Egypt
(2004)
The Constitution provides for freedom of belief and
the practice of religion, although the Government places restrictions
on this right. According to the Constitution, Islam is the official
state religion and Shari'a (Islamic law) is the primary source of legislation;
religious practices that conflict with the official interpretation of
Shari'a are prohibited. However, since the Government does not consider
the practice of Christianity or Judaism to conflict with Shari'a, for
the most part members of the non-Muslim minority worship without harassment
and may maintain links with coreligionists in other countries. Members
of religions that are not recognized by the Government, such as the
Baha'i Faith, may experience personal and collective hardship.
In some areas, there were improvements in the Government's
respect for religious freedom; however, there continued to be abuses
and restrictions during the period covered by this report. In January,
the Government established a National Human Rights Council (NHRC), headed
by a Coptic Christian. The NHRC was entrusted with protecting and improving
the status of human rights, including religious freedom.
The prosecution failed to bring a successful case against
those alleged to be responsible for killing 21 Christians during the
2000 sectarian strife early in the town of al-Kush, Upper Egypt. The
Court of Cassation, the country's highest appellate court, upheld the
acquittal of 94 of 96 suspects who were charged with various offenses
committed in this incident. The Court's decision left public prosecutors
and human rights activists with no further legal options. An investigation
of police torture of dozens of mostly Christian detainees that took
place during the inquiry of a 1998 incident involving the killing of
two Copts in al-Kush made little progress and has appeared effectively
closed since 2001. A Coptic Christian was convicted and sentenced for
the two murders; his appeal, which has been pending for 4 years, had
not been heard by the end of the period covered by this report.
Other abuses included the arrest of nine Shi'a Muslims
in December 2003 and March. Five were released within several weeks;
three were detained without charge, two of whom were not released until
April and June. The third and another individual arrested in March were
still in detention without charge at the end of the period covered by
this report. There were credible reports that at least three of the
four individuals held in detention were tortured. The Government also
denied identity papers, birth certificates, and marriage licenses to
members of the very small Baha'i community and offered no legal means
for the small number of converts from Islam to Christianity to amend
their civil records to reflect their new religious status; however,
the Government does not legally discriminate between Muslim and non-Muslim
converts. The Government also continued to prosecute a small number
of citizens for unorthodox religious beliefs and practices that "insult
heavenly religions."
There generally continued to be religious discrimination
and sectarian tension in society during the period covered by this report.
The al-Kush case has become a symbol of sectarian tensions, possibly
violent, that continued to exist in the country.
The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom issues
with the Government as part of its overall policy to promote human rights.
The Ambassador, senior administration officials, and members of Congress
continued to raise U.S. concerns about religious discrimination with
President Hosni Mubarak and other senior government officials.
Section I. Religious Demography
The country has a total area of 370,308 square miles,
and its population is approximately 70.5 million, of whom almost 90
percent are Sunni Muslims. Shi'a Muslims constitute less than 1 percent
of the population. Approximately 8 to 10 percent of citizens are Christians,
the majority of whom belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church. Other Christian
communities include the Armenian Apostolic, Catholic (Armenian, Chaldean,
Greek, Melkite, Roman, and Syrian Catholic), Maronite, and Orthodox
(Greek and Syrian) churches. An evangelical Protestant church, established
in the middle of the 19th century, now includes 17 Protestant denominations.
There also are followers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which
was granted legal status in the 1960s. There are small numbers of Mormons
and members of Jehovah's Witnesses, but the Government does not recognize
either group. The non-Muslim, non-Coptic Orthodox communities range
in size from several thousand to hundreds of thousands. The number of
Baha'is has been estimated to be between several hundred and two thousand.
The Jewish community numbers fewer than 200 persons.
Christians are dispersed throughout the country, although
the percentage of Christians tends to be higher in Upper Egypt (the
southern part of the country) and some sections of Cairo and Alexandria.
There are many foreign religious groups, especially
Roman Catholics and Protestants who have had a presence in the country
for almost a century and engage predominately in education, social,
and development work. The Government generally tolerates these groups
if they do not proselytize.
Section II. Status of Religious Freedom
Legal/Policy Framework
The Constitution provides for freedom of belief and
the practice of religion; however, the Government places restrictions
on this right. According to the Constitution, Islam is the official
state religion, and Shari'a is the primary source of legislation; religious
practices that conflict with the official interpretation of Shari'a
are prohibited. However, since the Government does not consider the
practice of Christianity or Judaism to conflict with Shari'a, for the
most part members of the non-Muslim minority worship without legal harassment
and may maintain links with coreligionists in other countries. Members
of other religions that are not recognized by the Government, such as
the Baha'i Faith, may experience personal and collective hardship.
