Baha'i Faith in Egypt Ongoing Dialogue: Status of the Baha'i Religion in Egypt Posted: 22 Feb 2008 07:32 PM CST Egyptian and Middle Eastern media continue to examine the recent court verdicts that permitted some of the Baha'is of Egypt to obtain ID cards and birth certificates. They also address the general status of the Baha'is of Egypt as a religious minority in a modern society. The scope of these articles extends beyond the mere description of the court ruling itself, but rather carefully examines other essential elements regarding Egypt's need to come to terms with the fact that the Baha'i religion is one of the established religions worldwide. For example, these articles are now addressing the roots of the current crisis, dating back to Nasser's Presidential Decree (263) of 1960 that outlawed the Baha'i religion in Egypt, confiscated all Baha'i properties, dissolved Baha'i institutions and arrested many leading Baha'is. The question of the official recognition of the Baha'i religion in Egypt is being openly discussed and arguments in its favor are put forward. One of the headlines even dares to go as far as stating that "the problem with the Baha'is is the need to recognize them and not necessarily the implied acceptance of their beliefs." Some of the articles attached to this post (Qattar's Al-Raayah-page 31 & Egypt's Al-Qaherra) are currently being translated and will be hopefully posted again in the near future. The 29 January 2008 court ruling allowed only those Baha'is who had previously held paper ID cards or birth certificates stating that they were Baha'is to obtain the newly established national ID number and identification documents (with no religion entered), thus permitting them to enjoy the rights of citizenship owed to them. However, those Baha'is who do not hold an old ID card or birth certificate, or if the documents held had wrongly stated other than their religion in the specified field, will continue to have no solution to their dilemma. That is if they want to obtain any of these official documents, they would be either forced to lie (in violation of the law itself) on the application form about their true religion and enter one of the three approved religions (Islam Christianity or Judaism) or be left without identity. Clearly, as has been repeatedly proposed by Egypt's--government appointed--National Council for Human Rights, the ultimate solution to this ongoing crisis is the complete elimination of the field of religion from all identity documents, as is the case in several other (mostly Muslim) countries in the region and as in many other parts of the world. Even though the recent verdict is limited in scope, it must be said that: 1) the Baha'is of Egypt are indeed pleased with this new development, 2) they hope that Egypt's government continues to work towards finding a satisfactory solution that would benefit all the Baha'is--and other religious minorities--of Egypt and not only a fraction of their population, 3) they are grateful to all those activists, human rights workers, journalists, bloggers, thinkers, scholars, attorneys, official figures and many others who have courageously supported them and defended their rights, and 4) the Baha'is of Egypt continue to analyze and study the full text of the recent two court verdicts--which are quite expansive and complex--in order for them to act on the implementation of their directives as well as to determine further necessary action in their quest for their full rights. For example, another pressing and critical matter that must be addressed and resolved soon is that Baha'i marriage certificates remain unrecognized in Egypt, thus married Baha'i couples living in Egypt are considered to be living in concubinage and their children are considered by the authorities as illegitimate.

---

Dire situation for Iran's Baha'is

STEPHANIE CARNES

Published: February 11, 2008

Olya Roohizadegan speaks at the Bahai Center in Dallas, Texas. She said she was imprisoned with other women in Iran who were later hanged because they refused to deny their faith. (Photo by Kim Ritzenthaher/ Dallad Morning News via Newscom

Nearly half a million Iranians, members of the Baha'i faith, are being systematically persecuted despite calls by human rights advocates and Western governments.

The U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution on Dec. 19, 2007, expressing "serious concern" over the worsening situation of human rights in Iran, mentioning specifically the continuing persecution of members of the Baha'i faith.

This is not the first incidence of international concern, nor is it the first condemnation of the Islamic Republic of Iran's systematic violation of minority rights.

The recent resolution, which was put forth by Canada and ultimately passed by a vote of 73 to 53 with 55 abstentions, marks the 20th time since 1985 that the United Nations expressed such concern with specific mention of the Baha'i population. According to Baha'i human rights officer Aaron Emmel of the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly Office of External Affairs, both the European Parliament and the U.S. Congress have adopted similar resolutions calling for the elimination of discrimination on religious grounds.

While the Baha'i faith, founded on notions of equality and humanitarianism, originated in what would become the Islamic Republic of Iran, members of the religious community have faced persecution since the republic's establishment under the Islamic constitution of 1979.

