More on the story I posted yesterday about the Ministerial decree that allows Egyptian citizens who are neither Muslims, Christians nor Jews, to put a dash in the religion space on official documents. This brings relief to the Egyptian Baha’is who have been struggling for years to obtain the ID cards they are legally required to have without at the same time denying their faith.
Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, the Egyptian human rights organization that has been the main supporter of the Egyptian Baha’is in their battle through the administrative court system, has issued the following statement:
Egypt: Decree Ends ID Bias against Baha’is
Halts Official Discrimination against ‘Non-Recognized’ Religion
(Cairo, April 15, 2009)
The new decree from Egypt’s Interior Ministry recognizing the right of adherents of ”non-recognized” religions to obtain necessary identification documents and access to basic services is an overdue and positive step, Human Rights Watch and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) said today. The decree ends an official policy of coercing Egyptian Baha’is into misidentifying themselves as Muslims or Christians.
The ministerial decree, signed by General Habib al-Adly, the interior minister, on March 19, appeared in the Official Gazette on April 14 and entered into force today. He issued the decree three days after a Supreme Administrative Court ruling upheld the right of Egypt’s Baha’i minority to obtain official documents, such as identity cards and birth certificates, without revealing their religious convictions or having to identify themselves incorrectly as Muslim or Christian.
“With this decree, the Interior Minister resolved a serious problem, albeit one that the ministry itself created,” said Hossam Bahgat, executive director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. “We will monitor how officials implement the new regulations over the coming weeks to ensure their swift and smooth enforcement.”
This final court ruling. in a case brought by the EIPR, ended an arbitrary policy of the Interior Ministry’s Civil Status Department (CSD) that for the past 9 years has denied Baha’i Egyptians necessary identification documents unless they declared themselves to be adherents of one of the three state-recognized religions — Islam, Christianity, or Judaism. Identification documents, especially identity cards and birth certificates, are mandatory for all Egyptians and necessary to obtain access to education, employment, family life, registration and immunization of children, as well as most basic daily activities such as opening a bank account, obtaining a driver’s license, receiving pension or inheritance, or engaging in business transactions.
The ministerial decree (no. 520/2009) introduces a new provision into the Implementing Statutes of Egypt’s Civil Status Law of 1994. The amendment instructs CSD officials to place a dash (-) before the line reserved for religion in the official identification documents of all Egyptian citizens who can produce documents showing that they, or their ancestors, were followers of a religious belief other than those recognized by the state. The change effectively means that Baha’is and other adherents of “non-recognized” religions would not have to list their religion on identification documents.
Human Rights Watch and the EIPR urged the government to ensure that the Civil Status Department officials establish evidentiary standards that do not unreasonably delay or otherwise impede Baha’i Egyptians from obtaining these required documents.
“This new decree abolishes an abusive policy that discriminated against citizens solely on the basis of their religious beliefs and without any basis in Egypt’s statutory law,” said Joe Stork, Deputy Middle East Director of Human Rights Watch. “We hope this means that the government intends to eradicate all policies that discriminate on the basis of religion and instead promote freedom of belief for all Egyptians.
A 2007 joint report by Human Rights Watch and the EIPR documented the Interior Ministry’s policy of denying mandatory identification documents, where citizens must list their religious affiliation, to Baha’i Egyptians as well as to citizens who convert from Islam to Christianity. The report, “Prohibited Identities: State Interference with Religious Freedom,” revealed how this policy was solely based on the government’s selective and restrictive interpretation of Shari’a (Islamic law). It contradicts the state’s obligation under Egypt’s Constitution and international human rights treaties it has signed to protect the rights to freedom of religion, privacy and non-discrimination.
Wonderful news!
This is a huge relief for Baha’i Egyptians, who will now be able to obtain birth certificates for their children, ID cards and other official documents. For those of who live in countries where access to public, educational and health services is not conditional on holding ID cards, this may not seem such a big deal. But for the Baha’is who want to have their children immunised against diseases such as polio and to have them educated in state schools this will be a vital restoration of civil rights.
Baha’is in Egypt and across the world are hugely grateful to Hossam Bahgat, to EIPR, to Human Rights Watch, and to many others who have supported the campaign to remove this gross injustice from Egyptian society.
Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Egypt, law, ID cards, religion, Human Rights Watch, Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, human rights, civil rights
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It’s great to see some good news like this!
It certainly is, but there’s a way to go yet before we can be happy that the Baha’is in Egypt enjoy full religious freedom. In 1960 President Gamal Abdel Nasser promulgated a presidential decree (no. 263), which effectively made Baha’i activity illegal. The Baha’i community in Egypt is one of the longest established in the world and the Baha’is were well regarded in Egypt until Nasser decided to use them as a pawn in his political game. Since that time the Baha’is have been subject to periodic bouts of quite intense persecution, imprisonment and various restrictions. The ID card was a relatively recent aggravation, entirely of the government’s making. We would like to see Nasser’s decree rescinded. So, as I say, much work still to be done.
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