking a heavier sentence.
A trade dispute between a Christian clothing
merchant and a Muslim customer that occurred on December
31, 1999, in the village of Al-Kush in Sohag governorate,
escalated into violent exchanges between Muslims and Christians
in the area, and resulted in the death of 21 Christians and
1 Muslim by January 2, 2000. The violence also resulted in
the injuries to 39 persons in Al-Kush and 5 persons in the
neighboring municipality of Dar Al-Salaam. Approximately
200 businesses and homes in the area were damaged.
On September 5, 2000, the Sohag Criminal
Court convicted 20 defendants of the crimes committed in
Dar Al-Salaam, including assault, arson, and vandalism (there
were no deaths in Dar Al-Salaam) and acquitted 19 others.
Four were convicted in absentia to 10 years in prison but
were retried and acquitted upon turning themselves in to
authorities. Four were sentenced to 2 years in prison, 11
to 1 year, and 1 to 6 months; the sentences were criticized
as too lenient by the Christian community. Ninety-six persons
(58 Muslims and 38 Christians) were accused of crimes committed
in Al-Kush, including 43 charged with murder or attempted
murder. On December 7, 2000, the Sohag court released all
89 defendants in custody (7 remained at large) on personal
recognizance, reportedly to allow them to spend Muslim and
Christian holidays with their families. On February 5, 2001,
the court handed down the verdicts, acquitting 92 of the
96 defendants for the crimes committed in Al-Kush. One defendant
was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 10 years in
prison and 3 defendants were convicted of arson and sentenced
to 1 year in prison. The lead judge justified the verdicts,
citing inadequate evidence. On February 22, the Public Prosecutor
contested the verdicts and called for a retrial before a
different circuit. The Court of Cassation set a hearing date
of May 21, 2001 to look into the case, postponing the verdict
until July 30, 2001. The Christian community, including Coptic
Orthodox Pope Shenouda, protested the initial verdicts in
the Al-Kush case and expressed relief at the Public Prosecutor's
contestation.
While there is no legal requirement for
a Christian girl or woman to convert to Islam in order to
marry a Muslim (see Section II), conversion to Islam is sometimes
used to circumvent the legal prohibition on marriage between
the ages of 16 and 21 without the approval and presence of
the girl's guardian. Most Christian families would object
to a daughter's wish to marry a Muslim; if a Christian woman
marries a Muslim man, she is excommunicated by the Church.
According to the Government, a Christian family whose minor
daughter converts to Islam retains guardianship over her,
but in practice local authorities sometimes allow transfer
to a Muslim custodian, who is likely to grant approval for
an underage marriage. The law is silent on the matter of
the acceptable age of conversion. Ignorance of the law and
social pressure, including the centrality of marriage to
a woman's identity, often affect a girl's decision to convert
(see Section II). Family conflict and financial pressure
also are cited as factors.
Official relations between Christian and
Muslim religious figures are amicable, and include reciprocal
visits to religious celebrations. In 1998 a committee on
dialog was established in 1998 by the Vatican and Al-Azhar,
the country's foremost Islamic institution and a preeminent
seminary of Sunni Islamic study. Al-Azhar and the Ministry
of Awqaf engage in other interfaith discussions, both within
the country and in other countries. The Coptic Evangelical
Organization for Social Services (CEOSS) supports the Forum
for Intercultural Dialog. In February 2001, the Forum and
the Ministry of Awqaf began a year-long program to reach
common positions on a number of issues of national importance.
In May 2001, in collaboration with Alexandria University,
the Forum held a 3-day conference entitled "The Role
of the Library of Alexandria in Supporting a Culture of Dialogue
and Tolerance." Dozens of prominent intellectuals, Muslim
and Christian clerics, and journalists participated in the
conference. Other informal interfaith discussions took place
as well. For example, on June 28, 2001, Al-Azhar, the Ministry
of Awqaf, and CEOSS held a conference at the Red Sea resort
of Ain Sukhna; the conference emphasized themes of religious
tolerance and unity in Egypt. Private Christian schools admit
Muslim students, and religious charities serve both communities.
Anti-Semitism is found in both the government
press and in the nonofficial press of the opposition parties,
and increased in late 2000 and throughout 2001 following
the outbreak of violence in Israel and the Occupied Territories
(see Section II). However, there were no anti-Semitic incidents
during the period covered by this report directed at the
tiny Jewish community.