For a religious denomination to be officially recognized,
a request must be submitted to the Religious Affairs Department at the
Ministry of Interior, which assesses whether the proposed religion would
pose a threat or upset national unity or social peace. The department
also consults the leading religious figures in the country, particularly
the Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Sheikh of Al-Azhar. The
registration is then referred to the President, who issues a decree
recognizing the new religion according to Law 15 of 1927. If a religious
group chooses to bypass the official registration process, participants
could be subject to detention and could also face prosecution and punishment
under Article 98(F) of the Penal Code, which forbids the "ridiculing
of a heavenly religion."
The Constitution requires elementary and secondary
schools to offer religious instruction. Public and private schools provide
religious instruction according to the faith of the student. During
the period covered by this report, the Minister of Education denied
charges that his plan to introduce courses on rational ethics into the
national curriculum was an attempt to phase out the teaching of religion
in public schools.
The Government continued to encourage interfaith dialogue.
The religious establishment of Al-Azhar and the Ministry of Awqaf (Islamic
Religious Endowments) engage in interfaith discussions, both domestically
and abroad. Government literacy programs promoted reading materials
that encourage mutual tolerance. During the period covered by this report,
the Government formed the NHRC, which was entrusted with protecting,
supporting, developing, upholding, and improving the status of human
rights, including religious freedom. The Government appointed a Coptic
Christian as its president and named prominent Copts to 5 of the council's
25 seats.
The following religious holidays are designated national
holidays: 'Eid Al-Fitr, 'Eid Al-Adha, the Islamic new year, the birthday
of the Prophet Muhammad, and Coptic Christmas (January 7).
Restrictions on Religious Freedom
All mosques must be licensed, and the Government attempts
to control them legally for the stated purpose of combating extremists.
The Government appoints and pays the salaries of the imams who lead
prayers in mosques and monitors their sermons; however, it does not
similarly contribute to the building, repair, or funding of Christian
churches. In April, the Minister of Awqaf announced that of the more
than 82,000 mosques in the country, the Government controls administratively
62,000 regular mosques and 16,000 mosques located in private buildings.
The Government annexes new mosques every year, but the process does
not keep pace with new mosque construction.
The contemporary interpretation of 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, under the Al-Ezabi decree, 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 involve
factors such as the location of the proposed site, the religious composition
of the surrounding community, and the proximity of other churches and
mosques. The Ottoman decree also required the head of state to approve
permits for the repair of church facilities.
In 1996, human rights activist Mamdouh Naklah filed
a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the 1934 decree, which
was based on the 1856 Ottoman decree. In 2002, the State Commissioners'
Body, which is essentially responsible for reviewing lawsuits made against
the Government, issued a "final" advisory opinion, rejecting
the lawsuit on the grounds that the challenged decree was issued before
the Commissioners' Body was established in 1946 and thus is excluded
from the Body's legal jurisdiction. Subsequently, in an April 2003 hearing,
a judge ruled that no further consideration of the lawsuit was warranted.
In June 2003, the Administrative Court, which is part of the State Council,
similarly rejected the case on the grounds that the decree in question
was issued in 1934, before the establishment of the State Council, established
in 1947. The Administrative Court argued that it could not rule on a
law predating its establishment. Naklah's appeal before the Higher Administrative
Court was pending at the end of the period covered by this report.
Since 1998, presidential decrees are required only
for the building of new churches, while repair permits are issued at
the Governorate level. In 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 places repair of churches and mosques on equal footing before
the law and facilitates church repairs. However, local permits for such
repairs are still subject to approval by security authorities. Even
though mosque and church repairs are now subject to the same laws, enforcement
of the laws appears to be much stricter for churches than for mosques.
Security officials also may deny or delay permits for the supply of
water and electricity. Incidents of blocked or delayed permits vary,
often depending on the attitude of local security officials and the
governor toward the church and on their personal relationships with
the local Christian church's representatives.
According to statistics published by the Government's
Official Gazette, during the period covered by this report President
Mubarak approved seven permits for church-related construction compared
with the nine permits reported during the previous period. Three of
these permits were for evangelical Christian churches and four were
for Coptic churches. However, government officials have asserted that
most permits issued are not published in the Gazette. According to these
officials, 254 permits for the building and repair of churches were
issued between January 1 and June 15.
Overall, the approval process for church construction
continued to be time-consuming and insufficiently responsive to the
requests of Christians. 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 using permits that have been issued and
at times denied them permits for repairs to church buildings and the
supply of water and electricity to existing church facilities. Christian
observers believe that government officials, particularly at the local
security level, zealously enforce regulations pertaining to church projects
while exercising lax oversight of the repair and construction of mosques.
