Press Releases

6 August 2008

Abu Fana: Reconciliation is No Substitute for Justice

Reconciliation efforts following the armed assault on the Abu Fana Coptic monastery in Minya last May must not lead to impunity for the perpetrators of serious abuses, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) warned today.

21 July 2008

New Report Finds Rising Sectarian Tensions in Egypt since April

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) today issued its second quarterly report on freedom of religion and belief in Egypt, documenting developments in the area of religious freedom during the months of April, May and June of 2008.
 

8 July 2008

Preparatory Hearing Held at Supreme Constitutional Court on Religious Conversion Case

Legal experts of Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) yesterday held a first preparatory hearing on the new lawsuit (case number 92/30) concerning the constitutionality of a legal provision that allows citizens to change their religious affiliation in public records.

27 May 2008

On Coptic Personal Status Laws: State is Responsible for Protecting Right to Marry and Found a Family

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) today called on the state to assume its legal responsibility to protect and fulfill the right of all citizens to marry and found a family, a right enshrined in the Egyptian constitution and international human rights law.

13 April 2008

Mahalla Victims of Police Brutality Handcuffed to Hospital Beds… Public Prosecutor and Doctors' Syndicate Must Intervene Immediately

Dozens of citizens injured in last week's demonstrations in the city of Mahalla remain handcuffed to their hospital beds in violation of Egyptian and international law and medical ethics, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) said today. The EIPR called on the Public Prosecutor and the Doctors' Syndicate to intervene in order to ensure that the handcuffs are removed immediately and to investigate those responsible for this violation.

10 February 2008

Egypt: “Re-Conversion” Decision Is a Welcome Step

Government Should Protect Converts from Discrimination, Harassment

29 December 2007

Egypt: New Investigation Needed Into Assault on Sudanese Protestors

(Cairo, December 29, 2007) – Five Egyptian and international human rights organizations today called on President Hosni Mubarak to authorize an independent judicial inquiry into the December 30, 2005 police assault on Sudanese protestors – refugees, asylum seekers and migrants – in Cairo that resulted in the deaths of 27 persons and injured scores more.

2 December 2007

Egypt Shi’ite Activists Released

The Ministry of Interior released Egyptian Shi’ite activist Mohamed El-Derini yesterday after two months in administrative detention under the Emergency Law, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) and the Hisham Mubarak Law Center (HMLC) said today.

12 November 2007

Egypt: Allow Citizens to List Actual Religion on ID Cards

End Discrimination, Harassment of Baha’is, Converts From Islam End Discrimination, Harassment of Baha’is, Converts From Islam

 

4 October 2007

Egyptian Government Must Release Two Detained for Shi'ite Beliefs and Torture Statements

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) and the Hisham Mubarak Law Center (HMLC) today urged the Ministry of Interior to immediately release two Egyptians detained for belonging to Shi’ite Islam and criticizing the government’s torture and detention policies. The two rights groups also called on the Public Prosecutor to drop all charges brought against the two men for their peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of belief and expression.