According to the Iranian government, the Baha'i population represents a political sect, not a religious community, and is consequently regarded as apostate. Although the rights of certain minority groups, such as Christians and Zoroastrians, are explicitly protected under the constitution of the Islamic republic, the Baha'i population, estimated by the U.S. Department of State to be approximately 300,000-350,000 of the majority Muslim population, enjoys no rights.

The unprotected status of the Baha'is facilitates discrimination without justification within the Iranian legal system. Courts in Iran have denied Baha'is the right of redress or protection against assault, killings, or other forms of persecution. These courts have established that Iranian citizens who kill or injure Baha'is are not liable for damages because their victims are "unprotected infidels," Emmel said.

According to the Department of State's annual International Religious Freedom report, the Iranian government uses Articles 500 and 698 of the Islamic Penal Code, relating to activities against the state and spreading falsehood respectively, to justify violence against the Baha'i population.

The U.N. resolution explicitly recognizes and condemns "attacks on Baha'is and their faith in state sponsored media, increasing evidence of efforts by the state to identify and monitor Baha'is and prevention of Baha'is" from attending university and from sustaining themselves economically" and expressed concern over a marked increase in the number of arbitrary arrests and detention.

The increasing trend toward such targeted illegality and violation of human rights was explicitly manifested when in November 2007, three Baha'is in Shiraz, Iran were initially detained by the Ministry of Intelligence and then imprisoned without trial. According to Diane Alai, the representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations in Geneva, the prisoners were working to educate underprivileged children at the time of their arrests. Their efforts were ultimately described by the Iranian authorities as "offenses relating to state security."

Both the Department of State and Amnesty International have issued recent statements urging Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to launch a full investigation into the incident and, if not charged with criminally recognizable offenses, to release the prisoners. To date, however, these calls have gone unheeded.

The critical nature of the situation necessitates an equally critical response from the international community, say human rights activists.

Subject: FW: Dire situation for Iran's Baha'is

http://www.metimes.com/International/2008/02/11/dire_situation_for_irans_bahais/2651/

Baha'i Faith in Egypt

The Economist Examines Egypt's Emerging Religious Freedom Posted: 15 Feb 2008 06:28 PM CST The Economist, a weekly leading British newspaper with extensive worldwide readership has published yesterday an article about the recent developments affecting the pressing issue of religious freedom in Egypt. It focused on the recent court rulings regarding the Baha'is of Egypt as well as Egyptian citizens who had converted from Islam to Christianity. Both religious minorities have been facing enormous barriers to their civil rights prior to these recent court verdicts that allowed them to be recognized as citizens, even though in the case of the Baha'is the ruling fell short of recognizing the legitimacy of their religion in Egypt. In view of the recent opinion of Cairo's Court of Administrative Justice, it should be clearly pointed out that the Baha'i Faith is recognized globally as an independent divinely-ordained religion. Additionally, the Baha'i International Community is permanently represented in the United Nations along with other prominent non-governmental organizations (NGO). As to the ruling affecting Egyptian Christians, Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court has just ruled that Egyptians who were initially Christian who, for one reason or another, had converted or were forced to convert to Islam, and who want to return to Christianity can do so freely and are now allowed to obtain identity documents verifying their current legal status. The full article can be accessed on Economist.com at this link. The article in the Economist which was published on 14 February 2008 and posted on the newspaper's website from its print edition carries the following title: Egypt A bit more religious freedom Apostasy need not necessarily be punished by death The report begins with the following paragraph: TWENTY-SEVEN years ago, Egypt revised its secular constitution to enshrine Muslim sharia as “the principal source of legislation”. To most citizens, most of the time, that seeming contradiction—between secularism and religion—has not made much difference. Nine in ten Egyptians are Sunni Muslims and expect Islam to govern such things as marriage, divorce and inheritance. Nearly all the rest profess Christianity or Judaism, faiths recognised and protected in Islam. But to the small minority who embrace other faiths, or who have tried to leave Islam, it has, until lately, made an increasingly troubling difference. It then continues with: Members of Egypt's 2,000-strong Bahai community, for instance, have found they cannot state their religion on the national identity cards that all Egyptians are obliged to produce to secure such things as driver's licences, bank accounts, social insurance and state schooling. Hundreds of Coptic Christians who have converted to Islam, often to escape the Orthodox sect's ban on divorce, find they cannot revert to their original faith. In some cases, children raised as Christians have discovered that, because a divorced parent converted to Islam, they too have become officially Muslim, and cannot claim otherwise. Such restrictions on religious freedom are not directly a product of sharia, say human-rights campaigners, but rather of rigid interpretations of Islamic law by over-zealous officials. In their strict view, Bahai belief cannot be recognised as a legitimate faith, since it arose in the 19th century, long after Islam staked its claim to be the final revelation in a chain of prophecies beginning with Adam. Likewise, they brand any attempt to leave Islam, whatever the circumstances, as a form of apostasy, punishable by death. And it concludes with: But such views have lately been challenged. Last year Ali Gomaa, the Grand Mufti, who is the government's highest religious adviser, declared that nowhere in Islam's sacred texts did it say that apostasy need be punished in the present rather than by God in the afterlife. In the past month, Egyptian courts have issued two rulings that, while restricted in scope, should ease some bothersome strictures. Bahais may now leave the space for religion on their identity cards blank. Twelve former Christians won a lawsuit and may now return to their original faith, on condition that their identity documents note their previous adherence to Islam. Small steps, perhaps, but they point the way towards freedom of choice and citizenship based on equal rights rather than membership of a privileged religion.