In March, the country's Supreme Constitutional Court
dismissed a case an individual brought against the Coptic Orthodox Church.
The judges ruled that the Constitution required that Christian and Muslim
endowments be treated under an equal standard and that Christian endowments,
like Muslim endowments, could not be sued. Christian advocates hoped
the judgment would set a precedent for "equal treatment" between
Islamic and Christian facilities with implications for other legal cases
they are pursuing.
Despite this ruling, numerous complaints of delayed
church construction and repair projects continued during the period
covered by this report. Among the many complaints was the case of St.
George Church in Dafesh, a majority Christian community near Assiyut,
Upper Egypt. After a wait of many years, in 1998 the parish obtained
a permit to build a new church to replace the original building, which
had grown too small to accommodate the growing community. Shortly after
construction began in 2000, the new site was vandalized, allegedly by
local Muslim residents, prompting the Government to freeze the project,
which remained halted at the end of the period covered by this report.
The congregation continues to worship at the older site.
In Ezbet al-Nakhl, East Cairo, Coptic leaders of the
Church of the Archangel Mikhail received permission from the Ministry
of Interior in 1996, ratified by the Governor of Cairo in 2001, to expand
the church to accommodate its growing congregation. However, local authorities
in the district of al-Marg refused to accept the request to expand the
church without a presidential decree, which is required for the renovation.
The church, which had originally sought a presidential decree in 1987,
had not been able to obtain one, and the project remained frozen at
the end of the period covered by this report. Government officials asserted
that the project was frozen because church officials did not employ
the proper procedures while seeking a presidential decree, therefore
making it illegal to renovate the church.
In 2002, the Government ordered the closure of a building
in Tenth of Ramadan City, east of Cairo, used as a training and conference
center by the Protestant Qasr al-Doubbara Church of Central Cairo. The
Church successfully fought the closure, obtaining a government decree
in November 2003 that ordered the reopening of the facility. However,
the municipality appealed the decision and continued to block use of
the building on the grounds that the building, which is zoned as a residence,
did not have a permit for it to operate as a public building.
As a result of restrictions, some communities use private
buildings and apartments for religious services or build without permits.
An Orthodox church, St. John the Baptist, in Awlad Ilyas, near Assiyut,
has been using the church's courtyard for prayers because local police
prevented repairs to the church structure in 2001. Repairs were halted
because authorities believed that the church would enlarge its size
by extending the building into the churchyard. After negotiations with
state security officers, the church received permission to demolish
the existing wall to extend its size. However, after the newspaper Al-Watani
had published an article exposing this issue and the outcome, state
security officials halted construction a second time. At the end of
the period covered by this report, construction had not resumed and
the Church was still waiting for the Minister of Interior to permit
resumption of repairs.
The Government continued to try citizens for unorthodox
religious beliefs. On January 28, a State Security Emergency Court issued
a verdict against Sunni Muslims Sayyed Tolba, Gamal Sultan, and 17 others,
superseding a 2002 verdict in which Tolba had been sentenced to 3 years.
The court sentenced Tolba and Sultan to a year's imprisonment and gave
suspended sentences to the remaining defendants, after finding them
guilty of practicing religious beliefs "deviant from Islamic Shari'a."
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 arbitrary treatment and pressure from the
Government. During the period covered by this report, dozens of members
of the Muslim Brotherhood were arrested and charged with membership
in an illegal organization, and several others were prevented from traveling
abroad. Dozens of suspected Brotherhood members were also released during
this period. Seventeen independent candidates backed by the Muslim Brotherhood
were elected to the People's Assembly in the 2000 parliamentary elections,
despite government-sponsored efforts to stop them, which included mainly
limiting access to polling stations but also, in some instances, violence,
detentions, and arrests.
There were no new cases of authors facing trial or
charges related to writings or statements considered heretical during
the period covered by this report.
Various ministries are legally 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 Islamic Center
has passed judgment on the suitability of nonreligious books and artistic
productions, but there were no new cases during the period covered by
this report. Al-Azhar has the legal right to recommend confiscation,
but the actual act of confiscation requires a court order. For example,
Al-Azhar generally becomes involved if there is a formal complaint filed
about a particular book. However, al-Azhar generally does not have the
right to rule on secular publications. In June 2003, the Government's
Ministry of Justice issued a decree authorizing Al-Azhar sheikhs to
confiscate publications, tapes, speeches, and artistic materials deemed
inconsistent with Islamic law; however, there were no new cases during
the period covered by this report.
In December 2003, the Islamic Research Center (IRC)
recommended banning the book "Discourse and Interpretations"
by Nasr Abou Zeid. IRC member Dr. Mohammed Emara was quoted as claiming
the book contradicted Islamic tenets. The Government did not act on
the recommendation by the end of the period covered by this report.
