WATANI International 31 January 2010 Human
In its annual report for 2010, the US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) lashed out at what it dubbed “deteriorating religious freedoms in Egypt”. The report was concerned with monitoring the status of freedom in 90 countries, including 15 Middle Eastern ones. As far as Egypt is concerned, the report cited the continuous discrimination against Copts and the official intolerance of Baha##is and some Muslim sects.
Religious discrimination continues
“Although Egypt’s constitution provides for equal rights without regard to religion,” the report said, “discrimination against Egyptian Christians and official intolerance of Baha’is and some Muslim sects continue despite court rulings early in 2008 that ordered the government to provide identification documents to Baha’is and to allow Muslim converts from Christianity to convert back to Christianity without penalty.”
The report observed that disputes between Muslims and Christians flared into violent clashes on several occasions, resulting in deaths and injuries as well as destruction of property. It referred to the clashes that erupted in Bulaq al-Dakrour, Cairo, in May 2009, when a squabble between a Muslim and a Copt led to the use of firearms that left several injured. The government arrested suspects but refrained from ordering a thorough investigation into the incident.
The attacks launched by villagers in Sohag, Upper Egypt, against Bahai homes were cited in the report. Despite the fact that the assailants used stones and Molotov cocktails, the police made no arrests whatsoever. On 9 March 2009, the Interior Ministry allowed Baha##is and followers of other “unrecognised” faiths to be issued legal identity documents without the need to identify themselves as Muslim, Christian, or Jewish—the three heavenly religions officially recognised in Egypt.
Little protection for women
As far as women rights are concerned, the report stressed the absence of a legal environment that protects women from violence, encourages victims to report attacks, or deters perpetrators from committing these abuses. A 2008 survey by the Egyptian Centre for Women’s Rights found that 83 per cent of Egyptian women have experienced sexual harassment in their lifetime.The report also cited a 2009 poll conducted by the National Council for Women indicating that 62.6 per cent of Egyptian women suffered from domestic violence, and that four out of five men admitted to using violence against their wives.
For the first time, the police arrested a man for performing female genital mutilation. A law banning and criminalising the practice had been passed in 2008. Even though the government has distributed booklets on the evils of sexual harassment in mosques across the country, NGOs active in the field of women rights have called for more effective measures and legislation.
Systematic torture
Despite what the report termed “relentless attacks on political dissent”, 2009 saw a wave of strong—albeit illegal— protests and strikes. Textile workers in Mahalla and Menoufiya went on strike for better wages. Cairo was paralysed when public transportation workers went on strike last August. They forced the government to cave in to their demands and exempt them from heavy traffic fines. Yet in most of the strikes, the police took the side of the employers and victimised strike leaders.
Bloggers and journalists criticising the government and exposing human rights violations were targeted by the security apparatus. A blogger was detained for almost two months without trial after criticising the Egyptian government’s policy on Gaza, while another has been detained since 2006 for writing about clashes between Muslims and Christians and criticising President Mubarak and the top Islamic university al-Azhar. Some journalists received prison terms for criticising government officials.
The report said that torture was systematically practised in police stations.
A blow to Egypt’s image
The Egyptian police shot dead 16 migrants while trying to cross the Egyptian border into Israel. Refugees and illegal migrants are detained and tried before military courts while representatives of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees are denied access to them.
Sarah Leah Whitson, director of HRW Middle East and North Africa division, said the UN Human Rights Council would thoroughly investigate Egypt’s human rights record. She warned that the Egyptian security apparatus should realise that human rights violations harm Egypt’s image and give credibility to claims that the country is a police State.
Finally, HRW called for lifting the emergency law and called upon the security apparatus to reform their practices.