Baha'i Faith in Egypt

Iran's Draft Penal Code: A Clear Danger to Human Rights Posted: 11 Feb 2008 10:55 PM CST The Assyrian International News Agency has recently posted a report on Iran's draft penal code intended to entirely delegitimize its Baha'i population. Baha'is in Iran are the largest religious minority. The report is titled: Iran Draft Law Proposes Death Penalty for Religious Conversion It begins with the following introduction: Washington -- The Iranian Parliament is reviewing a draft penal code that for the first time in Iranian history legislates the death penalty for apostasy. The draft clearly violates Iran's commitments under the International Covenants on Human Rights, to which the State is party. Read more here.... Additionally, the European Union has just released the following declaration addressing the current critical situation of the large Baha'i population of Iran: Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the deteriorating situation of the religious minority Baha’i in Iran The EU expresses its serious concern at the worsening situation of ethnic and religious minorities in Iran, in particular to the plight of the Baha’i. According to reliable reports, the Iranian Judiciary confirmed that 54 Baha’is were sentenced by a court in Shiraz for ‘propaganda against the regime’. Three of the convicted Baha’is were sentenced to four years in prison, while 51 were given one year suspended prison terms. The EU is concerned about the ongoing systematic discrimination and harassment of Baha'is in Iran, including the expulsion of university and high school students, restrictions on employment and anti-Baha'i propaganda campaigns in the Iranian media. The EU wishes to express its firm opposition to all forms of discrimination, in particular regarding freedom of religion. In this context, the EU urges the Islamic Republic of Iran to release the Baha’i prisoners and stop prosecuting members of the Baha’i minority due to their belief and practice of the Baha'i Faith. The Candidate Countries Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this declaration. * Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

MR THE PRESIDENT OF IRAN

WE URGE YOU PLEASE

RELEASE THEM IN THE NAME OFGOD

999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999

.

Haleh ROUHI

Amnesty International, US State Department call for release
of Baha'i prisoners in Iran

GENEVA
29 January 2008 (BWNS)

In the wake of a US State Department call for Iran to release Baha'i prisoners, Amnesty International has issued an "urgent action" appeal on their behalf.
The three prisoners were taken into custody in Shiraz, Iran, last November and are serving a four-year sentence on charges connected entirely with their belief and practice in the Baha'i Faith.
"We urge the regime to release all individuals held without due process and a fair trial, including the three young Baha'i teachers being held in a Ministry of Intelligence detention center in Shiraz," said Sean McCormack, a spokesman for the State Department on 23 January 2008.

Amnesty International issued its appeal on 25 January. It calls for human rights activists around the world to write directly to Iranian government officials on behalf of the Baha'i prisoners, asking why they have been detained and calling on authorities not to ill-treat or torture them.
"Haleh Rouhi Jahromi, Raha Sabet Sarvestani and Sasan Taqva, all Baha'is (a religious minority), have been detained by the Ministry of Intelligence in Shiraz since 19 November 2007," states the appeal, which was posted on Amnesty International's Web site on 25 January 2008.
"Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English or your own language," the appeal advises, "stating that Amnesty International would consider them to be prisoners of conscience if they are detained because of their Baha'i Faith... calling for their release if they are not to be charged with a recognizably criminal offence and brought to trial promptly and fairly" and "calling on the authorities not to torture or ill-treat them..."

