The Commission found that while President Sisi has “made several important public statements and gestures encouraging religious tolerance,” the Egyptian government has “not adequately protected religious minorities, particularly Coptic Orthodox Christians and their property, from periodic violence."
Despite a decrease in “the number of targeted, sectarian attacks when compared to the previous year,” the report argues, “Egyptian courts continue to prosecute, convict, and imprison Egyptian citizens for blasphemy, and new government initiatives to counter atheism emerged during [this past] year.”
The Commission also pointed to laws enacted by President Sisi that restrict “freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief.” The Commission attributes many of these repressive laws to the lack of an elected parliament in Egypt.
The USCIRF recommends that Egypt be designated a “country of particular concern” by the U.S. government under the provisions of the International Religious Freedom Act, a conclusion which it has reached for the past five annual reviews.