The local media, including state television and newspapers
with some governmental oversight, gives prominence to Islamic programming,
which sometimes implies the primacy of Islam among "the heavenly
religions." For example, a program entitled "Essence of Life,"
which airs twice a week on state-owned Nile TV, interviews persons who
have converted to Islam. The interviewer frequently praises his guests
for improving their lives by having chosen "the right path."
Similarly, the religion page, which appears weekly in the prominent
daily al-Ahram, a privately funded newspaper with some governmental
oversight, often reports on conversions to Islam and reports factually
on how converts improved their lives and found peace and moral stability,
things the converts said they lacked in their previous faith. While
Christian television programs are aired on Nile TV, they are not presented
on a regular basis.
Law 263 of 1960, which is still in force, bans Baha'i
institutions and community activities. The Government confiscated all
Baha'i community properties, including Baha'i centers, libraries, and
cemeteries. The problems of Baha'is, who number fewer than 2,000 persons
in the country, have been compounded since the Ministry of Interior
began to upgrade its automation of civil records, including national
identity cards. The Government's new software requires all citizens
to be categorized as Muslims, Christians, or Jews. Baha'is and other
religious groups who do not fit into any of these categories have been
compelled either to misrepresent themselves as members of one of these
three religions or to go without valid identity documents, passports,
birth and death certificates, and marriage licenses. Most Baha'is have
chosen the latter course.
The Constitution provides for equal public rights and
duties without discrimination based on 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 or deans of public universities. Christians
are underrepresented in Parliament and are infrequently nominated by
the Government to run in elections as National Democratic Party (NDP)
candidates.
There also are few Christians in the upper ranks of
the security services and armed forces. Although there have been improvements
in a few areas, government discriminatory practices continued to include
discrimination against Christians in the public sector, discrimination
against Christians in staff appointments to public universities, payment
of Muslim imams through public funds (Christian clergy are paid by private
church funds), and refusal to admit Christians to Al-Azhar University
(a publicly-funded institution). In general, public university training
programs for Arabic-language teachers refuse to admit non-Muslims because
the curriculum involves the study of the Koran. In 2001, the first Christian
graduated from an Arabic-language department at the Suez Canal University,
but there have been no reports of Christian graduates since 2001.
Anti-Semitic sentiments appear in both the independent
press and press with some governmental oversight. The Government reportedly
has advised journalists and cartoonists to avoid anti-Semitism. Government
officials insist that anti-Semitic statements in the media are a reaction
to Israeli government actions against Palestinians and do not reflect
historical anti-Semitism; however, there are relatively few public attempts
to distinguish between anti-Semitism and anti-Israeli sentiment.
In January, the country's Supreme Administrative Court
upheld a lower court's 2001 decision to ban an annual festival at the
tomb of Rabbi Abu Hasira in a village in the Nile Delta and rejected
the Ministry of Culture's designation of the site as a protected antiquity.
The 2001 decision linked the status of the site and the festival to
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the celebration has not been held
in the past 3 years.
Although the Coptic Orthodox Church won a lawsuit to
reclaim several plots of land in greater Cairo in 2000, there continued
to be no new returns during the period covered by this report.
According to a 1995 law, the application of family
law, including marriage, divorce, alimony, child custody, 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. 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. The
State does not recognize the marriages of citizen adherents to faiths
other than Christianity, Judaism, or Islam.
Under Shari'a, as practiced in the country, 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.
Inheritance laws for all citizens are based on the
official interpretation of Shari'a. 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. The 2000 Personal Status Law
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.
The Coptic Orthodox Church excommunicates women members
who marry Muslim men and requires that other Christians convert to Coptic
Orthodoxy to marry a member of the Church. Coptic males are prevented
from marrying Muslim women by both civil and religious laws. A civil
marriage abroad is an option should a Coptic male and Muslim female
decide to marry. The Coptic Orthodox Church permits divorce only in
specific circumstances, such as adultery or conversion of one spouse
to another religion.
Abuses of Religious Freedom
The prosecution failed to bring a successful case against
those alleged to be responsible for the killing of 21 Christians during
sectarian strife in early 2000 in the town of al-Kush, in Sohag Governate,
Upper Egypt. The Court of Cassation, the country's highest appellate
court, upheld on June 14, the acquittal of 94 of 96 suspects who were
charged with various offenses committed in this incident. The Court's
decision left public prosecutors and Christian advocates with no further
legal options. In the investigation of an earlier incident in al-Kush
in 1998 involving the killing of two Copts, the police detained hundreds
of citizens, including relatives of suspects, women, and children. Local
observers reported that many of these detainees were subjected to torture
and mistreatment. An investigation of police torture of the mostly Christian
detainees made little progress and has appeared effectively closed since
2001. Shayboub William Arsal, a Coptic Christian, was convicted and
sentenced for the two murders and his appeal, which has been pending
for 4 years, has not been heard. The local Christian community believes
that Shayboub was accused and convicted of the crime because of his
religion. The two al-Kush cases have become a symbol of sectarian tensions,
possibly violent, that continued to exist in the country.
