Monday, December 3, 2007

conference on citizenship rights in Egypt Nov 28-29

"A conference on citizen rights in Egypt was hailed as a landmark event this week as grandstanding and rhetoric was dropped in favour of pushing for the promulgation of laws to strengthen the rights of citizens." Gamal Nkruma wrote in Al-Ahram Weekly Nov 29th

The National Council for Human Rights, an advisory government body with members appointed by the government, recently issued a report that conceded that Copts do have legitimate grievances and advised the government to drop information of affiliation from identity cards. Other human rights groups, such as Human Rights Watch, have warned that Copts and other minorities such as the Bahais are denied some citizenship rights, views that are echoed by some members of the Coptic community overseas.

The final communiqué noted that the participants had agreed to designate 2008 as the year in which national citizenship rights should be commemorated and urged the government, People's Assembly, political parties and NGOs to discuss in detail the citizenship rights of all Egyptians, including religious minorities such as the Coptic community.

"[The conference] is a beginning, a process. And we do not just intend to promulgate new laws, but to change attitudes and make sure that everyone abides by the laws," said Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

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