One Country: Award-Winning Magazine

ONE COUNTRY, the award-winning newsletter of the Bahá'í International Community, first appeared in English in 1989 and is now published in five other languages - French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, and German. Each issue contains two or three in-depth feature stories on the United Nations, noteworthy social and economic development projects, environmental efforts or educational programs, along with an editorial that addresses world problems from a Bahá'í point of view. In 1997 One Country launched its Web site which contains all the English issues of the newsletter published over the past three years. A French online version can also be viewed at this link....

In its printed format, ONE COUNTRY is published quarterly. Each 16-page issue contains two or three in-depth feature stories on the United Nations, noteworthy social and economic development projects, environmental efforts or educational programs, along with an editorial that addresses world problems from a Bahá'í point of view. It is published in English, French, Chinese, Russian, German and Spanish, and is currently mailed to more than 30,000 readers in more than 170 countries.

If you are affiliated with the United Nations or another international organization, are involved in government or international development work, are an academic or a researcher, or are a representative of the news media, you may qualify for a free subscription to ONE COUNTRY.

The magazine includes topics such as: development, education, environment, global prosperity, human rights, perspectives, profiles, reviews, women and the United Nations. It exemplifies some of the main goals of the Baha'i Faith with its contributions to socioeconomic development and active involvement in substantial world affairs that promote the progress and prosperity of humankind.

During the past year ONE COUNTRY featured several major stories regarding the progress of the struggle of the Baha'is of Egypt. In this post links to four of these important articles are provided. In order to read the full stories, simply click on each picture of the articles shown here.

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ONE COUNTRY Editorial Staff
The editorial staff of ONE COUNTRY is composed of:

Executive Editor: Douglas Moore

Editor: Brad Pokorny

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Arezu Braun (Germany)

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Amnesty International 2007 Report Cites Baha’i Case

In its 2007 report released on 23 May, Amnesty International (AI) cited the discrimination against the Baha'is of Egypt and Iran in three components of its report. Under the section on “Middle East and North Africa” in the paragraph entitled "Discrimination," it stated: “In Iran, members of the Arab, Azerbaijani, Kurdish and Baluchi minorities were increasingly restive in the face of continuing discrimination and repression, while members of religious minorities - Baha'is, Nematollahi Sufis and Christians - were detained or harassed on account of their faith. Baha'is were also subject to discrimination in Egypt, where they were required to present themselves as members of other faiths in order to obtain official documents such as identity cards and birth certificates.”

Under the section on “Egypt” in its introductory paragraphs entitled "Background" it reported the following: “In December, the Supreme Administrative Court overturned an earlier decision by an Administrative Court in April 2006 which recognized the right of Egypt's Baha'is to be certified as Baha'is on official documentation. This followed an appeal by the Ministry of Interior. The decision of the Supreme Administrative Court meant that Baha'is must register themselves as Muslims, Christians or Jews if they wish to obtain official documents such as birth and death certificates and identity cards.”

In the section on "Iran" under the heading entitled "Religious minorities" it stated: "Sixty-five Baha'is were detained during 2006 and five remained held at the end of the year. In March Mehran Kawsari was released early from his three-year prison sentence imposed in connection with an open letter sent to the then President in November 2004.

In March, the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief expressed concern about an October 2005 letter instructing various government agencies to identify, and collect information about, Baha'is in Iran."

At the conclusion of the report on "Egypt" under the heading "Visits" it describes the investigations and actions taken by Amnesty International as follows: "AI delegates visited Cairo in July and December to attend conferences and in September an AI delegation, headed by the Secretary-General, had meetings in Cairo with the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States and with the Minister of Interior and other Egyptian government officials."

This annual report caught the attention of Egyptian media. Cairo's Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper, in its attached 24 May 2007 issue, published an article with photographs describing in details the violations documented by Amnesty International. The article included all the violations cited in the AI report. The 2007 Amnesty International report in Arabic can be seen here.

To my knowledge, this is the first time the struggle of the Baha'is of Egypt is addressed by Amnesty International in its investigative reports. It did report on the Baha'is of Iran before as can be seen in its 2006 report linked here. It is hoped that this initiative will assist those affected in obtaining all their rights due to them by their own government, and that violations of individual rights continue to be brought out in plain sight for the whole world to witness and be conscious of. This organization is to be congratulated on its efforts on behalf of those who are persecuted, their dignity violated, tortured or treated unjustly.

The UN & Human Rights: "You Can't Blame the Institution...."

Louise Fréchette, a former UN deputy secretary-general, says that the UN's members, rather than the world body, are creating the farcical situations.

"You can't blame the institution, you have to look at its international dynamics," says Fréchette, a distinguished fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation.

The above statements were published in the Toronto Star on 18 May 2007 in an article discussing the recent election of Egypt, along with other nations, to the newly formed 14 seats, Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council, replacing the politically-charged UN Human Rights Commission.

The article, quite eloquently, shows that instead of blaming the institution of the United Nations, such outcome merits a closer look at its membership and that: the Human Rights Council election "shows we don't have a strong international consensus on human rights."
For the full story, please click here....

Egypt & Human Rights: Is the Fox Guarding the Henhouse?

Yesterday, the General Assembly of the United Nations announced the election of 14 countries to the United Nations Human Rights Council. Among these nations Egypt was elected with 168 votes. According to the sixty-first General Assembly Plenary, 97th Meeting public information release: out of the 192 member nations of the General Assembly, a minimum of 97 votes are required for providing a "majority" vote necessary for election to the Council.

As this blog has been illustrating since it was introduced approximately a year ago, Egypt has clearly shown its violation of the human and civil rights of its Baha'i religious minority by depriving this group of its citizens of their identity documents necessary for their essential needs of daily living, thus grossly violating their citizenship rights.

Just a few days before that vote, 19 Egyptian Human Rights NGOs have written a letter to the United Nations protesting the inclusion of Egypt in the upcoming vote for the UN's Human Rights Council. It is interesting though to note that this has been entirely ignored by the voting nations, and Egypt got elected to the Council by many more votes than the required minimum for a majority vote. The full text of this letter can be seen at this link in English & (Arabic) and is quoted below:

19 Egyptian Human Rights NGOs Appeal to the United Nations: Egypt is Not Fit for Membership of the UN Human Rights Council
14/5/2007

The undersigned NGOs would like to express their surprise that the Egyptian government is applying for membership of the United Nations Human Rights Council and their amazement at the falsifications of the government’s true stance on human rights included in such application. This is especially true in the light of the infringement the Egyptian government in the last few years on legislative and constitutional safeguards of human rights, as well as their practices that fly in the face of the most basic human rights principles and values.

The undersigned call on the Member States of the UN General Assembly to uphold their commitments expressed upon the establishment of the Human Rights Council, which require that they take into consideration the human rights record of the nominated states when electing its members.

The undersigned assure that the credibility and competence of the Council depend on electing members with a sense of responsibility towards the international human rights standards and commitments. Incorporating states that are known for their severe hostility towards human rights, their blatant flouting of international standards and non cooperation with the UNHR treaty bodies and its special Rapporteurs would undermine the credibility of the Council. It would hamper its role in improving human rights conditions, not only in the Arab region but also worldwide.

The undersigned would like to point out the reports by local NGOs in Egypt, as well as those by regional and international organisations, by United Nations committees and UN human rights rapporteurs. All such reports place Egypt among the worst states for disregarding human rights. The Egyptian government’s record is full of serious human rights violations that have been practiced widely for long years. Moreover, Egypt is internationally recognised as a “not free state” and is deemed to “have a not free press.”

Despite the Egyptian government’s effort in the last few years to improve their image before the world, hard facts belie these efforts; they even indicate more deterioration in the last two years. It suffices here to point out the following:

First: the persistence of brutal torture in the various places of detention, and the impunity of perpetrators of torture especially in political cases. Both local and international organisations (including the United Nations CAT) have previously reaffirmed that torture in Egypt has become a systematic and routine practice.

Second: the persistence of arbitrary detention, given the continued state of emergency since 1981. The numbers of detainees are considered to be in the thousands, some of them have been detained (without being charged or tried) for more than ten years.

Third: trying civilians before military courts and denying them their right to be brought before a competent judge. This included referring a member of parliament of the opposition to military trial and sentencing him for one year in prison because of his expressed opinions.

Fourth: harassing non-governmental organisations and restricting their activities. The latest of such instances took place a few days ago when the offices of the Centre for Trade Union and Worker Services were shut down. Previously, the office of the El-Nadim Centre for the Psychological Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture and Violence were broken into and searched. This is in addition to the daily and heavy-handed interventions by the government in the affairs of NGOs. Such interventions include vetoing nominees to their boards of directors, denying them permission to receive foreign grants or accept local donations, and refusing to register new NGOs. Lately the Ministry made public their intention to make yet more restrictive amendments to the authoritarian Law on Associations currently in force.

Fifth: widening the scope of criminalisation in cases involving opinion and publication, and upholding the custodial penalties in such cases. This has led lately to issuing a prison sentence against an Egyptian producer at Al-Jazeera channel who made a documentary exposing torture in Egypt. Also, an Egyptian blogger was sentenced to four years in prison under the charge of derision of religion and insulting the President, in the context of a wider harassment of bloggers carried out by the security services. This is in addition to a number of newspaper editors who currently stand before court for their alleged insult of the President.

Sixth: the continued rigging of elections and doctoring the returns of representative elections and popular referendums, as well as punishing judges who exposed the rigging. Moreover, the constitutional amendments passed by the government last month will enable more of the same manipulation of the will of the electorate.

Seventh: suppressing the right to peaceful demonstration and assembly, which was epitomised in the savage massacre of the Sudanese refugees who had organised a sit-in in one of the squares of Cairo in December 2005. The attack on the refugees claimed the lives of around thirty of them. The United Nations has recently called for an inquiry into this massacre, and the government refused. There is also the example of the physical assault and blatant sexual harassment used against female demonstrators and journalists who were protesting against the amendments of the constitution in 25 May 2005. These events, documented by human rights NGOs, constitute the basis of a case that is currently being examined by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

Eighth: amending the constitution last March in a way as to allow the security services to free their hands from the constitutional guarantees that protect the rights to freedom and security of person, prohibit breaking into and searching homes without a judicial warrant, protect the right to privacy, and prohibit surveillance of mail and tapping phone calls. In this way the new amendments entrench the foundations of the police state.

Ninth: increasing pressures on the freedom of belief, and the rise in discriminatory practices based on religion that are sometimes based on constitutional or legislative provisions or court rulings.

Tenth: increasing pressures on the independence of the judiciary and widening the scope of exceptional courts, especially military courts, which are accountable to the executive.

Finally, the undersigned NGOs realise that the chances of making an objective choice for the membership of the UN Human Rights Council from among the Arab countries are almost nonexistent, given that most of the governments of those countries, perhaps with the exception of Morocco, Lebanon and Mauritania, are considered among the worst in the world in their disregard of human rights standards.

Despite the difficulties that this will involve for the UN General Assembly, we believe that voting for the Egyptian government would imply an encouragement for it and similar governments to persist in their practices against human rights.


1. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
2. The Human Rights Center for the Assistance of Prisoners
3. Arab Penal Reform Organization
4. Hisham Moubarak Law Center
5. Association for Human Rights Legal Aid
6. the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information
7. The Egyptian Association For Community Participation Enhancement
8. The New Woman Association
9. The Center for Trade Union and Workers' Services
10. Al-Nadim Centre for Psychological Therapy and Rehabilitation of the Victims of Violence
11. Egyptian Organization Against Torture
12. Habi Center for Environmental Rights
13. The Arab program for Human Rights Activists
14. Land Center for Human Rights
15. Shumuu For Human Rights and Care of disabled and Community Development
16. Andalus Institue for Tolerance and Anti Violence Studies
17. Egyptian Association for Supporting Democratic Development
18. The Center for Alternative Development Studies
19. the Group for Democratic Development

Exactly...That's What Freedom of Belief is All About!

Brian Whitaker of the Guardian newspaper wrote a very interesting column on 18 December 2006 regarding the case of the Baha'is in Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court that was ruled on two days before.

The article, entitled "Losing their religion: In Egypt, computerised ID cards are providing the latest source of discrimination against members of the Baha'i faith" described the history of the case very clearly and objectively, it spoke of the judgement itself and its consequences. He then quoted the words of an Egyptian blogger who described the scene at the court when the ruling was read. In order to read this accurate and vivid account, please click to see the column on this link....

Whitaker concluded his column, under the section named "comment is free," by quoting Muhammad Abdel Hafez, a columnist on Egypt's al-Gomhouriya newspaper, who has also been fulminating against the Baha'is, wrote: "If Bahaism is officially recognised, worshippers of cows, the sun and fire will want to jump on the bandwagon." Addressing this comment, Whitaker wrote: "Exactly. That's what freedom of belief is all about."

Bahá’ís in Egypt Pay Taxes—But Are Deprived of Civil Rights

On 9 may 2007, Al-Ahaly Egyptian newspaper published an interview with Dr. Basma Moussa, a professor at Cairo University’s Faculty of Dentistry and an Egyptian Baha’i.

Instead of translating the article, the following are my conclusions based on the information provided in that interview:

There must be separation between citizenship and belief—they cannot be interconnected. Each Egyptian citizen must be entitled to ALL citizenship rights. Presently, all Egyptian Bahá’ís are deprived of their citizenship rights simply because of their belief. They are denied government-issued ID cards which are a necessity in order to continue to live in Egypt as a human being. Nothing in normal daily living can be accomplished without these ID cards.

Egyptian Bahá’ís have always served their country and fellow citizens with absolute loyalty and sincerity. As law-abiding citizens, they have always had contributed to their society in professions, sciences, commerce and fine arts. One of the members of the community, Mr. Hussein Bikar has been recognized as a national treasure and awarded the highest prize in the land: President Mubarak’s Prize in Fine Arts.

