Another Insightful Post in "Seeking Justice"
A critical legal question was just raised yesterday in a post published on "Seeking Justice" blog. It addresses Egypt's legal responsibility to uphold its obligations to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which it is a co-signatory. The post quotes articles 2 & 18 of the Covenant and analysis their meaning. It then emphasizes Egypt's obligations of being a party to that Covenant and the impact of such obligations on the current Baha'i crisis in Egypt. In order to learn more about this particular issue, please click here....
The terms of the articles are clear and definitive, however, it is the interpretation, or rather, the unconventional interpretation of the objectives of the Covenant that are being manipulated by the Egyptian government. Repeatedly and with firm language, the courts as well as the Islamic clergy of the Azhar administration have stated that there are only three divine religions. These, according to their beliefs, are what form the definitions and parameters of religious belief and nothing else. As such, they see no violation to the Covenant, although it is clear that this speaks otherwise. The terms “belief”, “freedom of thought”, and “conscience”, are not what would be considered identifiers or entities in official documents such as the new ID card. Once again, one would ask why, and to what purpose is religion or any other persuasions of conscience compulsory for civil document applications. The weak and unsubstantiated arguments given by these same parties was that religious law defines terms regarding inheritance, marriage, divorce, and the like; all issues that have found resolution decades, and even centuries ago in societies around the world, including Egypt. By no margin of credibility are the arguments presented by the Egyptian authorities in conformity with the Covenant. Perhaps the terms of the Covenant itself - in light of the exploitation by extreme religious societies – require development to close loopholes and define further parameters such as deleting the requirement of religious affiliation in civil documents. There is a divide, a different language spoken in religious societies, and these need to be addressed in terms particular to their conditions and challenges.
ReplyDeleteAny news about the court case scheduled for May 7 related to Emad and Nancy?
ReplyDeleteApparently the court case related to Emad and Nancy Raouf Hindi in which the demand is to issue birth certificates without any reference to religion has been once again postponed until sometime in July.
ReplyDeleteWhile the court delayed its proceedings, these twin 14 year olds continue to have no Egyptian birth certificates. Even if their wonderful parents have erred in being born in Baha'i families themselves, and/or have erred in embracing the Baha'i Faith, what fault is it to the children?
Answers to this question should be forthcoming as injustice has its own limits!
I was informed that the case got postponed till 3 July 2007.
ReplyDelete