Sasan TAQVA ( Sassan TAGHVA )

The Amnesty International appeal recounts the story of the three prisoners, who were initially part of a group of 54 Baha'is who were arrested in May 2006 as they took part in an effort to educate underprivileged children in Shiraz.
Most of the 54 were released after a few days, although Ms. Rouhi, Ms. Sabet and Mr. Taqva were held for about a month. Then, in August 2007, 53 of those arrested were notified by a local court that they were accused of "offenses relating to state security," according to the appeal.
Ms. Rouhi, Ms. Sabet and Mr. Taqva, moreover, were sentenced to four years in prison, although they remained out on bail. Then, on 19 November 2007, the three were told by telephone to go to the Ministry of Information office in Shiraz to retrieve items that had been confiscated in the May 2006 arrests. Instead, they were incarcerated.

Raha SABET

"When they did not return home, family members who had accompanied them were given conflicting information by intelligence officials," says the appeal. "The officials tried to claim that the three had not entered the building, even though their relatives had seen them do so. Eventually, their relatives were informed that the three were still being held at the Office of the Ministry of Intelligence in Shiraz."
The appeal lists the ages of the prisoners as follows: Ms. Rouhi, 29; Ms. Sabet, 33; and Mr. Taqva, 32.
According to the AI Web site, urgent action appeals are transmitted to a network of more than 100,000 human rights activists in 70 countries.
Diane Ala'i, the representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations in Geneva, said that the Baha'i International Community is gravely concerned for the welfare of the three Baha'i prisoners.
"We hope that the urgent action appeal from Amnesty International, as a signal from human rights defenders worldwide, and the US State Department's statement, will help resolve their unjust detentions," she said.
Ms. Ala'i said the appeal was especially timely because Mr. Taqva has an injured leg, from an automobile accident before his imprisonment, which requires medical attention.
"The problem with his leg is extremely serious and painful," said Ms. Ala'i. "It is understood that he requires surgery to remove a metal pin that had been inserted previously."
Ms. Ala'i said that charges against the three, rather than involving any legitimate concern over "state security" stem entirely from accusations by the court that the Baha'is had been involved in the "indirect teaching" of the Baha'i Faith.
"In fact," said Ms. Ala'i, "the three individuals were engaged in an effort to help underprivileged children in their city, through a program of training that emphasizes moral virtues.
"It is mind-boggling that the government of Iran would consider such efforts to be any type of threat -- and wholly unwarranted that such activities should result in lengthy prison sentence.
"There is no doubt that these three are prisoners of conscience, held solely because of their belief in and practice of the Baha'i Faith," said Ms. Ala'i. "We know this because among those arrested in May 2006 were some individuals who are not Baha'is. They were released within a day and have never faced charges."

The US State Department statement also took note of the "death under suspicious circumstances" of Ebrahim Lotfallahi, an Iranian student of Kurdish descent detained by the Ministry of Intelligence on January 6. "We call on Iranian authorities to conduct a full investigation," said Mr. McCormack. His statement also expressed concern over the continued detention of three Amir Kabir University students.

The Amnesty International appeal can be read in full at: http://www.amnesty.org/en/report/info/MDE13/017/2008

The US Department of State statement can be read at: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2008/jan/99632.htm