On June 17, 2001, the Al-Naba' newspaper
published an article involving alleged sexual misconduct
in a Coptic Orthodox monastery. The article provoked unusual
demonstrations by Coptic Christians in Cairo from June 17
to 20, during which demonstrators criticized both the Government
and the church leadership for treatment of a number of issues,
including discrimination against Christians and the Al-Kush
trial. On June 20, a demonstration at the Coptic Orthodox
Church headquarters turned violent, and several demonstrators
and police officers were hospitalized with minor injuries.
Police detained 22 demonstrators on suspicion of illegal
public assembly and damaging public property; by the end
of the period covered by this report, 19 demonstrators had
been released on bail awaiting trial and 3 remained in detention.
All 22 of the demonstrators are charged with illegal assembly
and damaging public property. On July 3, 2001, the remaining
3 demonstrators were released on bail. No information on
the demonstrators' trial date was available by the end of
the period covered by this report.
The Coptic Orthodox Church and the Government
reacted strongly to the story in Al-Naba'. The Coptic Orthodox
Church promptly announced that the monk in question had been
defrocked 5 years earlier and that it would sue Mamdouh Mahran,
the publisher of al-Naba'. The Public Prosecutor referred
Mahran to a State Security Court for trial on charges of
undermining public order and social peace and spreading misinformation;
the trial began June 24, 2001. The Speaker of the Shura Council
also referred to the State Council Administrative Court a
request to withdraw publishing licenses from Al-Naba' and
its sister publication Akher Khabar. The case was pending
at the end of the period covered by this report.
Section IV. U.S. Government Policy
The subject of religious freedom is an
important part of the bilateral dialog. The subject has been
raised at all levels of government, including by the President,
Secretary of State, Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern
Affairs, the U.S. Ambassador, and other embassy officials.
The Embassy maintains formal contacts with the Office of
Human Rights at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In addition
the Ambassador has discussed religious freedom with senior
government officials and religious leaders. The Embassy also
discusses religious freedom issues regularly in contacts
with other government officials, including governors and
Members of Parliament. Visiting congressional delegations
have raised religious freedom issues during visits with government
officials.
In January 2001, the Director of the State
Department's Office of International Religious Freedom visited
the country and met with government officials and community
activists. In March 2001, members of the U.S. Commission
on International Religious Freedom, including the Chairman
and Vice Chairman, visited the country. Although some citizens
and organizations boycotted the visit on the grounds that
the Commissioners were interfering in the country's internal
affairs, the commissioners met with a broad range of government
ministers and other officials, Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenouda,
the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, other Christian and Muslim clerics,
and many private citizens concerned with religious freedom.
The Commissioners and embassy staff also met with some imprisoned
Baha'is (see Section II).
The U.S. Embassy maintains an active dialog
with the leaders of the Christian and Muslim religious communities,
human rights groups, and other activists. The Embassy investigates
every complaint of religious discrimination brought to its
attention. During a public speech in March 2001, the former
U.S. Ambassador criticized anti-Semitism in the media. The
Embassy also discusses religious freedom with a range of
contacts, including academics, businessmen, and citizens
outside of the capital area.
The U.S. Mission, including the Department
of State and USAID, works to expand human rights and to ameliorate
the conditions that contribute to religious strife by promoting
economic, social, and political development. U.S. programs
and activities support initiatives in several areas directly
related to religious freedom.
The Mission is working to strengthen civil
society, including training for nongovernmental organizations
(NGO's) that promote religious tolerance. In April 2000,
the Nongovernmental Organization Service Center was funded
by USAID to provide training, technical assistance, and grants
to domestic NGO's. By the end of the period covered by this
report, the Center had given over $1 million in grants to
52 NGO's and had provided training for over 1,400 NGO representatives.
The Embassy has nominated participants interested in advocacy
for the State Department's International Visitor Program,
and invited American specialists in this subject to speak
in the country. In addition, USAID supports a major effort
to improve the administration of justice, and State Department
exchange activities promote legal reform and access to justice.
The U.S. Mission also promotes civic education.
The public affairs section of the Embassy supports the development
of materials that encourage tolerance, diversity, and understanding
of others, in both Arabic-language and English-language curriculums.
USAID, in collaboration with the Children's Television Workshop,
developed an Egyptian version of the television program Sesame
Street, which is designed to reach remote households and
has as one of its goals the promotion of tolerance. The program
began broadcasting in August 2000 and is estimated to reach
one-third of school age children (see Section II). USAID
also supports private voluntary organizations that are implementing
innovative curriculums in private schools. The public affairs
section of the Embassy is leading an effort to increase the
professionalism of the press, with an emphasis on balanced
and responsible coverage. Finally USAID is working with the
Supreme Council of Antiquities to promote the conservation
of cultural antiquities, including Islamic, Christian, and
Jewish historical sites.
Sources: U.S. State Department - Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor |