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Egypt: Christian-Islamic Rift Widens
All Africa - Jan 7/05 - Tension is simmering between Egypt's Muslim and Christian communities after allegations of forced conversions to Islam.
The final weeks of 2004 witnessed unusual tension. These resulted in angry Christian demonstrations and the temporary retreat of Coptic Pope Shenouda III (of the Egyptian Monophysite Christian Church) to his traditional redoubt in the Western Desert.
Some observers, meanwhile, suspect that the state - ever fearful of foreign accusations of religious persecution - has intervened on the side of the church in an effort to speedily resolve the volatile issue. Despite official assertions of national unity, fresh outbreaks of sectarian violence were reported in the Upper Egyptian governorate Minya Dec. 30, suggesting the problem is far from over.
"I don't think it's over - the country hasn't pulled itself out safely yet," Mohamed Said, deputy director of the state-run al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies told IPS. "There's still resentment on both sides, and irresponsible reporting in the press isn't helping the matter."
The uproar was initially triggered by news that the wife of a Coptic priest from the west Delta village Abul Matameer, some 150 km north of Cairo, had converted to Islam. The report quickly sparked rumours among Egypt's Christian community that the woman Wefaa Constantine had been forced to convert against her will, perhaps with the connivance of government officials.
Hundreds of Coptic Christians converged on Cairo's Orthodox Cathedral Dec. 5. They held angry demonstrations over the next four days, insisting that Constantine be immediately returned to the custodianship of the church. Demonstrators also protested against what many Copts - Egypt's largest Christian denomination -- perceive as an unofficial policy of discrimination by the state.
Pope Shenouda III, the supreme authority within the Coptic Church, personally requested the intervention of President Hosni Mubarak by having Constantine returned to church authorities.
The confrontation reached its climax Dec. 9 when Coptic officials instructed demonstrators to disperse after receiving assurances that the woman had been handed over to a church council. By then some 55 people had been injured, including police. In all 34 Christian demonstrators were arrested.
But the story did not end there, and the fate of Constantine remains a source of controversy.
Local media reported Dec. 12 that Coptic authorities had conceded that Constantine's conversion had been voluntary and that she had not been subject to coercion.
"It appears that the case of the priest's wife...has reached its conclusion with the acceptance by Copts of the reality of the situation, after it was made clear that Constantine wasn't subject to any pressure to leave her religion," the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reported. Despite five days of efforts by church authorities to convince her to change her mind, Constantine wearing traditional Muslim headdress "insisted on her decision (to convert to Islam), and she had even memorized half the Koran," the paper reported.
But a second story quickly emerged: that Constantine had been convinced by a panel of church elders to retract her conversion and return to the Christian faith. The state press reported that she had declared in the presence of government officials Dec. 14 that she would "live and die" a Christian. Prosecutor-General Maher Abdel-Wahed told reporters that Constantine had initially gone to the police with the intention of converting to Islam, but had subsequently changed her mind.
A high-ranking Coptic official told government-run al-Ahram weekly that the earlier reports had simply been wrong. "When she came to her senses, and started to speak to us, she seemed to be convinced that she is still a Christian," the official was quoted as saying. He added that Constantine was "still a Christian...and had never become a Muslim."
Youssef Sidhom, editor-in-chief of the Christian weekly al-Watani said Constantine voluntarily returned to the church, and media allegations to the contrary "have not been validated."
Sidhom explained that Constantine, chafing in an unhappy marriage, had seen conversion as the only way to obtain a divorce, given the strict rules governing matrimony in the Coptic faith. "She never imagined it would result in this drastic row," he said, adding that Constantine was currently living "in the custody of a monastery, waiting to return to her family."
Friday, October 24, 2003
22 CHRISTIANS IN EGYPT
"BEATEN AND TORTURED"
Part of massive crackdown against believers
By Stefan J. Bos
Special Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
CAIRO, EGYPT (ANS) -- Some 22 Christians, including
many secret converts from Islam to Christianity, have been arrested by Egyptian
police and are "being beaten, interrogated and tortured," a major
Christian rights group said Friday, Oct. 24.
The well informed Barnabas Fund, which supports persecuted believers, said the
abuses began when Christians were taken from Alexandria to police stations in
the capital Cairo as part of a fresh "dramatic" anti-Christian
crackdown that began Tuesday, Oct. 21.