Read this story in Persian

IRANIAN BAHA'IS SENTENCED TO PRISON WERE HELPING UNDERPRIVILEGED YOUTH
GENEVA, 6 February 2008 (BWNS) -- Accusations by the Iranian government that54 Baha'is were engaged in anti-regime "propaganda" when they were arrestedalmost two years ago are patently false, the Baha'i International Communitysaid today. In November, three of that group were re-arrested and imprisoned for fouryears. The others have reportedly been given suspended one-year sentences. "Far from working against the government, the Baha'is who were arrested inMay 2006 were engaged in a humanitarian project aimed at helpingunderprivileged young people in the city of Shiraz," said Diane Ala'i, theBaha'i International Community's representative to the United Nations inGeneva."Charges by the government that suggest otherwise are nothing less than anattempt to repress Iranian Baha'is generally and to deflect internationalcriticism of Iran's human rights record," she said.Concern over the status of the Baha'is sentenced in Shiraz was highlightedlast week after an Iranian government spokesperson accused them of engagingin anti-government "propaganda," according to wire service reports. (Whilethose reports put the total arrests at 54, Baha'i sources indicate that only53 Baha'is were arrested in May 2006.)That charge of anti-regime propaganda came several days after the US StateDepartment and Amnesty International expressed concern over the fact thatthree of the Baha'is arrested had been summarily imprisoned in November forterms of four years.According to Agence France-Presse, an Iranian judiciary spokesman, Ali RezaJamshidi, confirmed the prison sentences for the three and also toldreporters on 29 January that 51 others had received suspended one-year jailterms, conditional on their attendance of courses held by the state'sIslamic Propaganda Organization."The accounts emerging from Iran tell of a government that is desperate tojustify its actions in the jailing of three innocent people by accusing themof teaching the Baha'i Faith, which is synonymous with 'anti-regimepropaganda' in the government's twisted perspective, said Ms. Ala'i. "Thisis further evidenced by the requirement that the others attend re-educationclasses, which are clearly aimed at coercing them away from their religiousbeliefs. "While teaching the Baha'i Faith cannot be considered a crime of any sort,given that freedom of religion is protected by international law, the factis that the Baha'is who were arrested almost two years ago in Shiraz werenot working to spread Baha'i teachings -- rather they had initiated and wereparticipating in a number of literacy and youth empowerment projects invarious locations in and near Shiraz."Moreover, the group had introduced the projects to the Islamic Council ofthe city of Shiraz in 2005 and had subsequently received a letter from theCultural Commission granting permission to continue their activities," saidMs. Ala'i.Ms. Ala'i also discussed charges, made in court documents, that the use of aworkbook titled "Breezes of Confirmation," which focuses on teachinglanguage skills and basic moral principles, constitutes part of the evidencethat Baha'is were teaching the Baha'i Faith."The fact is," said Ms. Ala'i, " 'Breezes of Confirmation' makes no directreference to the Baha'i Faith -- and its lessons reflect moral lessonscommon to all religions."In view of the government's continued rebuff of international appeals forthe immediate release of the three prisoners, it is important to provide adetailed account, so as to set the record straight," said Ms. Ala'i. Thenames of the three are Haleh Rouhi Jahromi, 29; Raha Sabet Sarvestani , 33;and Sasan Taqva, 32.Read an account of the development of the social service projects initiatedby the Baha'i community of Shiraz:http://news.bahai.org/documentlibrary/602/01_shiraz_bahai_social_service_projects_en.pdfView a sample lesson from the workbook "Breezes of Confirmation":http://news.bahai.org/documentlibrary/602/02_breezes_of_confirmation_lesson_excerpt_en.pdfTo view the photos and additional features click here:http://news.bahai.org--8-bp-080206-1-SHIRAZFEB08-602-S------------------------------------------------------------Advance release: Please check our website for the final version of thisarticle.------------------------------------------------------------Copyright 2008 by the Baha'i World News Service. All stories and photographsproduced by the Baha'i World News Service may be freely reprinted,re-emailed, re-posted to the World Wide Web and otherwise reproduced by anyindividual or organization as long as they are attributed to the Baha'iWorld News Service. For more information, visit http://news.bahai.org.------------------------------------------------------------

