WASHINGTON,
Aug. 19, 2017
/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Both the Egyptian government and
some church leaders are claiming that the Copts' situation has
improved under President El-Sisi's leadership, despite the growing
body of evidence to the contrary.
Coptic Solidarity has been cataloguing
incidents of attacks on Copts since El-Sisi came to
power over three years ago; in fact, they exceed in
number those observed during Mubarak's era—and even under the
Muslim Brotherhood's one-year rule. Contrary to the Egyptian
government's habit of attributing the attacks to "foreign"
terrorists, most are perpetrated by the Copts' fanatic Muslim
neighbors and homegrown Islamists. In most instances, no one
is held accountable for these atrocities, fostering a culture of
impunity. Security forces typically arrive well after the attacks
have taken their course, investigations are superficial, Copts are
pressured into "reconciliation meetings," and suspects are released
within a short time. In this culture of impunity, the Egyptian
government has failed in its duty to protect Coptic
citizens.
Attacks on churches have continued and the number of
casualties has reached new heights. The deficit in places of
worship has served as a flash point for violence by Islamists who
further attack any building—including many residential
homes—wherein Copts peacefully gather to pray. Security forces
typically side with Islamists and respond by closing churches and
other places of worship on the charge that they create "security
threats."
The passage of the new church construction law, which was
widely touted as a positive achievement by Sisi's government, is
seriously flawed. As Mr. Bahey el-Din Hassan
put it in his speech at Coptic Solidarity's
recent conference, "it was under President Sisi's
tenure that the Copts, for the first time in Egypt's modern history, became officially and
legally recognized as a 'sect' and not equal
citizens through the passing of the Church building law
and the dropping of Egyptians' long standing collective demand for
'A Unified Law for Houses of Worship.'"
In addition to the implicit discrimination evident in
passing a separate law regulating the building of Coptic Churches,
NGOs offer analyses demonstrating how
this law contains many loopholes that could and already have
been used to prevent Copts from building and repairing
churches.
A statement recently issued by
the Coptic Orthodox Diocese in Minya on events in the village of
Kedwan is especially indicative of the discrimination Egypt's Copts face: the government prevented
them from reopening more than 15 churches closed by the Security
Apparatus and from building any new churches. The statement also
highlights the refusal by both the local governorate and central
government in Cairo to address
grievances by church leaders. The
statement astutely exposes tactics by the Security Apparatus
that foster enmity and discord between Copts and Muslims to its
benefit, and uses local opposition by Islamists as an excuse for
refusing to reopen the churches, thus denying Copts their
constitutional right to worship freely.
Coptic Solidarity calls on the Egyptian government to take
concrete steps to end the culture of hate and impunity, guarantee
equal rights for all its citizens before the law, and ensure the
Copts' right to practice their faith freely. Coptic Solidarity also
urges U.S. legislators to be judicious in their evaluation of
statements concerning the Copts' situation issued by the El-Sisi
government versus the reality on the ground.
Coptic Solidarity is an organization seeking to help
minorities, particularly the Copts, of Egypt and we support those in Egypt working for upholding values of freedom,
equality, and the protection of the fundamental rights of all
Egyptian citizens. It advocates in cooperation with the affiliated
organizations in Canada and in
Europe (Solidarité
Copt). For more information, contact
Lindsay Griffin at 801-512-1713 or
coptadvocacy@copticsolidarity.org
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SOURCE Coptic Solidarity