V. Laws, decrees and political developments

27. In the months of April, May and June 2009, EIPR researchers documented the issuance of six presidential decrees regarding churches, all of which concerned the renovation of existing churches, five of them in the Assyout governorate and one in the Minya governorate. The details are as follows:

a. Decree 132/2009, 22 April 2009, for the Coptic Orthodox community at the existing Church of the Virgin, located in Beni Adi Aliwa, Manfalout district, Assyout governorate.

b. Decree 143/2009, 13 May 2009, for the Coptic Catholic community at the existing Martyr Abadir Church, located in Amshoul, Dayrout district, Assyout governorate.

c. Decree 144/2009, 13 May 2009, for the Coptic Orthodox community at the existing Martyr Abu Sayfein Church, located in al-Duweir, Sadfa district, Assyout governorate.

d. Decree 174/2009, 30 May 2009, for the evangelical community at the existing Apostlic Church, located in Nahiet al-Tiba, Samalout district, Minya governorate.

e. Decree 175/2009, 30 May 2009, for the evangelical community at the existing Christian Ideal Church, located in Nazlet al-Malak, Sahel Salim district, Assyout governorate.

f. Decree 212/2009, 21 June 2009, for the Coptic Orthodox community at the existing Archangel Michael Church, located in Kom Abu Hagar, Sadfa district, Assyout governorate.

28. The People’s Assembly decided to refer two urgent requests for information to the Defense, National Security and National Mobilization Committee on 5 April 2009. The requests were submitted by two deputies with the ruling NDP, Ahmed Abu Higgi and Safwat Youssef Abd al-Karim Hashem, regarding the airing of a television program on a satellite channel that led to violence against Egyptian Baha’is in the village of al-Shuraniya, located in the al-Maragha district of Sohag. The requests also contained demands for media oversight of the content of satellite channels that might at times lead to sectarian violence. The MPs praised the role NDP members played in calming down the situation during meetings held with villagers and individuals from the security apparatus. The two MPs also asked for clarification from the Ministry of Interior regarding the practice of allowing Baha’i citizens to leave the slot for religious affiliation on their personal identity cards blank and about Baha’is holding a public collective celebration at the Merryland Park.

On 28 March 2009, dozens of residents of al-Shuraniya had gathered outside the homes of Baha’i families in the village after a television program aired a segment featuring a Baha’i resident of the village. The crowd yelled chants, among them “There is no god but God, and the Baha’is are the enemies of God,” and then began to throw stones at the houses, breaking their windows and attempting to enter them. On the evening of 31 March, the attacks escalated when village residents, who were known to the victims, threw firebombs and Molotov cocktails at the homes of the five Baha’i families living in the village, partially burning the homes (see paragraph 18 of the First Quarterly Report, 2009).

29. Several newspapers reported on a campaign launched by the Ministry of Awqaf in mid-April 2009 to fight the spread of the niqab, the full face veil. The campaign began with attempts to convince female employees at the ministry that “the niqab is a custom, not a religious duty.” According to news reports, the campaign included a seminar attended by 15 women workers who wear the niqab to educate them about it from the Islamic viewpoint and show that “the niqab is simply a custom or tradition, and it should not be confused with proper Islamic teachings,” according to the Ministry of Awqaf. The campaign included the publication and distribution of a book titled The Niqab is Custom Not Religion, issued by the ministry and distributed to imams and several other ministries, including the Ministry of Education, according to Dr. Salem Abd al-Galil, the Deputy Minister of Awqaf who was appointed by the minister to lead the campaign. Some newspapers reported that several women who attended the seminar removed the niqab.

The Ministry of Awqaf’s campaign sparked a controversy in the Religious Committee of the People’s Assembly. MP Sayyid Askar, who belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood bloc, submitted a request for information that was discussed by the committee in which he accused the Ministry of Awqaf of launching a war against the niqab and issuing directives to mosque imams to reiterate that the niqab is only custom during their Friday sermons. The MP also accused the ministry of squandering public monies by outfitting 900 caravans to cross several governorates to lobby against the niqab. The MP added that Muslim jurists disagree as to whether the niqab is a religious duty or a Prophetic custom, but no jurist has ruled that it is simply a worldly custom. The state-owned daily al-Ahram addressed the topic in its issue of 12 May 2009, discussing the controversy about the Ministry of Awqaf’s awareness-raising campaign on the legal status of the niqab in Islamic law. The report stated that the People’s Assembly committee had settled the matter by “affirming that the niqab is a virtue, but not a religious duty, and it cannot be considered rejected. It is a disputed matter, and it should not be prohibited or fought, and those who wear it should not be blamed.” The committee decided to send this recommendation to the Speaker of the Assembly for referral to the Minister of Awqaf.

