EGYPT COURT TO RULE NEXT WEEK ON NEW RELIGIOUS FREEDOM CASES


CAIRO, 20 December 2007 (BWNS) -- A court is expected to rule early next
week on two cases related to the government's policy on religious
affiliation and national identity papers, an issue that has been hotly
debated here in recent months and a focus of international human rights
concerns.

The first case involves a lawsuit by the father of twin children, who is
seeking to obtain proper birth certificates for them. The second concerns a
college student, who needs a national identity card to re-enroll in
university.

Both are set for "final judgment" by the Court of Administrative Justice in
Cairo on 25 December 2007. In both cases, the individuals involved are
unable to obtain government identification papers because they are Baha'is.

"The world has increasingly come to understand the basic injustice imposed
by the Egyptian government's policies on religious affiliation and official
documents -- and the court has before it in these two cases the chance once
again to right that wrong," said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of
the Baha'i International Community.

"Last year, under pressure from Muslim fundamentalists, the Supreme
Administrative Court rejected a lower court decision that had required the
government to include the word 'Baha'i' on official documents. These two new
cases offer a compromise solution, asking merely that the religious
affiliation field be left blank or filled in with the word 'other,'" added
Ms. Dugal.

The government requires all identification papers to list religious
affiliation but then restricts the choice to the three officially recognized
religions -- Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. Baha'is are thus unable to
obtain identification papers because they refuse to lie about their
religious affiliation.

Without national identity cards -- or, as in the case of the twin children,
birth certificates -- Baha'is and others caught in the law's contradictory
requirements are deprived of a wide range of citizenship rights, such as
access to employment, education, and medical and financial services.

MORE

These problems were highlighted in a report issued in November by Human
Rights Watch and the Cairo-based Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights
(EIPR).

"Employers, both public and private, by law cannot hire someone without an
ID, and academic institutions require IDs for admission," said the report.
"Obtaining a marriage license or a passport requires a birth certificate;
inheritance, pensions, and death benefits are contingent on death
certificates. The Ministry of Health has even refused to provide
immunizations to some Baha'i children because the Interior Ministry would
not issue them birth certificates accurately listing their Baha'i religion."

The issuance of birth certificates is at the heart of the first case, which
concerns 14-year-old twins Imad and Nancy Rauf Hindi. Their father, Rauf
Hindi, obtained birth certificates that recognized their Baha'i affiliation
when they were born.

But new policies require computer generated certificates, and the computer
system locks out any religious affiliation but the three officially
recognized religions. And without birth certificates, the children are
unable to enroll in school in Egypt.

The second lawsuit was filed by the EIPR last February on behalf of
18-year-old Hussein Hosni Bakhit Abdel-Massih, who was suspended from the
Suez Canal University's Higher Institute of Social Work in January 2006 due
to his inability to obtain an identity card because of his refusal to
falsely identify himself as either a Muslim, a Christian, or a Jew.

In both cases, lawyers representing the Baha'is have made it clear that they
are willing to settle for cards or documents on which the religious
affiliation field is left blank or filled in, perhaps, as "other."

This solution is what makes these two cases different from the lawsuit that
was rejected by the Supreme Administrative Court last year, said Hossam
Baghat, director of the EIPR.

"The negative ruling by the Supreme Administrative Court has forced us to
file these new cases," said Mr. Baghat, whose organization has been at the
forefront of defending Egyptian Baha'is in this controversy. "The facts are
extremely similar to the case that we lost last year, but we are calling
this time for documents without any religious affiliation.

"For us, this is really the test for the government and the judiciary on
this issue. Because if the main problem is the fact that the Baha'i Faith is
not recognized in Egypt, then there should be no grounds for them to deny
these Egyptian citizens documents that are necessary for their daily life
without any reference to religion."

Mr. Baghat said the cases also have implications for religious freedom in
general in Egypt.

"So far, the problem only affects Egyptian Baha'is, but the same problem
could arise in theory with Egyptians who are adherents of Buddhism or
Hinduism," said Mr. Baghat. "But it is also important for people who do not
wish to be identified with any religion, which is a right guaranteed by both
Egyptian and international law."

For Egyptian Baha'is, the facts of life on the ground continue to
deteriorate in the absence of a solution, said Labib Hanna, a spokesperson
for the Egyptian Baha'i community.

"We are not able to do anything without valid identification papers," said
Dr. Hanna, who is a professor of mathematics at Cairo University. "We cannot
renew a driver's license, we cannot obtain permanent employment, and we
cannot send our children to school."

He said many Baha'is are able to meet the needs of daily life by taking
temporary positions, dealing with banks, schools, or other institutions
where they have an established relationship, or by continuing to use old,
paper-based identification cards that allowed for other options in the
religious affiliation field.

"We are trying to survive," said Dr. Hanna. "But it is difficult. We are
struggling."

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