In Egypt, it appears to be perfectly acceptable for the government to force the Bahá’ís to pay taxes like all other citizens, but seems to have no hesitation in depriving them of all their civil rights and all services due to them. The authorities cannot demand taxation from Bahá’ís with nothing in return. Is there any justice in this? This fact alone raises a very big question! One would expect that ID cards (and the national ID number) must be used in order to pay taxes!

Meanwhile, a misguided Human Rights Committee of the Egyptian Parliament just announced the outcome of its deliberations regarding the ID card issue. In an article published in the front page of Al-Dostour Al-Youmy Egyptian newspaper on 8 May 2007, the decision of that committee of the parliament was revealed, announcing that it has denied the entry of any religion on ID cards other than the three recognized “divine” religions in Egypt, i.e. Islam, Christianity & Judaism. It also refused to eliminate religious classification from Egyptian ID cards, quoting the usual baseless reservations and rhetoric regarding personal status laws (addressed in the previous post dated 9 May 2007). Thus affirming the denial of ID cards to the Bahá’ís and any other “unrecognized” religious groups in Egypt.

Here again, is another blow to human and civil rights in Egypt, disrupting hopes for progress and tolerance and depriving Egypt from a stable, more humane and progressive society.

It is worth noting that one’s religion is only in one’s heart and is the individual’s private and personal affair. Simply stating the religion of a person on a piece of paper or a plastic card cannot truly reflect the person’s true feelings, conscience or beliefs. On the other hand, no one should ever be placed in a position to have to lie about his or her own belief or religion in order to satisfy some arcane laws that dictate the religions which can be the only ones entered in ID cards and official documents.

Egyptian Newspaper on ID Cards & Religious Classification

On 8 May 2007, Al-Dostour Al-Youmy (The Daily Constitution) Egyptian newspaper published a very well thought out and researched article on the crisis of religious classification in Egyptian ID cards, written by Ihab Abdel-Hamid. The article had the heading of “Why Does the Government Want to Know the ‘Religion’ of its Citizen?” It addresses issues affecting the Bahá’ís as well as Christians who had converted to Islam and want to return to Christianity, particularly in cases when a father did so (convert to Islam) without the knowledge of his son and as his son—who considers himself a Christian—reaches the age of 16 at which he is required to obtain an ID card, he is suddenly confronted with rejection and losing legal battles. Recently the Egyptian Administrative Court ruled in favor of the Ministry of Interior, disallowing the entry of “Christian” on ID cards for Egyptians who wanted to return to Christianity.

The writer also indicates that even Sudan, who follows Shar'iah law, does not have religious classification on ID cards. He describes how religious and ethnic identification on ID cards had led to genocide as happened in Nazi Germany and in Rwanda, when nearly one million individuals were killed in one week, by the “Hutu,” just because their ID cards showed “Tutsi.” Also in Lebanon when killing was based on religious identification until 1997 when all fighting factions of the civil war finally realized that there must be an end to such discrimination and removed religious classification from ID cards altogether, thus their entire population became as equal citizens. Even when some authoritarian elements in Pakistan wanted to add religion to their ID cards in 1992, the opposition turned that initiative down.

Egypt has always defended its policy of including religion in ID cards as a necessity for personal status laws regarding marriage, divorce and inheritance. He referred to this as a week argument and excuse since marriage is never a simple matter, in which each party gets to know the other very well before going through with it. It is not such an irresponsible act in which one party easily deceives the other as to his or her religious identity. ID cards are not the “simple” answer to such commitment. In this case he also gave the example of the millions of Muslims living in a country such as France (with no religion on ID cards), surrounded by millions more of Christians…that does not seem to pose any difficulties in going through with any of the required arrangements, and the parents of Muslim women do not seem to have any problem in identifying appropriate suitors for their daughters.

He indicated that having religious classification in ID cards violated the Egyptian laws and the constitution. He referred (according to Attorney Mamdouh Nakhla) specifically to Personal Status Laws # 260 of 1990 and # 142 of 1994—neither of which has any clauses requiring religious classification on ID cards, nor was there any mention of such requirement in the Egyptian constitution. He then referred to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”

The author presented a very well argued case for finding a solution for this very critical situation. He asks the question: “what do we do with the Bahá’ís and what do we do for the Christians who want to return to Christianity?” He referred to the absurd statements made by some radical Egyptian legislators who said that Bahá’ís should be thrown into the sea [the Nile]! He then stressed the need to continue dialogue [not to forget this problem while absorbed in the many other serious problems facing Egypt] and find a solution for this important citizenship right. He asked at the conclusion of the article: “or is it the right of the Christian majority in America, for example, to throw all Muslims into the sea?”

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....

"Seeking Justice" A new Blog on the Baha'is of Egypt

A new blog entitled “Seeking Justice” has just emerged. It is authored by two attorneys. In their introductory statement to the blog, they state: “This blog is inspired by a principle shared by all religions–the need to seek truth and promote justice. In this spirit, our goal is to understand in greater depth the current situation of the Baha’is of Egypt and their efforts to obtain basic human rights. We look forward to your collaboration in this inquiry!”

The blogs first post dated 22 April 2007, and named "Who Is Entitled To Human Rights In Egypt?" addresses the 16 December 2006 Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court ruling denying the Egyptian Baha’is of their right to be issued government mandated identification documents, thus denying them the right of citizenship.

To read the expert opinion of these prominent legal professionals, please connect to their blog here…. I strongly recommend that, if you are indeed interested in following the legal implications and analysis of the plight of the Egyptian Baha’is, you would be well served by following SEEKING JUSTICE on a regular basis.

Egyptian Baha'is Will Not Give Up: Yet Another Lawsuit!

News regarding another lawsuit, filed by an Egyptian Bahá’í, was just published in Sawt el-Umma Egyptian newspaper on 23 April 2007. The article is entitled “Bahá’ís will not surrender…a new lawsuit by a Bahá’í demanding that the religion section be left vacant so that he can be issued birth certificates for his two children.”

The article states the following:

On the upcoming 7th of May, the Administrative Court will continue looking into the lawsuit filed by Dr. Raouf Hindy Halim whose twin children reached the age of 14 years without an Egyptian birth certificate, even though they were issued birth certificates from one of the Arab countries which states “Bahá’í” in the religion section. Their parents and grandparents are Egyptian.

Even after the passing of more than three years of court battles, Dr. Raouf has not been able to obtain birth certificates for his children. Since Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court has prevented Bahá’ís from documenting their religion as “Bahá’í” in the religion section on all official documents—in violation of citizenship rights to freedom of belief—Dr. Raouf in collaboration with a team of attorneys, was forced to amend his request to insert dashes or leave the religion section vacant on his children’s birth certificates.

Dr. Raouf Hindy said that this amended request was caused by the fact that he must not be forced to insert incorrect statements in official documents [that is if he enters one of the three allowed religions]…if he did so, it would have given rise to more forgers and liars in the society. He stated that his elder son (the brother of the twins) is in possession of an Egyptian birth certificate with a dash inserted in place of religion that is why he is requesting that his twin children (Emad and Nancy) be treated in the same way.

