 | This article documents a current event.
Information may change rapidly as the event progresses. | This article or section does not cite its references or sources.
Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate citations. (help, get involved!) -
Main article: Persecution of Bahá'ís On December 16, 2006, the Supreme Administrative Council of Egypt made a ruling against the Bahá'ís stating that the government may not recognize the Bahá'í Faith in official identification numbers.[1] The ruling leaves Bahá'ís unable to obtain the necessary government documents to have rights in their country; they cannot obtain ID cards, birth certificates, death certificates, marriage or divorce certificates, passports; they also cannot be employed, educated, treated in hospitals or vote among other things.[1] The EIPR stated that the press release issued by the Chief Judge of the Supreme Court did not respond to any of the evidence and legal argumented presented by the EIPR in the case, and that instead the press release only discussed the tenets and beliefs of the Bahá'í Faith, which should have had no effect on the decision of the court.[1] Image File history File links Current_event_marker. ...
This Manual of Style has the simple purpose of making things easy to read by following a consistent format — it is a style guide. ...
Image File history File links Information_icon. ...
The persecution of BaháÃs refers to the religious persecution of BaháÃs in various countries, especially in Iran, the nation of origin of the Baháà Faith, Irans largest religious minority and the location of one of the largest Baháà populations in the world. ...
December 16 is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ...
2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
History of Matter
Chronology Chronology, April – December 2006:
4 April 2006 – A three-judge panel of the Egyptian Administrative Court upholds the right of a Bahá'í couple to lawfully state their religion on their ID cards. The cards had been confiscated by the Government after the couple sought to have their passports updated to include their daughters.
The couple, Husam Izzat Musa and Ranya Enayat Rushdy, sued, saying the confiscation was illegal under Egypt’s Constitution and international law. The Court ruled for the couple, ordering the Civil Registry to issue new documents that properly identify them as Bahá'ís, citing existing precedents and Islamic jurisprudence that allow for the right of non-Muslims to live in Muslim lands “without any of them being forced to change what they believe in.”
“It is not inconsistent with Islamic tenets to mention the religion on this card even though it may be a religion whose rites are not recognized for open practice, such as Bahá’ism [sic] and the like,” wrote the Court. “On the contrary, these [religions] must be indicated so that the status of its bearer is known and thus he does not enjoy a legal status to which his belief does not entitle him in a Muslim society.”
View Court Ruling: English Arabic
Early April to early May 2006 – Various news media in Egypt and the Arab world report on the ruling, stirring a storm of reaction. Human rights groups in Egypt are quoted as supportive; representatives of Al Azhar are negative, as is the Government reaction. Newspapers in Bahrain, Kuwait and elsewhere in the region also write about the case, with many going into long explanations about the Bahá'í Faith. Ordinary Egyptians and Arabic-speaking people throughout the world began to react in blogs and other on-line forums. In an on-line article in Al Arabiya about the ruling, which also reported generally about the Bahá'í Faith, more than 100 people posted online comments, for example.
Here are some links to some of the early articles:
On 6 April, the IRIN, a news service of the United Nations serving the region, wrote, “Human rights activists have welcomed a landmark ruling by the Administrative Court recognizing the right of Egyptian Bahais to have their religion acknowledged on official documents.” April 6 is the 96th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (97th in leap years). ...
[Read the original article]
On 6 April, Al Arabiya, an online service of the television network, carried the headline, “They were forcing them to register themselves as Muslims; An Egyptian court recognizes the Bahá’í religion despite refusal by the Azhar.” More than 100 online commentaries were appended to this article. April 6 is the 96th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (97th in leap years). ...
[Read the original article in Arabic]
On 7 April, Al-Watan, “Homeland,” a newspaper of Kuwait, carried the headline: “They described it as the Greatest Setback; Al-Azhar scholars demand that the Egyptian judiciary review the ruling of acknowledging ‘Al-Bahá’íyyah’ [the Bahá'í Faith] as a religion.” The lead of the article says: “A number of Al-Azhar scholars condemned the ruling of the Egyptian judiciary that acknowledged the Bahá’í creed, stressing that it is considered a great legal setback and a tragedy that must be drawn back, emphasizing that Bahá’ís are not Muslims, rather, they are agents of Zionism and colonialism and are enemies of the country; they demanded a review of the ruling that acknowledges this creed.” April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ...
On 4 May, Al-Ahram, one of Egypt’s leading daily newspapers, carried the headline: “Crisis in Parliament Over a Judicial Ruling About the Bahá'ís; The Deputies: ‘Al-Bahá’íyyah’ [the Bahá'í Faith] is not a Divine religion … and the ruling contradicts the constitution.” The article said that the Government had decided to appeal the ruling. May 4 is the 124th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (125th in leap years). ...