Among the first to be arrested were two converts from Islam, Yusuf Samuel Makari
Suliman, whose former Muslim name was Muhammad Ahmad Imam al-Kurdi and his wife
Mariam Girgis Makar formerly Saher As-Sayid Abd al-Rani, the organization said.
"The following day some seven others were also arrested and taken to the
office of the Attorney General."
DRAMATIC SWEEPS
Thursday Oct. 23 that number rose to 22 as other "converts and Christians
who have tried to assist them were rounded up and arrested in dramatic sweeps by
police," the Barnabus Fund added in a statement send to ASSIST News Service
(ANS).
"Local Christians fear the arrests will continue and many other converts
from Islam, who have been living quietly as Christians may now be arrested in
the next few days," said the Barnabus Fund, which runs a major
international campaign on behalf of converts
The Egyptian authorities have not yet reacted to the charges, however there has
been among hardliners about what they regard as Western (Christian) influences
in the mainly Islamic country, where Christians make up about 6 percent of the
population.
FALSIFYING ID PAPERS
Officially the 22 arrested Christians being charged "with falsifying ID
papers," apparently because they changed their Muslim names into Christian
names, the Barnabus Fund reported.
"Whilst Egypt has no law against apostasy from Islam, in practice converts
are actively punished by the police in this 90% Muslim country. (They) often
face imprisonment, beatings and torture on various pretexts in order to try to
force them to return to Islam."
A Christian who converts to Islam in Egypt can receive ID papers with a new
adopted Muslim name within 24 hours, but "it is impossible for a Muslim who
converts to Christianity to change their name to a Christian one at all,"
said the Barnabus Fund.
"Thus they will always be regarded as Muslims in the eyes of the law."
TORTURE AND INTERROGATION
The initial arrest of the first Christians, Yusuf and Mariam, came about as a
result of information obtained by police through the torture and interrogation
of a Christian who revealed that the married couple were converts from Islam,
the organization said.
They allegedly were involved in leading other Muslims to convert to
Christianity. "An investigation was opened by police in the Al-Muski
quarter of Cairo and the couple was eventually arrested in Alexandria,
"beaten, abused, tortured and taken by police to a station in Al
Muski," in the capital.
Cairo Christians have reportedly brought food for the couple but the police has
so far reportedly refused to allow this to be given to them. Local Christians
have managed to obtain the services of a team of Christian and Muslim lawyers to
defend the accused.
HUSBAND RELEASED
"They have managed to secure the release of Yusuf who will be fined"
and was expected leave the police station later Friday, October 24, while a
court case against him is still be outstanding. His wife Mariam will be held in
prison for a month whilst the investigation is being conducted against the
couple.
She was due to be transferred to a prison later Friday, Oct. 24. The other 20
Christians who have been arrested were held at a police station in el Galaa,
Cairo, "but could be moved from there at any time," to a yet unknown
location, the Barnabus Fund said.
The latest reported crackdown comes only months after Naglaa, a female Egyptian
convert from Islam and her Christian husband Malak were arrested on similar
charges of falsifying ID papers. They have been held in prison since 26 February
2003.
Police have reportedly tried to force Naglaa to give up her Christian faith and
return to Islam, to leave her husband, and to raise her children as Muslims
KILLINGS IN PRISON
Human rights workers say that many converts have faced imprisonment, beatings
and torture. Some are said to have died in prison, while others have fled Egypt,
Africa's second largest country with over 66 million people.
"Converts have sometimes been arrested under the country’s emergency
legislation which allows for the holding of suspects without charge or trial for
indefinite periods, " the Barnabus Fund said.
The Fund has urged Muslim religious leaders to condemn the harsh treatment of
converts "and to make public statements calling for a reform of sharia
teaching on apostasy."
That would "clearly affirm that Muslims who choose to convert to another
faith are free to follow their personal convictions without fear of punishment
or harassment."
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XOFC Comments:
We hope that you will consider speaking out Against this kind of treatment. In many cases, it is only FOREIGN intervention that can prevent the harsh reprisals and recriminations directed against Christians. Many of these countries watch their own public image very carefully (as they should !!!).
Violating the rights of people in this manner is a violation of Many International Agreements, and also of Basic Human Rights. It is very important to convey to your congressman or Senator that you take this matter very seriously.