The Government at times prosecutes members of religious
groups whose practices are deemed to deviate from mainstream Islamic
beliefs, and whose activities are believed to jeopardize communal harmony.
In December 2003, eight persons were arrested by state security agents
in Ras Gharib, on the Red Sea coast, apparently due to their affiliation
with Shi'a Islam, which is not officially recognized by the Government
but acknowledged as a branch of Islam by Al-Azhar. Five were released
within several weeks, but three, Adil Shazly, Ahmed Goma'a, and Mohammed
Hamam Omar, were sent to prison in Cairo and Wadi Natroun for interrogation.
There were credible reports that they were tortured and mistreated in
detention. By the end of the period covered by this report, Goma'a and
Omar had been released, but Shazly remained in prison.
On March 21, Mohammed Ramadan Mohammed Hussein, also
known as Mohammed al-Derini, leader of an unrecognized Shi'a organization,
"the Supreme Council for Descendants of the Prophet," was
arrested in Cairo. Derini continued to be held without charge at the
end of the period covered by this report.
In March, a State Security Emergency Court found 26
persons, including 3 Britons, guilty of membership in an illegal subversive
organization (the Islamic Liberation Party) and obstructing law and
the Constitution. The defendants received sentences of 1 to 5 years.
There were credible reports that defendants were tortured during the
Government's investigation of the case.
In May, the Government confiscated the identity cards
of Baha'is Hossam Ezzat Moussa and Rania Roushdy, who were applying
for passports. Officials told them that they were acting on instructions
from the Ministry of Interior to confiscate any identity cards belonging
to Baha'is.
In 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 still pending at
the end of the period covered by the report.
In August 2003, at the historic monastery of St. Anthony
at a remote location in the eastern desert, Christian monks and supporters
confronted more than 100 security personnel and numerous bulldozers
deployed by the Governor of the Red Sea province to destroy a wall built
by the monastery that enclosed land belonging to the State. Although
they admitted they did not have title to the land enclosed by the wall,
monastery leaders asserted that the wall was built at the urging of
government security officials. After a tense standoff, a compromise
was reached in which the Government agreed to sell the land enclosed
by the wall to the monastery.
In January, Christian workers at the Patmos Center,
a Coptic Orthodox social service facility on the Suez road east of Cairo,
confronted soldiers and an army bulldozer dispatched from a military
base adjacent to the facility. During the confrontation, one of the
Christian workers was fatally struck by a private bus attempting to
drive around the crowd. This incident was the latest in a series involving
Patmos and the neighboring military base. The army's reported pretext
for bulldozing the gate was that the Patmos Center's wall stands 50
meters from the highway, while local zoning regulations require a distance
of 100 meters. Christian sources noted that the army base's perimeter
wall also is only 50 meters from the road, and they charged that the
army's intent was to harass the Christians until they quit the site
so that it could be annexed by the military. Other observers believed
the military's enmity was engendered by the "stealthy" way
the church developed a Christian service facility on a site originally
billed as an agricultural "desert reclamation project."
In May, a Coptic priest and two members of his church
were killed while in a vehicle driven by a police officer. The officer
lost control of the vehicle, and it fell into a canal. The police officer
had appeared at the St. Mina Church in the village of Taha, in the Samalout
district of Minya Governorate, and ordered the priest, Father Ibrahim
Mikhail, to come to the police station to make a report regarding his
church's unauthorized repair of a fence. In an obituary placed in the
paper al-Ahram, Father Mikhail and the other victims were described
as "martyrs" of the 1856 Ottoman church building decree. The
deaths prompted angry reactions from local Christian leaders and emotional
demonstrations from the Christian community. The police officer, who
was not seriously injured in the incident, reportedly was suspended
and referred for an inquiry into his actions. The Government maintained
that the vehicle crash was accidental, noting that the police driver
was among those injured. The Government has advised that his actions
are the subject of an investigation for possible violations of procedure.
Neither the Constitution nor the Civil and Penal Codes
prohibits proselytizing, but those accused of proselytizing have been
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 late January, four Christians were arrested by state
security agents in Nuweiba, on the east coast of the Sinai Peninsula,
and detained without charge. The four reportedly were found to be in
possession of an undetermined amount of Christian religious materials
and were apparently suspected of proselytizing. The four were released
on April 3. Government sources reported that no charges would be pursued
against them.