28 April 2006 – After reading that the Government has asked Al Azhar for information on the Bahá'í Faith, and knowing that much misinformation about the Bahá'í Faith has been published in the Egyptian media, the Bahá'í International Community’s United Nations Office writes to leaders of the Al Azhar Islamic Research Council to explain the essential principles of Bahá'í belief. The letter asks principally that facts about the Faith be obtained from “trustworthy” sources “uninfluenced by the misconceptions” that are being spread about the Faith. The letter also offers a brief statement of basic Bahá'í principles and doctrine. April 28 is the 118th day of the year (119th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 247 days remaining. ...
2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
View the letter in English
View the letter in Arabic
7 May 2006 – The Government moves formally to appeal the Administrative Court’s ruling. The appeal came after attacks on the ruling in Parliament and by representatives of Al Azhar. According to the IRIN news service, an Interior Ministry official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said: “We presented an appeal to revoke the previous ruling on the basis that neither the Egyptian constitution nor Islamic law recognize Bahaism [sic] as a religion unto itself.” 13 May 2006 – “Kifayah” [Enough], a loosely organized group of civil society organizations, journalists, writers, artists and academics, issued a collective statement calling for an end to discrimination against Bahá'ís: May 7 is the 127th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (128th in leap years). ...
2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
May 13 is the 133rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (134th in leap years). ...
2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
“We confirm that this is not a case of the followers of the Bahá’í denomination only, it is the case of all minorities and faiths that are suffering from discrimination in Egyptian society for decades,” said the group, which is composed of the Popular Group for Change, the Egyptian Democratic Centre, the Centre for Socialist Studies, Socialist Horizons, the Arabic network for Human Rights Information, and Civil Watch for Human Rights, along with some 40 journalists, writers, artists and academics.
“Our attitude springs from a deep belief that calls for constitutional and political reform cannot be separated from demands for the guarantee of freedom of belief and expression equally for every citizen, regardless of religion, ethnicity, gender or color, otherwise, reform would become merely ink on paper and lose all meaning,” the 13 May statement continues. “Today, the followers of a small denomination are sacrificed to fanaticism, but whose turn will it be tomorrow….if we be silent now?”
15 May 2006 – Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court suspends on appeal the implementation of the earlier lower Administrative Court ruling that allowed Bahá'ís to have their religion recognized on official documents. The government’s appeal of the lower court’s ruling is set to be heard on 19 June 2006. May 15 is the 135th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (136th in leap years). ...
2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
16 June 2006 – The Supreme Administrative Court continues the hearing until 16 September after a brief procedural session. June 16 is the 167th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (168th in leap years), with 198 days remaining. ...
2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
8 August 2006 – The state-sponsored National Council for Human Rights holds a major symposium on the issues surrounding religious affiliation and identity cards, at which the Bahá'í community offers testimony. http://news.bahai.org/story/472 August 8 is the 220th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (221st in leap years), with 145 days remaining. ...
2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
21 September 2006 – The Supreme Administrative Court again postpones the hearing on the April ruling until 20 November, to await the completion of an advisory report by the State Commissioner’s Authority. http://news.bahai.org/story/480 September 21 is the 264th day of the year (265th in leap years). ...
2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
14 October 2006 – The Egyptian newspaper Rose El-Youssef publishes a story saying the advisory report is completed, and that the State Commissioner’s Authority is urging the rejection of the lower court’s ruling. October 14 is the 287th day of the year (288th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
17 October 2006 – The initial hearing on a second lawsuit over religious affiliation on identity cards, this time concerning a Bahá'í university student who was dismissed after his military deferment was revoked for lack of a new, computerized ID card, was continued to 9 January 2006. October 17 is the 290th day of the year (291st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
2 December 2006 – A final hearing is held in the government’s appeal of the lower court’s ruling before the Supreme Administrative Court. The Court indicates its judgment will be issued in the case on 16 December 2006. http://news.bahai.org/story/493 December 2 is the 336th day (337th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
16 December 2006 – The Supreme Administrative Court issues its final judgment in the case of Husam Izzat Musa and Ranya Enayat Rushdy, upholding the government’s policy of allowing only three religious affiliations on state ID cards and government documents. http://news.bahai.org/story/495 December 16 is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ...
2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
17 December 2006 – Various Egyptian human rights organizations issue statements of support for the Bahá'í community of Egypt in their struggle for basic civil rights, such as the Cairo Centre for Human Rights Studies. December 17 is the 351st day of the year (352nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ...
2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
View the Cairo Centre for Human Rights Studies Press Release:
English
Arabic
21 December 2006 – The Universal House of Justice, the highest governing body of the Baha'i Faith, addresses a message to the Baha'is of Egypt in the wake of a 16 December Supreme Administrative Court decision in Cairo that upheld a discriminatory government policy regarding the Baha'is and their identification cards. December 21 is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Read the message: English Arabic
Most Current Legal Proceeding Deprived of all rights as an organized religious community since 1960, the Bahá’í community of Egypt today faces a fresh crisis that aims to utterly destroy it as a viable religious community.