Of note, children in Egypt that are not in possession of an Egyptian birth certificate cannot attend public schools.

Lawsuit Exposes Irony of Egypt's Supreme Court Ruling

Published today in the Egyptian newspaper Al-Doustour Al-Youmy (The Daily Constitution) is an article reporting on a new lawsuit filed by a Baha'i parent challenging the Supreme Administrative Court ruling that is preventing the Baha'is from obtaining ID cards.

At the center of this case is his son's inability to obtain an Id card as he reached the legal age of 16 at which every citizen in obligated to obtain a government issued ID. His son is a student at the Suez Canal University. Without an ID he would end up being expelled from his school.

The lawsuit is against the Ministry of Interior and the Civil Affairs Agency in charge of issuing identification documents. The litigant is Hosni Bakheet Abd El-Messeih filing on behalf of his son.
He states that his son was born to Baha'i parents, that his real religion is Baha'i and that he does not belong to any other religious affiliation. He is required by the government to obtain an ID card, but is being denied its issue unless he lies about his religion and enters Muslim, Christian or Jew in the computerised religion section of the application. This violates his right to freedom of belief and violates the Egyptian constitutional guarantees as mandated in articles 40, 41, 45 and 46 of the constitution. He states that if he enters one of the three mentioned religions instead of his real religion it would be considered by the authorities as a forgery punishable by law with a monetary fine and imprisonment.

The lawsuit also challenges the government authorities' stand which violates citizens' rights to absolute freedom of belief regardless of the legitimacy of such belief as clearly mandated in the Egyptian constitution.

The newspaper article shows the photograph of Judge El-Say'eid Nofal, who had presided over the Supreme Administrative Court during its 16 December 2006 session which ruled to prevent the Baha'is from obtaining ID cards unless they lie about their religious affiliation. Oddly if Baha'is oblige the court and do lie about their religion, they would be violating the Egyptian law which is supposed to be upheld and protected by this same court which happens to instruct them to lie. What an irony!

The real issues and facts relating to the struggle of the Baha'is of Egypt in their quest to be treated as equal citizens in their homeland is clearly described in this previous post....

Could "This" Have a Chance?

Secular Islam Summit is an organization dedicated to bringing Islam back to its intended roots of moderation, tolerance and acceptance. On its website it describes its strategy in its mission as follows: "The purpose of the Secular Islam Summit is to bring together these thinkers and activists in an ongoing cross-cultural forum and clearinghouse to generate and share new practical strategies and disseminate these to the public and opinion-makers worldwide." Last March, the organization released a statement during its convention and named it "The St. Petersburg Declaration."

The questions here are: Could this be an indicator of things to come? If so, what would be the impact of such a small and nascent movement on the millions of Muslims worldwide? If this effort gains popularity and widespread acceptance in the Islamic world, could it contribute--finally--to the cessation of hostilities, hatred, strife, conflict and terrorism supposedly carried out in the name of Islam?

I'll now leave you with the statement and its accompanying video recording of the declaration which was articulated by the summit's representative. The declaration speaks for itself...[also notice that the statement declares "...to Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Baha’is, and all members of non-Muslim faith communities: we stand with you as free and equal citizens...."]




The St. Petersburg Declaration


Released by the delegates to the Secular Islam Summit,
St. Petersburg, Florida on March 5, 2007

We are secular Muslims, and secular persons of Muslim societies. We are believers, doubters, and unbelievers, brought together by a great struggle, not between the West and Islam, but between the free and the unfree.

We affirm the inviolable freedom of the individual conscience. We believe in the equality of all human persons.

We insist upon the separation of religion from state and the observance of universal human rights.

We find traditions of liberty, rationality, and tolerance in the rich histories of pre-Islamic and Islamic societies. These values do not belong to the West or the East; they are the common moral heritage of humankind.

We see no colonialism, racism, or so-called “Islamaphobia” in submitting Islamic practices to criticism or condemnation when they violate human reason or rights.

We call on the governments of the world to reject Sharia law, fatwa courts, clerical rule, and state-sanctioned religion in all their forms; oppose all penalties for blasphemy and apostasy, in accordance with Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human rights; eliminate practices, such as female circumcision, honor killing, forced veiling, and forced marriage, that further the oppression of women; protect sexual and gender minorities from persecution and violence; reform sectarian education that teaches intolerance and bigotry towards non-Muslims; and foster an open public sphere in which all matters may be discussed without coercion or intimidation.

We demand the release of Islam from its captivity to the totalitarian ambitions of power-hungry men and the rigid strictures of orthodoxy.

We enjoin academics and thinkers everywhere to embark on a fearless examination of the origins and sources of Islam, and to promulgate the ideals of free scientific and spiritual inquiry through cross-cultural translation, publishing, and the mass media.

We say to Muslim believers: there is a noble future for Islam as a personal faith, not a political doctrine; to Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Baha’is, and all members of non-Muslim faith communities: we stand with you as free and equal citizens; and to nonbelievers: we defend your unqualified liberty to question and dissent.

Before any of us is a member of the Umma, the Body of Christ, or the Chosen People, we are all members of the community of conscience, the people who must choose for themselves.

Endorsed by: [names of authors]

Egypt: Views of German Scholar on the Baha'i Case

A respected and independent German orientalist and academician, Dr. Johanna Pink, was recently interviewed regarding her research on the situation of the Baha'is of Egypt. Dr. Pink is on the faculty of the Free University of Berlin and is well known for her cutting edge scholarly work on the treatment of minorities in Islamic societies, and in particular the Baha'is in Egypt. This link provides the reader with a glimpse of some of her writings regarding this subject. Among her numerous publications, she is the author of a book entitled "Neue Religionsgemeinschaften in Ägypten: Minderheiten zwischen Glaubensfreiheit, öffentlicher Ordnung und Islam" [New Religious Communities in Egypt: minorities between religious freedom, public order and Islam]. On the book's cover is an old picture of the confiscated building of the Baha'i National Centre in Cairo which was taken away in 1960 by the Egyptian government from the Baha'i Community when President Gamal Abdel-Nasser, in his presidential decree number 263, put an end to all Baha'i administrative institutions, confiscated all Baha'i properties, stripped Baha'is of their rights to freedom of religion, and jailed and interrogated several senior Baha'is.

Her interview in the German language can be viewed on the Baha'i Deutscland site linked here.

Below is an English translation of the interview:

Interview with Dr. Johanna Pink

Dr. Johanna Pink, Academic Stuff Member and Lecturer at the Department for Islamic Science at the Free University Berlin, wrote her dissertation on "Religious minorities in Egypt within the area of conflict of religious freedom, public order and Islam." On 27 February 2007 she analysed in an interview with representatives of the Office of Public Information of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Germany the current situation of the Bahá’í community in Egypt.

