COUNTRY-SPECIFIC CONDITIONS OF INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
Egypt
The status of respect for religious freedom by the Government declined during the period covered by this report. The Constitution provides for freedom of belief and the practice of religious rites, although the Government places restrictions on these rights in practice. Religious practices that conflict with the Government's interpretation of Islamic law are prohibited. Members of the non-Muslim religious minorities officially recognized by the Government generally worship without harassment; however, tradition and some aspects of the law discriminate against religious minorities, including Christians and particularly Baha'is. The Constitution provides for equal public rights and duties without discrimination based on religion or creed, and in general the Government upholds these constitutional protections. On April 24, 2007, the Court of Administrative Justice ruled that the Interior Ministry was not obligated to recognize reconversion by Christian-born converts to Islam. While this ruling was inconsistent with verdicts issued over the previous three years by another judge in the same court on behalf of 32 such converts, it reinstated a long-standing government policy not to provide a legal means for converts from Islam to Christianity to amend their civil records to reflect their new religious status. Despite presidential decrees in 1999 and 2005 to facilitate approvals for church repair and rebuilding, many churches continued to encounter the same difficulties as in previous years in obtaining permits. .......Sources close to Bahaa al-Accad, a convert from Islam to Christianity who was detained for 25 months without charge, reported that his personal security was threatened by officials of the SSIS following his April 28, 2007 release. On February 22, 2007, Abdel Karim Nabil Suleiman, whose blog entries had contained strongly-worded critiques of the practice of Islam and Al-Azhar's Sunni Muslim orthodoxy, was sentenced to three years in prison for "denigrating Islam." Agents of the SSIS reportedly detained a Jehovah's Witness and, while making demeaning comments about the Jehovah's Witnesses, struck the detainee repeatedly and threatened him and his family with ongoing harassment unless he agreed to become an informant on the Jehovah's Witness community. The Government again opposed advances in the respect for religious freedom affecting Baha'is. The Government’s appeal of an April 2006 decision by the Administrative Court supporting the right of Baha'i citizens to receive ID cards and birth certificates with religion noted on the documents, resulted in a December 16, 2006, decision to overturn this ruling and maintained the government prohibition on Baha'i citizens obtaining identity cards. The Government also continued to deny birth certificates and marriage licenses to members of the Baha'i community.
The status of respect for religious freedom by the Government declined during the period covered by this report. The Constitution provides for freedom of belief and the practice of religious rites, although the Government places restrictions on these rights in practice. Religious practices that conflict with the Government's interpretation of Islamic law are prohibited. Members of the non-Muslim religious minorities officially recognized by the Government generally worship without harassment; however, tradition and some aspects of the law discriminate against religious minorities, including Christians and particularly Baha'is. The Constitution provides for equal public rights and duties without discrimination based on religion or creed, and in general the Government upholds these constitutional protections. On April 24, 2007, the Court of Administrative Justice ruled that the Interior Ministry was not obligated to recognize reconversion by Christian-born converts to Islam. While this ruling was inconsistent with verdicts issued over the previous three years by another judge in the same court on behalf of 32 such converts, it reinstated a long-standing government policy not to provide a legal means for converts from Islam to Christianity to amend their civil records to reflect their new religious status. Despite presidential decrees in 1999 and 2005 to facilitate approvals for church repair and rebuilding, many churches continued to encounter the same difficulties as in previous years in obtaining permits. .......Sources close to Bahaa al-Accad, a convert from Islam to Christianity who was detained for 25 months without charge, reported that his personal security was threatened by officials of the SSIS following his April 28, 2007 release. On February 22, 2007, Abdel Karim Nabil Suleiman, whose blog entries had contained strongly-worded critiques of the practice of Islam and Al-Azhar's Sunni Muslim orthodoxy, was sentenced to three years in prison for "denigrating Islam." Agents of the SSIS reportedly detained a Jehovah's Witness and, while making demeaning comments about the Jehovah's Witnesses, struck the detainee repeatedly and threatened him and his family with ongoing harassment unless he agreed to become an informant on the Jehovah's Witness community. The Government again opposed advances in the respect for religious freedom affecting Baha'is. The Government’s appeal of an April 2006 decision by the Administrative Court supporting the right of Baha'i citizens to receive ID cards and birth certificates with religion noted on the documents, resulted in a December 16, 2006, decision to overturn this ruling and maintained the government prohibition on Baha'i citizens obtaining identity cards. The Government also continued to deny birth certificates and marriage licenses to members of the Baha'i community.
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