Germany's Bundestag (Parliament) on the Baha'is of Egypt

The German Federal Parliament (Deutcher Bundestag) was questioned by a group of MPs regarding the human rights situation of the Baha'is of Egypt. The original document, written in German and dated 22 March 2007, can be viewed here, and the announcement on the parliamentarian website can be viewed here.

For Background, please refer to the following posts:

1) Egypt: No ID Card = You Are Fired!
2) No ID = You Are Fired! Revisited
3) Update on the German University Case


Thanks to Einblicke, the following is an English translation of this document:

German Federal Parliament (Deutscher Bundestag)
Document 16/4815
16th Legislative Period
22 March 2007

Small Query
of the MPs Volker Beck (Köln), Marieluise Beck (Bremen), Alexander Bonde, Dr. Uschi Eid, Thilo Hoppe, Ute Koczy, Kerstin Müller (Köln), Winfried Nachtwei, Omid Nouripour, Claudia Roth (Augsburg), Rainder Steenblock, Jürgen Trittin and the Fraction BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN [German Green Party]

Human Rights Situation of the Baha'is in Egypt

In 1960, the organised Baha'i community in Egypt was banned by President Nasser, its possessions were confiscated. This decree is effective until today. As a result, it contributed time and again to assaults, arrests and media campaigns against the Baha'is. A very serious problem is the refusal of Egyptian authorities to issue pieces of identification for Baha'is, as their religious affiliation cannot be correctly expressed. This is due to the Egyptian government's efforts to digitize the registration process, with the software only accepting the religions recognized by the government, namely: Islam, Christianity and Judaism. In a decision of the Egyptian Supreme Administrative Court of 16 December 2006, this procedure--leading to the Baha'is not having the right to be correctly identified in their documents--was declared lawful. A Baha'i couple successfully challenged the procedure at a lower administrative court in April 2006; this decision was now overruled. Identification documents can thus be denied to the Baha'is. Without such documents, however, any Egyptian can be arrested at any time due to the still effective emergency act. One cannot register one's children at school, one does neither have access to medical treatment, nor can one open a bank account, receive a salary or pension, one cannot enter a contract or obtain birth or death certificates. In a recent case, a young Egyptian physicist Bassem W. was laid off the German University after not being able to present an identification document, and thus he was unable to open a bank account for depositing his salary.

We ask the Federal Government:

1. What influence does the Federal Government have regarding the systematic discrimination and persecution of the Baha'is in Egypt? What role does the media play?

2. How does the Federal Government judge the action of the German University in the case of Bassem W.? How does the German University stand in relation to Germany, and in what way is the work of the university promoted by German organisations or institutions? How does the Federal Government see the consequences of actions of the German University influencing the credibility of Germany in regards to human rights questions?

3. What role do the fundamentalist Islamic forces play regarding the treatment of the Baha'is by the Egyptian government? Which persons or institutions are in charge of the persecution of religious minorities within the Egyptian leadership?

4. How does the Federal Government judge the decision of the Egyptian Supreme Administrative Court dated 16 December 2006? Does the Federal Government agree with Human Rights groups in seeing this as a precedence for a further curtailing of civil rights in Egypt?

5. How does the Federal Government judge the decision against the Blogger Kareem A. in the context of freedom of press and freedom of opinion in Egypt?

6. How does the Federal Government judge the whole complex [issue] of religious freedom within the Egyptian Government? Are there any concrete relations to the situation of the Baha'is?

7. What implication does the situation of the Baha'is have on the "deportation code of practice" of the Federal Government [regarding deportation of potential refugees from Germany]?

Berlin, 22. March 2007
Renate Künast, Fritz Kuhn and Fraction

This is indeed a bold, righteous and courageous move by these German parliamentarians. Their questions are pointed, sound, realistic and demand a clear answer. This constant interest and involvement of foreign governments in the ordeal of the Egyptian Baha'is demonstrates that Egypt can no longer live in isolation and that matters of Human Rights belong to the whole world and not only the concerned nation. Egypt can no longer state that "this is an internal matter!"