Dr. Pink, you have been observing the situation of the Bahá’í community in Egypt for almost 10 years now. Recently occurred the case of a young Bahá’í scientist which is also related to Germany’s policy regarding Egypt. Could you please tell us what happened? [see this post]

JOHANNA PINK: It is the case of a young man who worked for the physics department of the German University in Cairo (GUC). After a short time he was fired, because as a Bahá’í he was not able to present his ID-Card.

To what extent does this dismissal concern also the German public?

JOHANNA PINK: The German University is an Egyptian institution, but it is in part financially and scientifically supported by Germany. And it has a German name and advertises with its partnership programmes with other Universities in Germany.

What does the dismissal mean for the young man?

JOHANNA PINK: This young Bahá’í scientist has lost his work and his income and also his scientific career. But above all it is an unacceptable incident in the context of human rights. Especially if an institution with a strong relation to Germany is involved.

What impression does the Egyptian population get by this dismissal?

JOHANNA PINK: It is a signal that at this university, the policy by the Egyptian government is absolutely put into action. There must have been some pressure – by the Department of the Interior, the State Security or similar offices – to execute this dismissal, but in my opinion it is not acceptable that a German institution with a German name is doing so. The people in the Middle East are quite cynical about democracy and human rights. They believe that the commitment of the Western countries to democracy is not sincere. Cases like this support this impression.

The Bahá’í community of Egypt has been deprived of all rights as an organized religious community since 1960. In the meantime there are only 500 to 1000 Bahá’ís left. Why does the Egyptian government feel threatened by such a small community?

JOHANNA PINK: For the Egyptian government it is not about the Bahá’ís at all. In my point of view, the government does not care about the Bahá’ís. The government also knows that Bahá’ís do not represent danger. They are too few and they are peaceful and do not polarize. They also do not appear in public. The government is often accused that it does not defend Islamic interests. Therefore the government is especially vulnerable because it persecutes the Islamist opposition. For this reason it tries to conduct symbolic acts to clarify that it is preserving Islam. These acts can be against Bahá’ís, homosexuals, but also against liberal and secular thinking Muslims or newspapers.

What is the reason - in your point of view - that the Bahá’ís are not allowed to get ID Cards, which makes their daily life so difficult?

JOHANNA PINK: In the domestic political context it is not only about the Bahá’ís. The Bahá’ís are just a group which they can easily sacrifice and which serves to demonstrate that the government stands for Islamic interests. If the government would have given the Bahá’ís the possibility to indicate "Bahá’í" or "other" as their religion in their ID card, the Islamist opposition could have accused the government that it allows other religion besides the three accepted ones to exist in Egypt, although the indication has nothing to do with a recognition by the state. The Egyptian government did not want to expose itself to this accusation. Therefore the possibility to write Bahá’í or anything truthful has not been granted.

In the Egyptian jurisdiction, the principle of public order is stated very often as a reason for the discrimination of the Bahá’ís. What does this mean?

JOHANNA PINK: It means the fundamental principles of order of state and society which are summarised by Islam according to the Egyptian jurisprudence. Islam does not recognize a post-Islamic religion. That means: pursuant to an Islamic defined religious concept, the Bahá’í Faith is not a religion. This religious term is continuously applied by the Egyptian jurisprudence and government. They argue that the Bahá’í Faith violates the public order because it is not an accepted religion and therefore it cannot be accepted by the government. The fact that the fight for ID cards is not about state recognition but about an individual civil right to hold an ID card, is completely neglected. The whole matter must be seen in the context that Islamic Sharia is not applicable law in Egypt - except for certain fields like family law and law of succession. However, Islamic moral concepts strongly dominate the daily action. The concept of public order is a way to support these actions.

You mentioned that Islamic jurisprudence is applicable only in certain fields like family law and law of succession. Is this religious law also applied to the adherents of other religions like the Bahá’ís.

JOHANNA PINK: This depends to what religion the individual belongs to. Religious law of the Bahá’ís can not be applied because the Bahá’í Faith is not recognised. In such cases Islamic law is applied. Islamic law states that persons who have apostatised from Islam or whose ancestors apostatised from Islam are not allowed to inherit nor can they be legally married. In the past there have been attempts to separate Bahá’í couples arguing that they cannot have a marriage, but this topic is not very much in the spotlight right now. In the case of inheritance it is much more difficult, because if the case is put to trial they have the policy that Bahá’ís with Muslim background or ancestors cannot inherit nor hand something down to their children. Often the Muslim family inherits everything, sometimes the government receives the money.

In April 2006, a lower Administrative Court upheld the right of a Bahá'í couple to state their religion on their ID cards lawfully. In December 2006 the Egyptian Supreme Administrative Court decided that Bahá’ís should not have the right to state their religion on their ID cards lawfully. How do you view this judgement?

JOHANNA PINK: The judgement of 16 December 2006 is for me clearly a political decision. When you have a look at it you will see that it was written very sloppily. It is in a juridical way very weak. The main part of the judgement, which is the explanatory statement, has been copied from a 30 year old judgement of the Supreme Court, which was a completely different case. In the statement they do not even relate to the arguments of the Bahá’ís. All the questions concerning constitutional law and human rights are not addressed, which clearly speaks for a political decision. The judges wrote something down without any effort, just to put this decision into action.

Have there been any comparable cases in the past?

JOHANNA PINK: In the 80s there has been a judgement by the same Court which was also against the Bahá’ís, but its decision regarding the registration of one’s religion in the ID cards was in favour of the Bahá’ís. This means that a positive view in the question of ID cards is possible in Egyptian law, and justifiable. It would have been legally no problem to advance this view now; they could have easily copied the judgement of 1983 - if they enjoy copying old judgements - but they did not. In my point of view they did not, because the politicians did not want it.
___________________________

Johanna Pink’s Profile

Born in 1974 in the city of Dortmund in Western Germany, Johanna Pink pursued Islamic Studies in Erlangen, Amman and Bonn with a scholarship from the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation, and graduated in Islamic Studies and International Private Law at the University of Bonn in 1998. She then received a postgraduate scholarship and obtained her Ph.D. from the same university in 2002 with a thesis on new religious communities in Egypt, which has been published 2003 under the title "Neue Religionsgemeinschaften in Ägypten: Minderheiten zwischen Glaubensfreiheit, öffentlicher Ordnung und Islam" (New religious groups in Egypt: minorities between religious freedom, public order and Islam). Furthermore, she has published numerous articles about new religious communities in Egypt, a contribution to the fifth edition of "Der Islam in der Gegenwart" about Islam and non-Muslim minorities, and has been co-author of an article about religious identity and globalisation. She was a postdoctoral member of the postgraduate research programme Global Challenges and held a DFG research scholarship for research on how to deal with the world-wide Muslim debate on Islamization of education. She is currently an Academic Staff Member and Lecturer at the Institute of Islamic Studies at Free University of Berlin.

Please find below two online publications of lectures Johanna Pink gave in 2002 and 2003 regarding the persecutions of Bahá’ís and other religious minorities in Egypt.