Please ask your congressman to contact the Egyptian government directly. ( If they contact them through the State Department, Nothing will get done, and any letter or any other statement of concern will be buried... )
We often wonder what would happen in the world if people prayed for a specific event, or tried to make a difference. This is your chance to do this. This is your chance to make a difference in the real lives of other Christians - who desperately need our help.
How glad you or we would be - if you were in this situation - and someone took their precious time to write a letter on our behalf. You can both email and/or write a letter.
We do not want to suggest a "form letter" since these tend to be discounted. But please emphasize Human Rights, the International Image of the Country and its potential impact on tourism, and the need to contact the Egyptian Government. Also please request that your Senator or Representative write a response back to you about this matter, so they will know you care. Others may want to consider a letter to the Embassy of Egypt. Egypt has signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
You do not need to know the address of your Congressman or Senator - in order to write to them. Simply write their title (Senator/Congressman ____, Washington D.C) and it will get there.
FInally, Please reproduce and distribute this Story by every medium as widely and quickly and Possible.
UPDATE - Same Theme - Different Story (but not by much)
MURDER OF 21 EGYPTIAN CHRISTIANS REMAINS UNPUNISHED
Washington D.C. (6/18/04) - The Egyptian Appeals Court issued a final ruling Sunday,
acquitting 92 individuals for their role in the atrocities committed during three days of violence in the village of El Kosheh. In January 2000, violence resulted in the deaths of 21 Christians, the wounding of 33 others, and the burning of over 260 Christian homes. Just one Muslim died, accidentally at the hands of a fellow Muslim.
On Sunday, June 14, the Court of Cassation upheld the February 2003 conviction of the man charged with killing the single Muslim, reducing his sentence from 15 to 13 years, as well as issuing one and two year sentences for three involved in setting a truck ablaze. The remaining 92 Muslims indicted for various crimes in connection with the violence were set free.
Not one person was punished in relation to the murder or attempted murder of any Christian. This comes as a big blow to the Christian minority, which had hoped for an equitable ruling from the court.
On the eve of the year 2000, an argument between a Christian shop owner and Muslim patron sparked a riot that turned deadly. Both Muslim and Christian property was damaged, but soon Muslim mobs began systematically seeking out and murdering Christians on the sole basis of their religion. Police on hand did nothing to stop the violence, and in some cases participated in anti-Christian aggression. The resulting police investigation was marred by incompetence and corruption; seemingly from the outset it looked to diminish the role of religion in the hostilities and establish equal culpability between Muslims and Christians, irrelevant of the death toll and evidence to the contrary.
Echoing sentiments felt throughout the Christian community, Bishop Wissa of the Baliana diocese said, “Twenty one Christians are dead, we know for sure they did not commit suicide. Now, after the latest verdict, we are left with no choice but to appeal to God.”
Source: U.S. Copts Association
Egypt's Copts - an endangered minority.
Egypt's Copts are an endangered minority. Exposed to continuous and subtle pressures, their numbers are dwindling. Thousands have emigrated; no official figures are available as to their numbers in the diaspora today, but reliable sources count two million living in the United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, and other countries of Europe. Thousands of those who are left behind convert to Islam every year to escape persecution; for example, between 1988 and 1990, 50,000 Coptic university graduates did so. Those who stay faithful to their religion in Egypt find themselves increasingly marginalized and alienated in their own country.
Coptic Christians are Egypt's largest religious minority, constituting at least 10 percent of the population, or about 6 million out of 64 million.3 Certain Coptic circles, based on church statistics, put their percentage of the population at 18 percent,4 which would mean they number almost 11 million.
Most Copts live in upper Egypt. They also tend to concentrate in bigger cities and towns, such as Cairo, Alexandria, Asyut, al-Minya, and Sohaj. They are represented in all social classes in Egypt, with a considerable number in the middle and upper classes, a result of their interest in education.5
Over 90 percent of the Copts follow the tenets of the Coptic Orthodox Church which was, according to ancient tradition, established by Saint Mark the evangelist who introduced Christianity to Egypt in the first century. Catholic and Orthodox denominations (e.g. Syriac) represent 9.5 percent of Christians in Egypt; Anglican Copts make up 0.5 percent.
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Core Universal Rights
The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one's belief or religion
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