Egypt – lawyers write to The Guardian

Last Tuesday (13 February) a letter by a number of prominent lawyers appeared in The Guardian newspaper in the UK about the denial of ID cards to the believers in Egypt was published in The Guardian newspaper on Tuesday 13 February.

As experienced lawyers we have serious concerns over the ID-card policy in Egypt, which requires Baha’is, and followers of some other religions, to deny their religion to obtain the mandatory card. Not wishing to lie, Baha’is cannot obtain ID cards and so are denied access to government services, such as medical care and education, cannot register marriages, births, divorces or property transactions, and cannot obtain passports. They are also subject to the threat of detention if the police ask them to show their card. This policy is inconsistent with Egypt’s obligations under international law.

The letter was signed by the following individuals:

Prof Ilias Bantekas Brunel University,
Benedetto Conforti former judge, European court of human rights,
Prof Guy Goodwin-Gill All Souls College, Oxford,
Prof Mark Janis University of Connecticut,
Prof Jeffrey Jowell QC University College London,
Prof Matthew Kramer University of Cambridge,
Prof Dan Sarooshi University of Oxford,
Prof Malcolm Shaw QC University of Leicester

Note added Monday 19 February, 2007
I’m sorry not to have put the link to this letter in The Guardian. Bilo was kind enough to find it here.

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