by John Barnabas (aka Barney) Leith

http://www.leithjb.net/blog/
Iranian mendacity about religious freedom
February 6th, 2008
I was astounded to read this on the IRNA (Islamic Republic News Agency) website today:
Iranian Constitution has granted full freedom for religious minorities in the country, Foreign Ministry official said.
He said that Iranians from religious minorities enjoy religious, educational, cultural, social and economic freedom.
The remarks were in reaction to concern expressed by British Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells over social freedom of followers of Bahai’s sect in Iran.
Religious minorities play active role in the Iranian society and have their own representative at Majlis, he said.
The official said that religious minorities have lived in peace for centuries with their Iranian Muslim brothers.
“We see the rights of religious minorities mainly Muslims are being extremely violated in many Western countries including England and they suffer from restrictions to perform their religious ceremonies,” the Iranian official said expressing concern over violation of religious and social rights of Muslim Community in Britain.
Lies
There are at least two out-and-out lies in this news release:
1. Iranians from at least one religious minority - the Baha’is - do not “enjoy religious, educational, cultural, social and economic freedom.” Far from it.
2. The rights of Muslim are not violated in England and they are not restricted in performing their religious ceremonies.
Iranian Baha’is in jail
These 3 Baha’is, Haleh Rouhi, Raha Sabet and Sasan Taqva , have been imprisoned in the detention centre of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security in Shiraz (in other words, not in a regular jail, but in a “special prison”) since November. Why? Because they have been involved in projects aimed at helping deprived and sick children in Shiraz. Not Baha’i children. Muslim children.
They have been accused of being “Baha’i propagandists” and of trying to convert the children to the Baha’i Faith. But this is completely untrue. The materials they were using to help children to read and express themselves and to develop their moral capacities, although inspired by the Baha’i teachings, have nothing in them that could in any way be interpreted as religious teaching.
Ironically, the Baha’is were encouraged in their service projects by Muslims, including the parents of the children who benefited (and the parents knew exactly what was involved) and assisted by Muslims who tutored the children alongside the Baha’is.
And what wonderful treatment do these young Baha’is receive? Three-minute visits with family members, separated by glass screens. Oh, and the prisoners are brought into the visiting room and taken out again blindfolded. At least one guard is always present. God knows what happens to them when they are out of sight of their visitors.
So that’s the Iranian version of religious freedom. Do something to help your fellow citizens and you end up in jail!
Apostasy
And as if that weren’t bad enough, a new penal code is currently being considered by the Iranian parliament, the Majlis. The new code will make the death sentence for apostasy mandatory.
If you have at least one Muslim parent when you’re conceived, become a Muslim yourself after the age of maturity, and then cease to be a Muslim, you’re dead.
If you have no Muslim parent, become a Muslim after the age of maturity, and then cease to be a Muslim, you have three days to think about it, and then you’re dead, unless of course you recant your new religion.
If you have at least one Muslim parent when you’re conceived, don’t become a Muslim but choose “blasphemy”, you have three days to think about it, recant your misguided ways or die.
Unless you’re a woman, of course, in which case your in jail for life “with hardship” until you recant and return to Islam.
No ifs, no buts, no possibility of commuting the sentence.
And Iran is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 18 of which confers freedom of religion or belief, including freedom to choose your religion.
http://grieboskireport.blogspot.com/2008/02/draft-islamic-penal-code-legislates.html

