On November 5th, Egypt had its second Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the United Nations Human Rights Council. Each member state of the UN undergoes these reviews which started in 2006.
The UN has started its second round of UPRs, which means that each country rotates and receives a human rights examination about every four years. Each member state submits a report on their country and actions taken to address concerns they had agreed to act upon. All other member states have the opportunity to submit questions to the nation under review. Non-profit organizations also can submit written reports on issues of concern. In this review, over 100 member states made recommendations to Egypt. Learn More about Egypt’s UPR>>
Egypt has undergone two major revolutions since the first UPR was conducted in 2010. While many of the recommendations and issues raised remain relevant, the current El-Sissi administration had the difficult task of reporting on issues over which it has not had a lot of time to address. Recognizing the impact of multiple changes of power, Coptic Solidarity has some serious concerns with the UPR report Egypt submitted. The concerns are primarily due to omissions and glossing over of critical issues such as discrimination and religious persecution facing all religious minorities in Egypt. The final report of Egypt’s UPR including views on conclusions and/or recommendations, voluntary commitments and replies presented by Egypt has not yet been published. Coptic Solidarity will publish an update on the recommendations and Egypt’s formal response, comparing and contrasting to the 2010 conclusions, when the information is available.
Section II.7discusses the state’s duty to safeguard freedom of belief, thought and opinion. It states that the Constitution “establishes equality among all citizens and ensures their enjoyment of rights and freedoms without discrimination on any grounds.”
Section V.23 – 24also deals with freedom of religion and belief and the report states that “The Constitution guarantees complete freedom of religion and belief, allowing the personal status of followers of different religions to be regulated according to their own laws, and ensuring their freedom to undertake and regulate their own religious affairs and choose their own religious leaders.”
There are many discrepancies between these guarantees and how religious minorities are treated in reality, but a few are:
1) Only 3 religions are recognized by the Egyptian government – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam – meaning other religious minorities do not have the same rights and freedoms, such as Baha’i or Buddhists.
2) Because the Constitution is based on principles of Sharia, Islam and Muslims have clear advantages in society ranging from education, marriage, employment, custody, personal security and much more.
3) The report hardly mentions the horrific rise in violence against Copts in recent years including more than500 Coptic Christians who have been killed in separate incidents since the January 25, 2011 revolution. Additionally, more than 100 churches and Christian institutions have been burned down or destroyed in the same period, among them the 80 churches and Christian institutions that were destroyed in August 2013. The report disingenuously relegates the task of rebuilding these institutions to the “Home of Egyptian Family” (see below).
4) Converts from Islam to another faith, or suspected of being atheists, are targeted with harassment, imprisonment, torture, and prosecution. Such is the case with Mohammed Hegazi who, “Seven years ago was the first Egyptian citizen to attempt a legal change of his religious identity from Muslim to Christian.” He is currentlyin prison suffering repeated torture for expressing his beliefs and opinions publically. He was re-imprisoned under the current administration. When a court recently ordered his release from detention, pending trial, the State Security immediately arrested him and accused him of several other fictitious charges.
5) The report cites a program called “Home of the Egyptian Family” as a success to minimize religious tensions and spread tolerance. Despite participation of Pope Tawadros II and the Sheikh of Al-Azhar, and the occasional usefulness of this committee to help diffuse tensions, it essentially means the State abdicates some of its fundamental responsibilities and relegates them to a “private” body without any authority. Furthermore, the program is seen by many as reminiscent of forced reconciliation sessions (often used in rural areas to settle disputes after Muslims have wronged Christians) in which Christians are pressured to drop charges and court proceedings in favor of local mediation in which perpetrators nearly always are acquitted and impunity is perpetuated against religious minorities. Despite the program’s goal (as stated in Egypt’s UPR report) of raising money “to repair 46 churches damaged during the August rampage against Copts,” only 2 churches have been reported to date to be repaired. So in fact, almost no progress has been made in repairing churches more than a year after their destruction.
Section VIIdeals with empowerment and protection of women’s rights. While many initiatives were mentioned, reality for women in Egypt is life in a very misogynist environment. In April 2013, the UN released a report citing that 99.3% of women and girls are subjected to sexual harassment in Egypt. This horrifying statistic demonstrates that much more progress is necessary.
Section XIIof the report covers human trafficking. While the Egyptian government is providing more training, education, and even setting up a specialized force to deal with this travesty, no statistics are made available regarding the scale of trafficking. In fact, the report discusses trafficking as if it is primarily a problem with immigrants and women from other countries. There is no mention in this report of the well-documented crime of kidnapping, raping, forcibly converting, and marrying Coptic girls to Muslim men. In many of the reported incidences, Egyptian police have neglected to take action when kidnapping has been reported, and in other cases the police have even colluded and been part of the operations. Over 500 Coptic girls have disappeared in the last few years and it is a major oversight to not include their plight in the report.
While not every incident can be covered in a report, one would think major incidents of violence would be cited as well as what actions have been taken to bring justice to the situations. Some of these incidents occurred prior to Mr. El-Sisi’s election as President. But justice requires transparency and accountability for all such acts, regardless of when they occurred over the past four years. There are many incidents we could mention, but several other notable omissions in the Egypt report include:
· The Maspero Massacre in 2011, in which state security personnel attacked Coptic protestors and crushed many by driving armored vehicles through crowds killing at least 28 individuals. State owned media stations incited Egyptians to violence against Copts saying they should protect the military
· The unprecedented attack and collusion of police personnel on St. Mark’s Cathedral, the center of Coptic Orthodoxy and seat of Pope, under the Morsi regime.
· On June 23, 2013, four Shia men were brutally murdered in the streets of greater Cairo after local Salafi preachers incited crowds through incessant hate speech.
How will Egypt Balance Combatting Terrorism and Simultaneously Protecting Human Rights?
This is the question that remains for the El-Sisi administration to answer. While the UPR report notes that the government’s first human rights concern for Egyptians is to live in safety. “Despite the wave of terrorism Egypt is facing…the Government confirms its obligation to respect and protect human rights and freedoms while continuing to combat terrorism.”
The report highlights a number of improvements and positive initiatives being undertaken to improve human rights. Most importantly, the new Constitution provides greater protections for religious freedom and human rights than previous ones. Yet, the crux of the matter remains. Little has been done to implement and advance human rights as is apparent in the treatment of religious minorities and efforts to manage NGOs through new legislation.
Coptic Solidarity urges President El-Sisi to ensure equality and religious freedom for all citizens and hopes Egypt can find the proper balance in protecting citizens and giving them the opportunity to live in liberty.
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LV