"New religious communities in Egypt - Islam, public order and freedom of belief"
http://www.cesnur.org/2002/slc/pink.htm
The 2002 CESNUR International Conference
Minority Religions, Social Change, and Freedom of Conscience
Salt Lake City and Provo (Utah/USA), June 20-23, 2002

"Nationalism, Religion and the Muslim-Christian Relationship - Teaching Ethics and Values in Egyptian Schools"
http://www.cesnur.org/2003/vil2003_pink.htm
The 2003 CESNUR International Conference
organized by CESNUR, Center for Religious Studies and Research at Vilnius University, and New Religions Research and Information Center
Vilnius, Lithuania, April 9-12 2003

This Was When I Broke My Hand!

This last post reporting the abuse of Baha'i children in Iran, could not but trigger some painful memories from my childhood in Egypt. Normally these memories find a labyrinth in the far recesses of one's brain until something more painful brings these awful memories to the forefront. I normally do not write about myself in this blog, but was unable to suppress the perceived urge to talk about this particular incident.

The reason for bringing this up is neither to compare it with the current events nor to show today's children how to react to persecution--far from it--but it may illustrate how a child can end up reacting to an insult out of desperation, and in a reflex manner, even though that reaction might not have been in accordance with the morals infused into his upbringing.

At 11 or 12 years of age, a mere child should not be insulted, beaten, humiliated or harassed because of his religion, but this was a common occurrence to many Baha'i children growing up in Egypt in the 1950s and 1960s. I have been subjected to such treatment on a regular basis, not only by some of my classmates, but at times by certain teachers entrusted to protect me. The worse offender was a 'Sheikh' who taught us the Islam class, who would frequently kick me out of the class, then stops by my father's office on his way home after school to report to him that I neglected to attend his class and that I was a rebel-rouser.

Front row second from right (book on his lap) is me

A young student, after being subjected to such repeated episodes of abuse, can get to a point to think "enough is enough!"

During a morning period in between classes, one of my classmates whom I have known to be the son of Muslim fundamentalist whose father belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood movement stuck his face right into mine and shouted: "You Baha'i...son of a Baha'i...son of a dog." At that exact moment my brain came to a standstill, and without any hesitation I hit him right into his face with my clinched fist, breaking his nose and breaking my hand at the same time. Blood was gushing out of his nose...I was in shock...he was too.... I believe that was the only time in my life when I ever hit anyone--that was not in a self defense situation. Needless to say, that traumatized and embarrassed student never bothered me again, and I had to be in a cast for the next six weeks.

My great concern that day was not what happened to him or to me, but rather what would I tell my father, because I knew that he would not have approved of that action, and that he would then, for sure, believe the Sheik's stories. When I went home after school with a broken hand, my story was that I fell while playing basketball...and there was no discussion! I thought at the time that this was OK as white lie. Until now, no one in my family knew the real story...but I guess it is time to tell the truth even though my parents are not with me any longer, but perhaps they will hear this where they now live--in eternity!

Iran Abuses & Harasses Baha'i Children

The Baha'i World News Service just published an article exposing an ominous component of the recent wave of persecutions of Baha'is in Iran. It is the flagrant abuse of Baha'i children in Iranian schools.

Baha'i schoolchildren in Iran increasingly harassed and abused by school authorities

NEW YORK, 5 April 2007 (BWNS) -- Baha'i students in primary and secondary schools throughout Iran are increasingly being harassed, vilified, and held up to abuse, according to recent reports from inside the country.

During a 30-day period from mid-January to mid-February, some 150 incidents of insults, mistreatment, and even physical violence by school authorities against Baha'i students were reported as occurring in at least 10 Iranian cities.

"These new reports that the most vulnerable members of the Iranian Baha'i community -- children and junior youth -- are being harassed, degraded, and, in at least one case, blindfolded and beaten, is an extremely disturbing development," said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations.

"The increasing number of such incidents suggests a serious and shameful escalation in the ongoing persecution of Iranian Baha'is," said Ms. Dugal. "The fact that school-aged children are being targeted by those who should rightfully hold their trust -- teachers and school administrators -- only makes this latest trend even more ominous."

Ms. Dugal said the Baha'i International Community has been aware of scattered reports of abuse directed at schoolchildren but has only recently learned that young Baha'is are now widely being forced to identify their religion -- and are also being insulted, degraded, threatened with expulsion, and, in some cases, summarily dismissed from school.

"They are also being pressured to convert to Islam, required to endure slander of their faith by religious instructors, and being taught and tested on 'Iranian history' in authorized texts that denigrate, distort, and brazenly falsify their religious heritage," said Ms. Dugal. "They are also being repeatedly told that they are not to attempt to teach their religion."

According to Ms. Dugal, one Baha'i has reported that the school-age children of a relative in Kermanshah were called to the front of the classroom, where they were required to listen to insults against the Faith.

"Another student, accepted at an art institute, has been followed by the authorities and on three occasions seized, blindfolded, and beaten," said Ms. Dugal.

"While a few of these may be isolated attacks, the extent and nature of this reprehensible activity has led the Baha'is in Iran to conclude that this is an organized effort," said Ms. Dugal.

Of special concern, she added, was the fact that a high proportion of the attacks against high school students have been against girls.

"While the attacks reported to have taken place in elementary and middle schools were leveled evenly against boys and girls, those at the high school level targeted girls to a far greater degree: of 76 incidents, 68 were against Baha'i girls," said Ms. Dugal.

Ms. Dugal added that the ages of the children and junior youth affected are as follows: at the elementary school level, grades 1-5, students 6 to 11 years old; at the middle school level, grades 6-8, students 11 to 13 years old; and at the high school level, grades 9-12, students 14 to 17 years old.

The reports of attacks on innocent Baha'i schoolchildren come at a time when a growing number of older Baha'i students seeking to enter Iranian universities have been expelled after being identified as Baha'is.

So far this year, at least 94 college-age Baha'i students have been expelled from institutions of higher education. That figure is up from 70 as reported in late February.

Since the Islamic Republic of Iran was established in 1979, the 300,000-member Iranian Baha'i community has faced ongoing and systematic persecution. In the early 1980s, more than 200 Baha'is were killed, hundreds were imprisoned, and thousands were deprived of jobs and education.

At the present time, more than 120 Baha'is are out on bail and awaiting trial on false charges, solely because of their religious beliefs and activities. Over the last year, as well, international human rights groups have expressed concern at the Iranian government's efforts to step-up their covert monitoring and identification of Baha'is.

uno-bp-07 04 05 -1-IRANSCHOOLS-515-N

Below is a report aired in 1983 on ABC television network's 20/20 program hosted by Barbara Walters:

Warning!
This film contains shocking and disturbing accounts and images.

Click on the image to view the program.
15 min 45 sec - Feb 23, 2007
Description: ABC's 20/20 TV show - persecution of Iranian Baha'is - originally aired about 1980 [sic]. When Khomeini returned to Iran from exile in France he stated that he had two objectives. 1- the elimination of the Shah and 2- the elimination of the Baha'is. This TV report details some of the shocking details of the implementation of the plan to destroy the Baha'i Community of Iran. Amnesty International, in the early 1980s, listed the persecution of the Baha'is by the government of Iran as the most serious human rights violation on earth. The persecutions continue today.
video.google.com

Egyptian Media Picks Up on German Defense of Baha'is

Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm continues its close watch of the world's interest in the Baha'i crisis in Egypt.