The current crisis stems from a Government decision, now being implemented, to computerize the national identity card system. The system has been set up to exclude Bahá’ís, depriving them of valid ID cards, making them virtual non-citizens, without access to employment, education, and all government services, including hospital care. Individuals without a valid ID card would even be unable to buy groceries from state markets. Already, a number of Bahá’í young people are currently without valid ID cards, a situation that has forced them out of universities and the army, placing them precariously on the margins of society.
The immediate crisis concerns the Government’s computerization of the national identification card system — an interesting conjunction of modern technology and the oppression of a religious minority.
All citizens must carry ID cards, which must be presented not only for any type of government service, such as medical care in a public hospital or processing for a property title or deed, but also to obtain employment, education, banking services, and many other important private transactions. ID cards are also required to pass through police checkpoints, and individuals without such cards are accordingly deprived of freedom of movement.
In Egypt, ID cards require a statement of religious affiliation. Moreover, the system allows for one of only the three recognized religions of Egypt — Islam, Christianity, or Judaism — to be entered.
Bahá’ís have long refused as a matter of principle to falsely list themselves as Muslim, Christian, or Jew. Not only would such a step constitute committing fraud against the state, but such a denial of faith would effectively play into the hands of those who seek to eliminate the Bahá’ís in Egypt. Accordingly, Bahá’ís have simply left the religious affiliation slot blank, made a dash, written “other,” or even sometimes boldly listed “Bahá’í.” With the old paper ID cards, Bahá’ís were thus able to obtain cards and survive as individuals in Egyptian society.
In the 1990s, the Government announced it would be upgrading its identification card system by issuing computerized cards that would be less susceptible to forgery. This, the Government indicated, would help to combat militant Islamic unrest, and improve data collection and access. The Government indicated the shift to the new system would be gradual, but set January 2005 as the deadline for everyone to have the new cards — a deadline which has apparently been extended to 2006.
The system has apparently undergone modifications since it was set up. In 2003, for example, four Bahá’ís sought and obtained new computerized cards in which the religious affiliation field listed “other” — a designation to which the Bahá’í community does not object. More recently, however, the software has been updated so that only one of the three recognized religions can be entered. If the field is left blank, the computer refuses to issue the card.
The Bahá’í community of Egypt has approached the Government on numerous occasions to plead for a simple change in the programming, if not the law, so that they could be issued valid ID cards under the new system. Such pleas, however, have been met with rejection and refusal.
Accordingly, all members of the Egyptian Bahá’í community face the prospect of being left wholly without proper ID Cards by the year’s end — a situation in which they would essentially be denied all rights of citizenship, and, indeed, would be faced with the inability even to withdraw their own money from the bank, get medical treatment at public hospitals, or purchase food from state stores.
Already, the Government has asked young people to start coming in for the new cards, and a number of Bahá’í youth have accordingly been stripped of paper identification cards. Once stripped of ID cards, Bahá’í youth essentially become prisoners in their own homes, since the authorities often set up evening checkpoints to verify the identity of young men. Individuals without proper ID face detention. Likewise, young people without ID cards are denied entrance and continuing enrollment in colleges and universities, as well as service in the armed forces.
Given the Government’s refusal to make what would be the simplest of programming changes — such that the cards could be issued with a blank religious affiliation field or perhaps with the word “other” — one can only conclude that the ID card situation is in reality an attempt to further marginalize and eliminate the Bahá’í community of Egypt.
At one point, for example, Government officials offered Bahá’ís the possibility of using passports in lieu of ID cards — a ploy that would set the Bahá’ís apart or even drive them from their homeland. There is concern, as well, that refusing to list Bahá’í in any kind of national identification database enables the Government to officially proclaim that there are no Bahá’ís in the country.
Set against the burgeoning call for freedom and democracy in the Middle East, the Egyptian ID card “scam” offers an interesting twist in human rights oppression: the use of modern technology to nullify a community of one of the most progressive and peace minded religious groups in the Middle East.
Response of the Bahá'ís This section
Reaction of Human Rights Groups A list of brief quotes
Reactions in the Press Summarize the articles, and then provide the full links. Find other relevant press. - International Herald Tribune
- Al Bawaba
- WorldWide Religious News
- Al Jazeera
References - Bahai-Egypt Blog
- International Herald Tribune
- Al Bawaba
- WorldWide Religious News
- Al Jazeera
- Dry Bones Cartoon
Notes - ^ a b c Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (2006-12-16). Government Must Find Solution for Baha'i Egyptians. eipr.org. Retrieved on 2006-12-16.
| 
Feeds |
Contact