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LCHR News Alert: For Baha’is, court victory in Egypt, ongoing persecution in Iran
January 30, 2008
The Leadership Council for Human Rights applauds Tuesday’s decision by the Court of Administrative Justice in Cairo to grant Baha’is national identification cards. Allowing Baha’is to receive ID cards without requiring them to falsely declare one of three state-accepted religions (Islam, Christianity or Judaism) is a key step toward granting their full citizenship rights. It is also a victory for religious freedom in Egypt.
“We view this ruling as a needed remedy to Egypt’s longstanding policy of discrimination against its citizens who belong to the Baha’i faith, and we call on the government to implement the decision as quickly as possible,” LCHR President Kathryn Cameron Porter said. Full details of Tuesday’s court ruling appear below.
Baha’is in Iran, meanwhile, continue to be targeted for their faith. LCHR joins the international human rights community in calling for the release of three Baha’i teachers, who have been held in a Ministry of Intelligence detention center in Shiraz since November, 2007. These prisoners of conscience have been sentenced to four years imprisonment on charges of “anti-regime propaganda.”
Fifty-one additional Baha’is received suspended one-year sentences, which according to a report by AFP are “conditional on their attendance of courses held by state Islamic Propaganda Organisation.”
For full details of ongoing persecution of Iran’s Baha’i community, click here.
Egyptian Baha’is gain ground in struggle over identity documents
An Egyptian court has given Baha’is the right to obtain identity papers, with the stipulation that their faith not be included on the documents, Reuters reported Tuesday.
The issue of identity papers has been an ongoing battle between the Egyptian government and the Baha’is. Previously, Baha’is were forbidden from obtaining documents that listed their religion as Baha’ism. They were also prevented from omitting their religion on the documents, leaving them with no way to obtain ID cards without lying about their religion. Some Muslims view Baha’is as heretics, and the group faces systemic persecution in Egypt, according to many rights activists.
Hossam Bahgat, who represented the Baha’is in court, said, “This is the first good news that Baha'i Egyptians and their defenders and supporters received in a very long time. It is an end of a very long and unnecessary ordeal for citizens whose only fault is their refusal to be falsely identified or to lie in official documents.”
Baha’i Raouf Hindy added, “Today I feel happy ... I asked for something fair. I asked to say that I am not a Muslim, a Christian or a Jew, so put a dash for me. I don't want to lie on government papers.”
It is unclear whether the government will appeal the court’s decision. Although the Egyptian constitution promises freedom of religion, officials are reluctant to recognize religions other than Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
For the full article, click here.
For the Baha’is’ official reaction to the court decision, click here.
For background on the ID card issue in Egypt, click here. |