Following its last article of April 2nd, reported on in this post, the paper just picked up another story regarding the recent German Parliamentarian attention to the struggle of the Baha'is of Egypt which was also reported on in this subsequent post.

The article published on 6 April, written by Muhammad Abd-El-Khaleq Mussahel, is entitled "German Government Parliamentarian Questioning on 'Persecution of Baha'is' in Egypt."

This article is quite objective and factual. It introduces the recent interest of the German Parliament (Deutcher Bundestag) in the case and translates into Arabic--point by point--the entirety of the document presented to the Bundestag, which was authored by several members of the German Parliament. The English translation of the document can be seen in this previous post.

This careful attention by a prominent Egyptian newspaper to a critical case involving an oppressed group of Egyptian citizens illustrates a new wave of journalistic integrity and independence which is heartwarming. It shows that, despite all the negativity expressed by some of the Egyptian media outlets, several others continue to uphold their ethical and professional high standards of objective and balanced reporting.

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!"

Egyptian Paper Highlights Western Coverage of Baha'is

The Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm in its April 2 edition reported on two significant recent releases in the western media regarding the status of the Baha'is in Egypt and Iran. The article, written by Muhammad Abd-El-Khaleq Mussahel, is entitled Documentary American Film regarding "Suffering of Baha'is" in Egypt and Iran.

The first reference was in regards to a recent video production. The writer indicated that the film was "produced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States." It described the video as "a new documentary film about the situation of the Baha'is in Egypt and Iran, which was widely publicised on Baha'i Internet sites and blogs." [examples: here and here]

The paper proceeded to report that "the film which lasts 17 minutes and 19 seconds explains the manifestations of suffering experienced by Baha'is in Egypt and Iran." It also pointed to the film's content regarding the ID card crisis affecting the Baha'is of Egypt, and the efforts of the Office of External Affairs in defending human rights of the Baha'is.

The second part of the article went on to briefly describe the content of the recent article published in the Toronto Star on 31 March 2007 and posted here as well.

Toronto Star on the Baha'is of Egypt

The following article regarding the crisis facing the Baha'is in Egypt was just published in the Toronto Star, Canada's largest newspaper on 31 March 2007. It is written by Stuart Laidlaw and based on an interview with Samandary Hindawi, an Egyptian born Baha'i living in Toronto. It describes several barriers currently facing Egypt's Baha'is because of the their government's refusal to treat them as equal citizens and because of its insistence on depriving them from their basic civil rights.

The article is linked here and posted below:

Identity crisis for faithful

Egyptian Baha'is cannot get government-issued ID because on official forms they must specify their religion and only Islam, Christianity and Judaism are recognized

Mar 31, 2007 04:30 AM

Stuart Laidlaw
FAITH AND ETHICS REPORTER

Samandary Hindawi's mother has never met her grandson. She lives far away in Egypt, but money is not an issue. She is getting old, but health is not an issue. Hindawi and she both lead busy lives, but time is not an issue.

The only issue is that she cannot get a passport, even though she was born and raised in Egypt, has lived there all her life and has never been a citizen of any other country.

The problem, Hindawi says, is that she is Baha'i, which in Egypt means she cannot get a government identification card or any other form of ID.

"I can't bring my mother here to visit her grandchild because she doesn't have a passport," Hindawi says.

When filling out a form for government identification, Egyptians are required to specify their religion. Hindawi said the Baha'is of Egypt have no problem with this, except that they are not allowed to state on the forms that they are Baha'i. Only Islam, Christianity and Judaism are recognized.

"The Baha'is here in Canada are watching the situation very closely," says Gerald Filson, a spokesman for the Baha'i Community of Canada.

He and other community leaders have met with the federal government department of foreign affairs, expressing their concerns and asking that they be passed on to the government of Egypt through diplomatic channels.

"We've be[en] very pleased with the federal government's response," he says.

Baha'is in Iran also face discrimination, Filson says, where denial of government identification cards has kept people from opening bank accounts, going to school or even accessing health care. Hindawi says similar problems are developing in Egypt as old identity cards expire and Baha'is are not able to replace them.

As well, he says, media outlets in the country have been unsympathetic, and even hostile, to the plight of the Baha'is, so Hindawi has begun to use his computer skills to do what he can from Toronto.

He has set up a blog to counter the accusations made against Baha'i in the country, regularly picking apart stories that appear in newspapers, magazines and television, where Baha'is are regularly accused of everything from immorality to spying.

"If you really want to hurt somebody in the Middle East, this is what you do – you smear them with treason and immorality," he says as he attaches an Arabic language keyboard to his laptop computer.

As a Baha'i, he says, he can't engage is a similar mud-slinging campaign against his faith's critics, so instead offers counterpoints to the often skewed reporting in his native country. He keeps tabs on the reporting through a Baha'i friend in the U.S., who posts copies of stories own [sic] his own blog.

"I go specifically through the charges, one after another," Hindawi says, describing how he counters the allegations made against Baha'i followers in the Egyptian press. "I correct the facts, historically, factually, systematically."

He write the blog in Arabic, so it can be more widely read by its target audience, the Egyptian public.

"You still have to rely on educating the masses," he says.

One story on his friend's Egyptian blog accuses a Baha'i man of meeting with the Israeli ambassador – tantamount to treason in some Arab circles. Hindawi countered the accusation by simply stating that the man in question is 83, too old to have travelled to such a meeting, and has never left his home village.

Hindawi's hope is that by constantly picking apart the facts in any such stories, he can convince people that they have nothing to fear from Baha'is, who number only about 2,000 in Egypt.

"We are not a threat," Hindawi says.

The problem is that the Baha'i faith was founded in only the 1860s, some 1,200 years after Islam. As such, under a strict reading of Islamic law, Baha'i is not recognized as a religion. Judaism and Christianity are accepted because they predate Islam, and their prophets are accepted as Islamic prophets.

Egypt's highest court late last year held up this interpretation when it struck down a lower court ruling that Baha'is must be granted government identification.

The Supreme Administrative Court ruled in December that because Baha'i is not mentioned in the Qur'an, it is not a recognized religion in the Islamic country.

"The court made a religious decision, not a legal one," Hindawi says.

Whereas Islam teaches that its founder, Muhammad, was the final prophet, the Baha'i Faith teaches progressive revelation, that Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad and Baha'i founder Baha'u'llah were all messengers from God and that more will come.

The court decision means that Baha'i followers cannot get government identification without denying that they are Baha'i. Not only is this distasteful to most Baha'is, who value their faith, but it is illegal since lying on a government form is considered perjury.

Hindawi says all of his friends and relatives in Egypt have been caught in this Catch-22. As their old government identification cards expire, they have not been able to get new ones. Previously, government ID cards allowed Baha'i to list their faith as "other" or to leave the space blank That is no longer allowed.

