This tribal phenomenon is sometimes used instead of applying the national laws when Copts are subjected to attacks. In most cases, the perpetrators escape punishment and Copts lose their rights. They are typically forced to waive their complaints. Worse still: this procedure is done under the supervision of security departments, especially in Upper Egypt governorates.
Sobhy Nady Mehany (26 years old), a Copt displaced from Delga village, Dar Mawas, Minya governorate (Upper Egypt), said that he and his family were displaced on July 3, 2013 after they were attacked by Muslim Brotherhood supporters. He mentioned that they cannot return to their houses and that the displacement was enforced under the supervision of the security forces that were standing in front of the house during the attack.
He told MCN that the incident dates back to July 3, 2013 after General Al-Sisi, then Defense Minister, ousted the Islamic president Mohamed Morsi. He said that Muslim Brotherhood members of the village swept Copts’ houses, and opened fire, blaming them for the ouster of Morsi. Mehany mentioned that attackers looted a shop and a store owned by his family, and that Copts hid in their houses out of fear.
Mina Shohdy Awad, a Copt from Al-Basrah village, Al-Amiriyah, Alexandria, still cannot return home three years after being displaced. This took place after a rumor that he had an affair with a Muslim girl in the village. A customary reconciliation meeting was held by Sherif Al-Hawary, a Salafist Call leader in the west of Alexandria, which ordered Awad to leave the village.
Awad told MCN that he lost hope in returning to his house. Yet, he mentioned that he refuses to beg for his right from some individuals who belong to the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists in the village, who have no right to displace or return him, but they control the area amid absence of police.
Under the Muslim Brotherhood rule, Dahshor area in Giza witnessed in August 2012 the displacement of Christian families after a clash broke out between a Coptic launderer and a Muslim client, who accused the Copt of burning his shirt. The dispute escalated into an attack on Copts. A customary reconciliation meeting ordered displacement of some Christians from the village.
These meetings are now being held even in some parts of the capital. A customary reconciliation meeting was at Al-Mataryiah district in Cairo, a year ago after clashes between two Muslim and Coptic families. The verdict was to displace the Christian family from the area, to have them sell all their property, pay one million pounds, slaughter 100 camels and 5 calves and to give up their 1000 meter land.
This meeting was held under the supervision of security leaders and police including Maj. Gen. Yehia Al-Iraqy, deputy director of Cairo State Security. The meeting included also Sheikhs of the area and witnessed by media professionals and channels.
Saeed Abdel Masih, is a lawyer of a Copt imprisoned in an Al-Mataryiah incident which occurred four months ago between Zaghlol and Hetler Coptic families and Al-Walimah Muslim family. He said that the customary reconciliation meeting held recently at Al-Mataryiah humiliated the Copts.
He told MCN that Al-Mataryiah police station colluded with the Muslim family, something clearly apparent in the terms imposed on Copts in the meeting.
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Edited from: http://www.mcndirect.com/showsubject.aspx?id=60263