While there are no legal restrictions on the conversion
of non-Muslims to Islam, there are occasional reports that police harass
Christians who had converted from Islam. However, government officials
have asserted that this occasional harassment stems from the actions
of a few individuals and is not a result of police policy.
There are no legal restrictions on the conversion of
non-Muslims to Islam. The law prescribes administrative steps to register
such conversions. The minor children of converts to Islam, and in some
cases adult children, may automatically become classified as Muslims
in the eyes of the State irrespective of the status of the other spouse.
This is in accordance with "established" Islamic Shari'a rule,
which dictates "no jurisdiction of a non-Muslim over a Muslim."
Although not forbidden by law, the State does not recognize
conversions from Islam to Christianity or other religions. In cases
involving conversion from Islam to Christianity, authorities periodically
charge converts with violating laws prohibiting the falsification of
documents. In such instances, converts who have no legal means to register
their change in religious status sometimes resort to soliciting illicit
identity papers, often by submitting fraudulent supporting documents
or bribing the government clerks who process the documents.
In October 2003, 20 persons were arrested and charged
with document fraud after the exposure of several civil-documents clerks
involved in processing falsified documents for converts. During questioning
after their arrest, they were deprived of sleep, food, and water, and
Yusef Soliman was beaten on several occasions. Soliman was released
on November 9 and Mariam Makar on December 24. All but Makar and Soliman
were released within hours of their arrest. In response to inquiries
about the case, the Government asserted that Makar and Soliman were
arrested for running a forgery ring. The Government maintained that
the majority of those Christians who were arrested had converted to
Islam and then back to Christianity for personal matters such as obtaining
a divorce from their spouses (which is possible for Muslims but not
recognized by the Coptic Church).
In December 2002, Malak Fahmi, a Christian, and his
wife Sarah, a Christian convert from Islam, were arrested while attempting
to leave the country with their two children. The couple was charged
with falsification of documents. Sarah, who reportedly changed her name
and religious affiliation on her marriage certificate only, stated that
she did so without her husband's assistance. The couple was released
in February, but they reportedly were awaiting trial on charges of document
fraud at the end of the period covered by this report.
In 1997, human rights activist Mamdouh Naklah filed
a lawsuit seeking the 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. A hearing scheduled for February 25 never
took place. Upon his appearance, the court informed Nakhlah that the
case documents had been withdrawn and forwarded to the president of
the State's Council, a highly unusual procedure. No new hearing date
was set, and it appears unlikely that the case will be heard.
In April, an administrative court issued a verdict
allowing a Christian woman, who had converted to Islam and later converted
back to Christianity, to recover her original (Christian) name and identity.
Some legal observers believed the case would constitute a significant
precedent as the Government has generally refused to acknowledge citizens'
conversions from Islam to Christianity. The court's written verdict
noted "...the Constitution guarantees equality among citizens...without
any discrimination based on race, sex, language, or faith. The State
also guarantees freedom of thought and religious faith in accordance
with Article 46 of the Constitution...[the State] is legally committed
to register the woman's real religion and is not allowed under any circumstance
to use its assigned powers to force the woman to remain Muslim."
By the end of the period covered by this report, it remained unclear
whether this ruling would set a broad precedent for the Government's
treatment of converts from Islam.
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.
Internal security services monitor groups and individuals they suspect
of involvement in or planning for extremist activity. Internal security
agencies regularly detain such persons, and the state of emergency allows
them to renew periods of administrative detention ad infinitum.
Forced Religious Conversion
There were no reports of forced religious conversion
carried out by the Government; however, 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 male. Reports of such cases almost never appear in the local
media. According to the Government, in such cases the girl must meet
with her priest or the head of her church before she is allowed to convert.
However, in cases of marriage between an underage Christian girl and
a Muslim male, there are credible reports of government harassment,
especially by the police, or lack of cooperation with Christian families
that attempt to regain custody of their daughters. There are similar
reports in these cases 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.
Some Coptic activists maintain that government officials
do not respond effectively to instances of alleged kidnapping. For example,
the family of 18-year-old Ingy Helmy Labib alleged that in early January,
she was abducted by Muslim extremists and forcibly converted to Islam.
However, police in the town of Mahalla al-Kubra, in the Nile Delta police
station north of Cairo, asserted that she left home and converted to
Islam of her own volition. The family alleged that Labib suffered from
mental illness and that her abductors exploited her condition. However,
specific evidence of forced abduction was not available. In June, her
family reported that she had returned home.
According to the law, persons above the age of 16 may
convert to Islam without their parents' consent and even mental deficiency
does not preclude a person's conversion. Police responses to such charges
vary from case to case. In April 2003, police in Minya intervened in
the case of Nivine Malak Kamel, a 17-year-old Christian girl allegedly
kidnapped by Muslim Reda Hussan Abu Zeid, and in May 2003, the police
returned her to her family.
