Cairo Institute for Human Rights Symposium on the Rights of Baha'is

The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) conducted a symposium on 26 December 2006 regarding the civil rights crisis being currently faced by the Egyptian Baha'is. A full report on the symposium can be seen in Arabic at this link, and in English at this link.

Below is a translation of this report prepared by one of the regular readers of this blog.

"The Government created the problem for the Baha'is...and it alone has to find a solution."

26/12/2006

The decision of the Supreme Administrative Court in mid December 2006 to over-rule the verdict issued in April of the same year by the first circle Administrative Court which had confirmed the right of the Baha'is to list their religion in official state papers and personal ID cards, raised many fears concerning freedom of belief and freedom of thought in the Egyptian society. This [fear] was reflected in the discussions that took place in a meeting held on December 24 with the title "The dilemma of the freedom of belief in Egypt...in relation to the ruling of the High Administrative Court in the Baha'i case."

Mu'taz Alfigairi, president of the Centre's programs said: "The ruling went beyond the freedom of belief, to [ruling] on the Baha'i system of belief," expressing that the reactions to this case, gives a good indication of the dilemma present in the current political and social atmosphere prevalent in Egypt.

Hisham Ahmad Saif-ul-Islam president of the Hisham Mubarak Center for Law, added that this ruling, and the general issue of the Baha'is have brought to the foreground, the discussion on freedom of belief in Egypt in general, pointing out that the Egyptian constitution protects such freedoms of belief and expression. Saif-ul-Islam continued by saying that the government alone has to find a solution to this problem which, by itself it has created after refusing to issue the Baha'is the legal papers necessary for identification, which are very necessary in their daily transactions, such as passports, and ID cards. He sees that the solution is to eliminate the space for religion from the ID card, or to go back to using the word "other" (other than Islam, Christianity or Judaism), pointing out that the present condition for the Baha'is puts them in a state of "Civil Death/Non Existence," for not being able to submit proof of their existence in official forms and records.

Hossam Bahgat, president of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights [EIPR] sees that "the ruling of the High Administrative Court not to allow Baha'is to be identified as such in official documents, puts the government in a difficult position in regards to Baha'i citizens being unable to obtain birth certificates or ID cards or even death certificates," and considers that human rights organizations were late in getting involved in this case.

Bahgat added that the Baha'is were subjected in the Eighties and Nineties to very difficult conditions including arrests and imprisonments as well as media campaigns targeting even their morals. He emphasized that the latest ruling does not mean that the case is concluded, and that human rights organizations will continue to bring new cases and legal proceedings regarding the same issue, making sure to avoid earlier mistakes that might have occurred. Bahgat emphasized that Islamic law accords justice to the Baha'is as do books on Islamic jurisprudence, pointing out that those who defended the Baha'is have taken advantage of this argument before the court, however the court did not take it into consideration. He also pointed out that the ruling considered Islamic Law to be the basis for legislation as well as the basis for all moral values of society, thus presenting difficulties for all future cases that deal with freedom of belief.

He emphasized that for the society's majority not to have been granted all rights, does not present an excuse or justify taking away the rights of the minority, pointing out that the Islamic current [movement] did not have the Baha'i case on its agenda, but rather it was the ruling National Party that brought the case to the Parliament, and not the representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Dr. Ahmad Rasim Al-Nafis, a university professor and Islamic thinker of the Shiite school of thought, addressed the issue of freedom of belief and human rights, and pointed out that there are intellectual "taboos" that some see as sacred while in reality they are points of argument and discussion that people have not agreed on as some might have imagined.

Al-Nafis pointed out that there are large communities of Muslims who live as minorities in other non-Islamic and non-Christian (i.e. not of "the Book") countries such as India, which brings up the question of how they can for example implement laws such as those for apostasy in these societies where they live. He said that it is incumbent upon Muslims to abide by the laws and keep their covenants and obligations, whether these are in the form of local laws or international treaties that their governments have agreed to, such as the agreements on freedom of belief and human rights, adding that, just like the west uses double standards, so do Islamic countries use double standards just as much.

Al-Nafis confirmed that there is not an established specific punishment for apostasy in the Qur'an, and that the Qur'anic verses just speak of God's punishment in the afterlife regarding it. He wondered why there is a tendency in the Islamic world for "being ready to jump at" wanting to punish and make an example of anyone who steps out the established system. He said that the war on Shi'ism and the Shiites enticed government officials and their helpers to establish a creed based on "iron and fire," cautioning that there are some now who are trying to establish a new class of sheikhs [clergy] who will become the "defenders of the belief." He emphasized that giving any segment in society the right to try others for their beliefs and thoughts rather than their mere adherence to the laws of the country, would constitute a catastrophe that should be opposed and stopped.

Dr. Basma Moussa–-an Egyptian Baha'i--and professor of dental medicine at Cairo University, addressed the root causes of the current situation facing the Baha'is. She traced it back to an attempt in 2004 by a Baha'i engineer [Hossam Ezzat] to obtain official documents for himself and his family after the civil authorities refused to register him as Baha'i, based on ruling numbered 49 in the year 2004 that stipulates recording one of the three religions--Islam, Christianity, or Judaism--in official documents, forcing the said engineer to file a lawsuit where he obtained a ruling by councilor [judge] Farooq Abdul-Qadir that he can document that he is a Baha'i in his personal ID card.

Hossam Ezzat's Old ID Card [CONFISCATED]

She emphasized that the media handled this in a negative way in more than 400 articles and news items in over 50 newspapers and magazines that used unusual methods of reporting while heaping numerous insults and calumnies on the Baha'is and their Faith.

Basma pointed out that the Baha'is are asking for their rights as citizens and were not trying to obtain a recognition of their religion. She said that there are Baha'i children as old as 14 years of age who have yet to obtain birth certificates, besides they have not been able to get the various immunizations required in children. She wondered how society could handle thousands of citizens walking in the streets without official documents as she also wondered if the United Nations would place this case on its agenda since it has declared the year 2007 to be the "Year of Rights."

In comments from the audience, Hamdi Abdul-Aziz director of the Suwayseiya Center Against Discrimination tied the case of the Baha'is to what he described as the "tyranny" that has corrupted religion and civil life together, saying that rights of citizens should be demanded for all and not only for minorities, pointing out that the majority also suffers from these abuses, just as the minority does. Ayman Akeel president of Na'eit Centre for Legal Studies called for organizing a campaign for the actual implementation of international treaties that Egypt is already a signatory to.

Amin Abul-Futooh Batah--a Baha'i--pointed out that the Baha'i religion has been in Egypt since 1864 and had centres and administrative bodies in about 17 cities in Egypt, clarifying that the Baha'i issue was presented in a bad light to the late President Gamal Abdel-Nasser, who in turn issued his decree to dissolve Baha'i Assemblies [Institutions]. Battah added: "We accept Islam, and its Prophet, and the Books of God and His Messengers, but we also believe that the Baha'i [Faith] is a new religion and that [Baha'u'llah] is the awaited Mahdi [Promised One], pointing out that Baha'is are not asking for recognition of their religion but rather are asking for their rights as citizens, who must be provided with official papers proving that they are indeed Egyptian citizens. Along the same line, a Baha'i lady talked about her son who is in his second year in college and does not have an ID card, and about her second son, who has passed the age of 14 years, who does not have a birth certificate yet.