Bahá’í World/Volume 31/Bahá’ís in Egypt, Current Situation
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Bahai’l’s in Egypt
CURRENT SITUATION
Oral Jllltt’mnll ofI/Ie Hahri '1' International Community to (IR 59th session aft/Je United Nation: Cnmmim'on on Human Rights. he/dfium 17 March to 25 April 2003 in Geneva, Switzerland.
he harassment and injustices targeting the Bahé’fs in Egypt
are clear violations of freedom of religion or belief. Regretta-
bly, we have not seen any measures taken by the government ongypt to right these wrongs, and so we are compelled to request that the international community call upon the Egyptian authorities to resolve the issue.
Since 1960, when President Nasser issued Presidential Decree No. 263, the Bahé’is have been subjected to active persecution in Egypt. This decree singled out the Bahé'l’ community. dissolved its religious institutions, banned all its religious activities, and sup— pressed its community life. The decree is still used today to instigate police investigations, arrests, domicile searches, and the dcstrucrion 0F Bahé’n’ religious literature, and it is restrictively interpreted by the courts in ways that reduce the status of the Bahé‘fs to that of second-class citizens.
All members of the community are under striCt and constant po- lice surveillance. They have no access to any form oflcbal marriage, cannot obtain custody of children, child allowances, or alimony. and are often denied access to pensions and inheritance. Not being legally married, they cannot even obtain a family record—a docu— ment required by law in Egypt for many official purposes‘
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256 THE BAH.“ WORLD 2002—2003
The Bahé’l's are not Free to profess their faith in Egypt. Article 46 of the Egyptian Constitution says that “The State guarantees the freedom of belief and the freedom of the exercise of religious rites,” and it makes no mention of recognized religions. But many Bahai'ls have been detained on charges that stemmed From talking to friends in the privacy of their homes about their beliefs, or From gathering in private, in small numbers, for devotional readings and prayers. The authorities consider these to be activities previously performed by Bahai’i Assemblies and thus outlawed, regardless of their peaceful, private, and devotional nature.
The Bahé’ls are regularly denounced as apostates, in the media or in widely publicized court decisions, which are generally ae— companied by advocacy of hatred on religious grounds. The Mufti of Egypt and members of the Academy of Islamic Research of the Azhar. who are government appointees, have associated themselves on several occasions with this incitement to hatred and violence, giv- ing it an air of official approval. And the government does not take any action against those who cry out that Bahai'l apostates deserve to be killed. Published documents establishing these Facts are easy to obtain. The Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief has mentioned some ol'ithem in his reports.
The Bahé’l' International Community expressed these concerns in a submission to the Human Rights Committee last year. In the Concluding Observations issued after its review of Egypt’s periodic reports, the Committee deplored the ban on worship imposed on the Bahei’f community in this country. It also expressed concern about “the pressures applied to the judiciary by extremists claiming to rep— resent Islam, who have even succeeded, in some cases, in imposing on courts their own interpretation of the religion."'
The Egyptian Bahi’l’s are a law-abiding, peaceful community. Their only request is that the government remove all of the official obstructions and restrictions that target them, including Presidential Decree No. 263 of 1960. It is our sincere hope that the authorities will take all of the measures required, so that the Bahé'fs will soon be Free to practice their Faith in Egypt.
‘ See CCl'R/CO/76/EGY. p. 5. para. l7.