There were no reports of the forced religious conversion,
including of minor U.S. citizens who had been abducted or illegally
removed from the United States, or of the 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.
Following the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States and the
increase in Israeli-Palestinian violence, government religious institutions
such as Al-Azhar accelerated a schedule of interfaith discussions inside
the country and abroad. The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Tantawi and
Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenouda participated in joint public events.
In January, the Government announced the formation
of the NCHR. The Government's appointments to the Council of prominent
and credible figures were welcomed by a broad spectrum of observers.
The Council's appointed president, Dr. Boutros Boutros Ghali, is a Copt
and is among the country's most respected public figures. In addition,
5 of the 25 members appointed to the Council are Coptic Christians.
His deputy, Dr. Kamal Aboul Maged, is a prominent Islamic intellectual
and a former Minister of Information. In May, the Council's cultural
committee announced it would sponsor a training course for Muslim and
Christian religious leaders on the subject of "religion and human
rights."
The Anglican Church and al-Azhar University opened
a formal dialogue in September 2001 in which participants agreed that
peace was inseparable from justice. They also stated that "acceptance
of the other" must be promoted, and they reaffirmed their commitment
to joint action for peace, justice, and mutual respect. However, the
third annual joint dialogue scheduled for September 2003 was postponed
when delegates from al-Azhar declined to attend, reportedly at the request
of the Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenouda III. Earlier in September, Pope
Shenouda publicly objected to the U.S. Anglican Church's evolving position
on homosexual clergy.
A prominent Coptic nongovernmental organization (NGO)
continued its program of interreligious dialogue in cooperation with
the Ministry of Islamic Religious Endowments. The program encouraged
interaction between young Muslim and Christian religious leaders and
included a major conference on citizenship and education, as well as
a series of workshops, training courses, and seminars.
During the period covered by this report, the Government
continued to take steps to contain incidents of sectarian tension. Independent
observers believed the Government's relatively quick deployment of extra
police during incidents of sectarian tension in Gerza, Giza Governorate,
in October 2003 and in Samalout, Minya Governorate, in May successfully
preempted escalations in violence.
In a number of cases reported in the media, government
officials participated in consecration ceremonies for new churches.
In March, Pope Shenouda and 31 bishops conducted a historic visit to
several cities in Upper Egypt. During stops in Luxor and Sohag, the
Pope consecrated several new churches. He was received with the highest
level of protocol by governors and local government officials, who escorted
him during stops on his itinerary.
Representatives of the country's very small and decreasing
Jewish community reported good security measures and generally satisfactory
cooperation with different agencies of the Government.
Government-owned television and radio continued to
provide programming time devoted to Christian issues, including live
broadcast of Christmas and Easter services. The state-owned Nile Culture
Channel, available on satellite, broadcast weekly Orthodox Church services
and other Christian programming. Excerpts from Coptic Orthodox Pope
Shenouda's weekly public addresses, documentaries on the country's monasteries,
the travels of the Holy Family and other aspects of Christian history,
and discussions among Muslims and Christians of local and international
topics including discrimination appeared regularly in pro-government
newspapers.
Christian clergy spoke on popular television programs
such as "Good Morning Egypt" about current topics and Christian
religious beliefs. A version of Sesame Street, especially designed for
the country by the Children's Television Workshop, gained broad viewership
among young children and many of their parents. Among the aims of the
program is the promotion of tolerance, and one of the principal characters
is a Christian.
Government and independent newspapers published a broad
spectrum of news and views on religious topics, particularly following
the terrorist attacks against the United States in September 2001. The
government-run printing house Dar al-Ma'arif published a new edition
of the four Christian gospels, resuming a practice that had stopped
decades ago.
The Minister of Education has developed and distributed
curricular materials instructing teachers in government schools to discuss
and promote tolerance in teaching. Government schools began using a
new curriculum on the Coptic and Byzantine periods of the country's
history, developed with the advice and support of Christian intellectuals
and the Coptic Orthodox Church.
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. However, at times religious
tensions flare up, individual acts of prejudice occur, and members of
both faiths practice discrimination.
In October 2003, Muslim residents in a village in the
district of Gerza, southwest of Cairo, reportedly objected violently
to the plans of Christian residents to convert a meeting site into a
church. The ensuing violence resulted in property damage to a number
of Christian-owned homes. In response the Government deployed extra
security forces to the area until tensions subsided.
In May, Christian residents in Samalout, Minya, Upper
Egypt, protesting the death of a priest and two other Christians in
an auto accident while in police custody, were met by Muslim counter-demonstrators,
and the two sides reportedly traded taunts and insults. Police reinforcements
were temporarily deployed to prevent escalation.
