Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights Prepares for Court

Two critical lawsuits concerning the Baha'is of Egypt will be ruled on by the Court of Administrative Justice in Cairo this coming Tuesday, 30 October 2007.

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), a human rights organization led by Mr. Hossam Bahgat (pictured here), had filed these lawsuits on behalf of the Egyptian Baha'is.

In order to understand the background, the significance and the current status of these lawsuits, below is a Press Release published by the EIPR on 5 September, a day after the court had postponed its decision for the third time. The cases were also described in details in these previous posts.

It is hoped that the court will uphold its revered legal responsibility and duty to guarantee civil rights to all Egyptian citizens--including the Baha'is--as mandated by Egypt's constitution. Any lesser judgement would be in violation of all acceptable norms of justice, human rights and of the Egyptian law itself. Without identification documents, Egyptian Baha'is face dire consequences as they would be considered non-existent in their own homeland. These consequences have been already suffered by many since the enforcement of the 30 September 2007 deadline, by which all Egyptian citizens must have been in possession of the new computerized ID cards.

Here is the press release:

Right to Privacy Program
News Update - 5 September 2007

Court Decisions on Baha'i Egyptians Postponed to 30 October

The Court of Administrative Justice in Cairo decided yesterday to postpone to 30 October its decisions on two lawsuits addressing the rights of Baha'i Egyptians to basic identity documents and education.

The first lawsuit (no. 18354/58) involves the 14-year-old twins Imad and Nancy Rauf Hindi who remain unable to obtain the new computer-generated birth certificates unless they convert to Islam or Christianity. The father of the two children had obtained birth certificates for them when they were first born in 1993 recognizing their Baha'i religious affiliation, but new certificates carrying the national number (raqam qawmi) are mandatory and Baha'i children are unable to enroll in public schools without them.

In December 2006, the Supreme Administrative Court considered a similar lawsuit and found that the state had the right to deny Baha'i Egyptians identity documents recognizing their Baha'i religious affiliation. Accordingly, last January the lawyers of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) modified the requested remedies in the Hindi case so that the issue currently before the Court of Administrative Justice is whether Baha'i Egyptians have a right to obtain documents without any religious affiliation and without being forced to falsely identify as Muslim or Christian.

The second lawsuit (no. 12780/61) was filed by the EIPR last February on behalf of Hosni Hussein Abdel-Massih, born in 1989, who was suspended from the Suez Canal University's Higher Institute of Social Work due to his inability to obtain an identity card recognizing his Baha'i faith. Baha'i students in post-secondary education often face suspension or expulsion because of their failure to obtain ID cards or military service postponement papers.

The Egyptian government has a legal obligation to protect citizens from religious discrimination and coercion under the Constitution as well as international and regional treaties it ratified, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. The government is also obliged to protect the right to education without distinction on any basis, including religion or belief, under the African Charter, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

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