As a result, children can't get birth certificates, or enrol in school. Driver's licences cannot be renewed. Health care cannot be accessed. Bank accounts can't be opened. Even death certificates cannot be issued, making it impossible to settle the estates of the deceased, Hindawi says.

"These are business people, they are teachers, professors and artists," he says.

Hindawi, unable to even send his family money to help them through these tough times since they cannot even cash a cheque without ID, hopes that his blog will in some way help make things better in his homeland.

Hindawi's blog can be found at truthexaminer.spaces.live.com while his friend's blog chronicling the Egyptian media's coverage of the country's Baha'is is at bahai-egypt.blogspot.com.

Recent Video on the Baha'is in Iran and Egypt

The following post was just published on Barney Leith's blog "Barnabas quotidianus".

It gives a link to a recently produced video by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States. The content of the video is described in Barney's post quoted below.

The video can be also viewed here....

Barnabas quotidianus » Baha’is in Iran and Egypt - USA NSA video

"I can highly recommend this fascinating video about the situations of the Baha’is in Iran and Egypt. It explains what the Baha’is in Iran and Egypt are suffering as a result of the persecutions [in] their respective countries; it shows the terrible (il)logic of the denial of ID cards to the Egyptian Baha’is; and it explains the work of the US National Spiritual Assembly’s Office of External Affairs in defending the human rights of the Baha’is.

The video is a copyright production by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States."

Egypt: Commissioner's Advisory Report Revisited

Last October, Egypt's State Council's Commissioner released his report in preparation for the November and then the final 16 December 2006 Supreme Administrative Court session which was to decide on the fate of the Baha'is of Egypt.

In order to provide some background information and in light of the recently posted article published in the Daily Journal by John E. Noyes, it may be timely to revisit the October post which addressed the Commissioner's report. It is interesting indeed to reflect back on that report as it might help us understand how the Supreme Administrative Court had reached its decision.

More recently, a French lawyer writing for a legal blog named New Legal World Order published a three part article analysing Egypt's Supreme Court's decision regarding the Egyptian Baha'is. The posts can be seen here, here and here. Of note, the Egyptian legal system is based on the French system, and the State's Commissioner position and duties are quite similar in both countries, except that--based on the analysis of this case--Egypt's Commissioner did not appear to act independently and without bias as he is supposed to, and as mandated by French jurisprudence.

To be brief, it is clear that Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court accepted the State Commissioner's report on its face and had based its entire case and arguments on that report. It dismissed most procedural arguments from the plaintiff (government appellant) and entirely ignored the defendants' (Baha'is) legal arguments. It simply repeated word for word the commissioner's report which was essentially a verbatim reproduction of opinions from previous court cases involving the Baha'is over the preceding decades.

The following is a re-publication of the October post, with added comments (in red) pointing to how the case had panned out:

In preparation for Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court session scheduled for 20 November 2006, the long-awaited government Commissioner's Advisory Report that was requested by the court was released on Thursday, 12 October 2006, and a summary of the report was published in Rose el-Yousef newspaper yesterday. The 24 page report, as expected, supported the opinions of the appellants, i.e. the Ministry of Interior and the other government agencies who had appealed the lower Administrative Court's ruling which granted the Baha'is their right to indicate their religion on government-issued official documents.

It is not surprising that this clearly biased and one-sided report repeats the exact same illogical and unjustified statements and conclusions that have been circulating among the Egyptian fundamentalist establishment for many years.

In brief, it concluded that since the Baha'i Faith is not recognized in Egypt as a "divine religion," therefore its followers in that land have no rights whatsoever and that they simply do not exist! Consequently, they concluded that Egypt's Constitutional guarantees of freedom of belief and religion do not apply to the Baha'is. That Egypt is not bound to its commitment as a cosignatory to the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights, and that the Baha'is, in Egypt, should not be under its protection--since, as far as they are concerned, Egypt should have no obligations towards them! That the Baha'i are apostates (whether or not they descended from an Islamic background). That they are a threat to the "general [public] order" of the State, and that all their marriages are null and void.... That "methods must be defined that would insure that Baha'is are identified, confronted and singled out so that they could be watched carefully, isolated and monitored in order to protect the rest of the population as well as Islam from their danger, influence and their teachings." The report also calls for the original plaintiffs (the Baha'i family that won the case) to be charged for all court costs!

The travesty of this report is that it identifies the Baha'is as a threat to the nation, isolates them in a corner, deprives them from every right to citizenship, strips them from all their civil rights, calls for their elimination and expulsion, declares their children as illegitimate and their men and women as cohabiting out-of-wedlock.... Above all, Rose el-Yousef newspaper made sure that this report got published expeditiously so that it would serve its own purposes and agenda in its propaganda campaign against the Baha'is.

If the Supreme Administrative Court accepts this report on its face, then we should wonder if any sense of decency or humanity can have a place in that country!

--It did accept it on its face as reflected in its 16 December 2006 decision.

As most of us know, these allegations, misrepresentations, illogical and slanderous conclusions have no basis in fact and have no legal justification. It is inconceivable that a modern civilization in the 21st century could degenerate to this point of oppression of its minorities under the watchful eye of the rest of the world. One would certainly hope that, if in the remote possibility that such conclusions and judgements became contemplated for implementation by the court, the anticipated consequent outrage expressed by the world would be a deterrent to such possible outcome.

--There was and continues to be an outrage, but this did not act as a deterrent to the court.

It is also prayerfully hoped and expected that the Supreme Administrative Court will stand for justice and for its duty to uphold the guarantee of human rights to its constituency, and that President Mubarak will stand for his noble calling and quest for justice for all his citizens when he addresses the nation this upcoming Thursday as was published in this previous post.

--The court did not "stand for justice" or for "its duty to uphold the guarantee of human rights to its constituency." President Mubarak's action, specific to this case, remains to be seen.

It is essential that when religious tolerance is promoted, it must also include tolerance towards religious beliefs other than Egypt’s "recognized three." Anything less than that would be a waste of time and of no use. We can't say that “we are tolerant to only the few we recognize, and anything else is not our concern.” This would not be tolerance.

--Egypt continues to state that it only accepts the "recognized three" religions. It insists on refusing to accept the legitimacy of any other denominations, thus denying them their civil rights.

The issue is not whether or not a religion is divine--this is a whole different matter--the issue is that any religious belief must be respected, regardless of its origin or legitimacy. This is how today's world functions and is what the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights has been based on. It is essential that this nation must provide the guarantee of equality and of civil rights to all Egyptian citizens, even those who happen to have a different religious belief. No law-abiding human being in this world expects any less than that. Egypt is no exception.

The Baha'is are not, and have never been, a threat to anyone or anything, and in particular "General [Public] Order" (al-Nezam el-Aam) as claimed by the many proclamations made by Egypt’s fundamentalist establishment as well as the biased sections of the media; all this rhetoric has been fabricated in order to defame the Baha'is...it is an excuse and a "catch phrase" that is intended to manipulate the masses and justify the injustices.