In 2002, Muslim residents attacked and damaged a church
in the village of Bani Walmiss. In 2003, the Government funded the repair
of the church, and it officially reopened in June 2003.
In July 2000, gunmen killed Christian farmer Magdy
Ayyad Mus'ad and wounded five other persons in Giza Governorate, 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 and the case was pending.
In 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 within days
of the incident. He was reported to be mentally ill and was subsequently
released.
The case of Ahmad and Ibrahim Nasir, who were sentenced
to 7 years in prison for the 1999 murder of a monk in Assiyut, remained
pending at the end of the period covered by this report. On May 25,
the Court of Cassation sustained an appeal by the Public Prosecutor
seeking a heavier sentence. The brothers received 15-year prison terms,
twice the original sentence. The brothers appealed, and their case was
pending at the end of the period covered by this report.
While there is no legal requirement for a Christian
girl or woman to convert to Islam 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
desire to marry a Muslim, and if a Christian woman marries a Muslim
man, the Church excommunicates her. Local authorities sometimes allow
custody of a minor Christian female who converts to Islam to be transferred
to a Muslim custodian, who is likely to grant approval for an underage
marriage.
According to the law, persons above the age of 16 may
convert to Islam without parental consent. 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.
Al-Azhar and the Ministry of Awqaf engage in frequent public and private
interfaith discussions with Christians of various denominations, both
within the country and in other countries. NGOs such as the Coptic Evangelical
Organization for Social Services (CEOSS) are active in organizing formal
and informal interfaith events; during the period covered by this report,
CEOSS held numerous events which brought together Christian and Muslim
youth leaders to discuss issues such as citizenship, media affairs,
and societal violence. Private Christian schools admit Muslim students,
and religious charities serve both communities.
In articles in the independent press, prominent leaders
of the Coptic Orthodox Church criticized Mormons and Seventh-day Adventists.
According to media reports, Al-Azhar's Islamic Research
Center reiterated fatwas issued in previous decades condemning Baha'is
as apostates.
Anti-Semitic articles, which can be found in both the
pro-government press and in the press of the opposition parties, increased
late in 2000 and again in 2001 following the outbreak of violence in
Israel and the occupied territories. There have been no violent anti-Semitic
incidents in recent years directed at the tiny Jewish community still
residing in the country.
Section IV. U.S. Government Policy
The subject of religious freedom is an important part of the bilateral
dialogue. The subject has been raised at all levels of the U.S. Government,
including by the President, Secretary of State, Assistant Secretary
for Near Eastern Affairs, the Ambassador, and other Embassy officials.
The Embassy maintains formal contacts with the Office of Human Rights
at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Embassy also discusses religious
freedom issues regularly in contacts with other government officials,
including governors and Members of Parliament. The Ambassador also has
made public statements supporting interfaith understanding and efforts
toward harmony and equality among citizens of all faiths. During a February
visit, officials from the Department of State's Office of International
Religious Freedom met with minister-level and other government officials,
religious leaders, and NGOs. Visiting congressional delegations also
raised religious freedom issues during visits with government officials.
The Embassy maintains an active dialogue with the leaders of the Christian
and Muslim religious communities, human rights groups, and other activists.
The Embassy investigates every complaint of official religious discrimination
brought to its attention. The Embassy also discusses religious freedom
with a range of contacts, including academics, businessmen, and citizens
outside of the capital area. Officials from the Embassy and U.S. Agency
for International Development (USAID) actively challenge anti-Semitic
articles in the media through immediate contacts with editors-in-chief
and other journalists.
In December 2003, Embassy officials consulted with the director of
the Biblioteca Alexandrina, a prestigious international cultural and
educational institution in Alexandria, regarding the library's inclusion
in a display case of a copy of the "Protocols of the Elders of
Zion," a notorious anti-Semitic forgery. The director issued a
statement noting that "bad judgment and insensitivity" had
been exercised in the selection of the book in the display, and he stated
that it had been removed.
The 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, supporting secular
channels and the broadening of a civic culture that promote religious
tolerance. An interagency small-grants program managed by the U.S. Embassy
in Cairo supports projects that promote tolerance and mutual respect
between members of different religious communities.
The Mission also promotes civic education. 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
a version of the television program Sesame Street designed to reach
remote households and which has as one of its goals the promotion of
tolerance, including among different religions. The program began broadcasting
in August 2000; in 2002, household survey data showed that it was reaching
more than 90 percent of elementary school-aged children (see Section
II).
USAID supports private voluntary organizations that are implementing
innovative curriculums in private schools. USAID is also 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 |