Baha'i Faith in Egypt Egypt: Extensive Media Reaction to the Verdict on Baha'i Rights Posted: 04 Feb 2008 09:52 PM CST Several news outlets reported on the recent verdict that placed the Egyptian Baha'is in a position to obtain ID cards, birth certificates and other official documents. Some reports were in Egyptian newspapers while others were in international newspapers and websites as shown in previous posts and in this one as well. Several international articles were published in Arabic as linked to at the end of this post. Among the recent publications was an article written by Mr. Gamal Nkrumah in Al-Ahram Weekly, which is the English version of Egypt's daily semi-official newspaper. On three previous occasions, Mr. Nkrumah had courageously written on the Baha'i case as was posted here, here and here. His coverage has been objective, balanced, well-informed and accurate. Below is the complete transcript of his current article: A question of faith Gamal Nkrumah sounds out rights activists' reactions to a new court ruling this week that no longer denies Bahaais essential identity documents _____________________ Bahaai community in Egypt, local and international human rights organisations warmly welcomed an Administrative Court ruling this Tuesday (29 January), which reversed the official state policy of denying essential identity documents to Egyptians who do not wish to be identified in official documents as adherents of the three Monotheistic religions recognised by the state. Bahaai Egyptians, leading a legal battle over the past few years to be certified as Bahaais on official documents, won a first step court ruling to that effect in April 2006. The 2006 court ruling, however, was overturned later by the Supreme Administrative Court. This week's new sentence seems to meet the Bahaais' demand half way, since while rejecting the demand that the Bahaai faith is a religion, it allowed those who do not wish to be identified as followers of Islam, Christianity or Judaism to have official documents in which the religion category would either be filled by a "hyphen" or the word "without". "This is not just a victory for the Bahaai community of Egypt, but it is also a victory for all those Egyptians who do not adhere to the three monotheistic religions," Hossam Bahgat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) told Al-Ahram Weekly. "For the first time in contemporary Egyptian history, an individual who professes Hinduism or Buddhism, or even those wishing to call themselves non-believers, could enjoy full citizenship rights. That in itself is a great advance of human rights and will tremendously enhance the country's human rights record," Bahgat explains. Basma Moussa, a leader and spokeswoman of the Bahaai community of Egypt, concurs. She was ecstatic. "This ruling is what we have been struggling to achieve for years. At last our prayers have been answered. We are extremely grateful that justice has been served and that finally we can lead normal lives as Egyptian citizens," Moussa says. Labib Iskandar, a leading Egyptian Bahaai, and a professor of engineering at Cairo University laments that, "we used to move about without personal identification cards. That is a criminal offence in Egypt. We could be stopped by police at any moment, anywhere and asked for our ID." "Inability to produce an ID card entails a five-year prison sentence," Moussa, a dentist and an assistant lecturer at Cairo University says. "The civil status law makes it obligatory for every Egyptian citizen to carry on his or her personal ID card". "These documents are essential to obtain education and employment, register births, immunise children, and conduct basic transactions such as opening a bank account, obtaining a driver's licence, or collecting a pension," Bahgat extrapolates. "A previous ruling by the Supreme Administrative Court in December 2006 had upheld the state policy of refusing to recognise the religious affiliation of Bahaais in official documents, arguing that such recognition would violate public order and Sharia [Islamic law] requirements," Bahgat explains. The December 2006 ruling prompted Bahaai Egyptians to file two other lawsuits -- the subject of Tuesday's ruling -- requesting documents that do not list any religious affiliation. "The new cases, filed by EIPR lawyers, argued that forcing Bahaais to identify falsely as Muslim or Christian violated their rights to freedom of conviction, privacy, equality and full citizenship rights," Bahgat notes. Bahaais began to experience grave difficulties beginning in 1995, when the authorities insisted that all Egyptians had to acquire or replace personal documents with computerised ones from the central Civil Registry Office in the Ministry of Interior. It is hoped that this week's ruling would finally allow Bahaai Egyptians to obtain birth certificates and computerised identity cards leaving the religious category void. Bahgat, Iskandar and Moussa hope that the state would implement the ruling as soon as possible. "We urge the government to implement the decision without delay, and not to appeal this clear verdict of the court," Bahgat says. Other articles can be viewed at the following sites: Radio Netherlands Worldwide (Arabic): حرية العقيدة في مصر: أحكام متباينة BBC (Arabic): هل يحق للدولة الاعتراف بديانات دون أخرى؟ US Copts (Arabic): تغطية الفضائيات المصرية للحكم بترك خانة الديانة فارغة للبهائيين Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights "EIPR" (Arabic): مصر: القضاء يبطل حرمان البهائيين من الوثائق الرسمية على الحكومة أن تمتثل لتطبيق الحكم دون إبطاء

Baha'i Faith in Egypt

Egypt: Television Coverage of Verdict Allowing Baha'is ID Cards Posted: 01 Feb 2008 09:32 AM CST The following is some of the television news coverage on 29 January 2008 immediately after the announcement of the verdict by Cairo's Court of Administrative Justice which allowed the Baha'is to obtain birth certificates and ID cards without forcing them to enter one of the three recognized religions in Egypt (Islam, Christianity & Judaism).

With this verdict, as one can watch the judge explaining in the courtroom, the Baha'is cannot enter their religion either, but can leave that section of official documents vacant, enter a dash (-) or enter "other." Therefore Baha'is can obtain ID cards and other official documents without being forced to lie about their religious affiliation. Consequently, Baha'is in Egypt will be in a position to enjoy all their citizenship rights such as employment, health care and education.

Without ID cards, Egyptian citizens would face "civic death," thus the government has no options but to fulfill its obligations to its own citizens by allowing them to be identified.

The contemplated appeal by the Ministry of Interior would be entirely pointless and would not serve any purpose but to disrupt "public order" and to continue to isolate and disfranchise a group of law-abiding Egyptian citizens, to whom the Ministry has the obligation and the charge to protect. Before deciding on such ill-advised appeal, the Ministry of Interior must think first of what other options would it have to solve this complicated crisis.

First video: Cairo's Dream-2 Channel



===========

Second Video: Cairo's Al-Muhawar Channel