30. On 19 April 2009, President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak sent congratulatory letters to Egyptian Copts abroad in honor of Easter. In the letters he stressed national unity between Egypt’s Copts and Muslims and stated that everyone in Egyptian society enjoys “the full rights of citizenship” and believes that “religion is for God and the nation is for all.” In the letters, the President said that he would “not permit attempts to splinter or come between the two parts of the nation” and that those responsible for such attempts would “be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Egypt will remain a secure homeland for all its children without any hint of discrimination.”

31. In a joint meeting of the People’s Assembly’s Defense and National Security Committee and the Religious Committee on 28 April 2009, attendees reviewed a proposal for legislation criminalizing affiliation with the Baha’i faith during discussions of the urgent request for information filed by an MP following the events in al-Shuraniya, located in the Maragha district of Sohaq, which ended in the torching of several Baha’i homes (see paragraph 18 of the First Quarterly Report, 2009). Newspapers reported that heated arguments about the Baha’i faith took place, during which several MPs expressed fears about the danger of Baha’ism on national security and repeated allegations about the Baha’ism’s link to Zionism. According to news reports, a small number of MPs rejected the idea of a law criminalizing the Baha’i faith and proposed dialogue with the community as an alternative.

According to the independent weekly al-Yom al-Sabia, in its 12 May 2009 issue, the report issued by the joint committee contained no recommendation for a law criminalizing the Baha’i faith, but it recommended that the Ministry of Awqaf and Azhar scholars hold seminars to raise citizens’ awareness of Islam. The newspaper reported that the vice-chair of the Defense and National Security Committee, General Amin Radi, stated that “he had received many communications from senior NDP deputies advising a review of articles 2 and 40 of the Egyptian Constitution regarding liberties before a mistake was made.” The deputy added, “I admit that my meager parliamentary experience is why I hastily supported those viewpoints calling for legislation to place restrictions on Baha’is.”

32. On 19 May 2009, MP Saad Salim al-Gamal and MP Ibtisam Habib Mikhail submitted two requests for information regarding the car bomb that went off in front of the Church of the Virgin in Zaytoun on 10 May 2009 (see paragraph 13 of this report). Both statements condemned the incident and asked the Ministry of Interior to apprehend the perpetrators and provide information about the incident with full transparency. The Speaker of the Assembly added his voice to that of the two deputies, adding that such attacks seek to shake the stability of the entire country and undermine national unity.

33. Several newspapers reported on 26 June 2009 that the Islamic Research Council had refused to submit a legal opinion on a proposal from Dr. Nabil Luqa Bibawi, a Christian member of the Shura Council, on the issue of a Coptic personal status law because “al-Azhar and the Islamic Research Council have no authority in this matter, which is a purely Coptic religious affair,” according to a statement from Sheikh al-Azhar Dr. Mohamed Sayyid Tantawi, who headed the council’s meeting, published in the daily al-Ahram. According to other news reports, the MP submitted the request to the council to ascertain whether the law conflicted with Islamic law, which, according to Article 2 of the Egyptian Constitution, is the primary source of all legislation.

34. Newspapers reported the criticisms made by Hossam Zaki, the spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, of US President Barack Obama’s remarks about the situation of Copts in Egypt and his labeling them as a minority. The independent daily al-Shorouk reported on 6 June 2009 that Zaki stated, “We differ with Obama in his remarks about Copts being a minority; indeed, in our view they are included among the rightful owners of the country.” The US President had given a speech addressed to the Islamic world on 4 June 2009 at Cairo University, part of which dealt with religious freedoms, using the example of both Maronites in Lebanon and Copts in Egypt.