By Kevin Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – A recent report jointly issued by Human Rights Watch and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights has raised concerns over Egyptian violation of freedom of religion. In “Prohibited Identities: State Interference with Religious Freedom,” they document the Egyptian government’s discriminatory practice of restricting identity to three religions when citizens are required to identify their faith on government documents. Such requirement causes violation of many rights and immense hardship to members of minority faiths such as Bahai as well as converts from Islam by forcing them to lie about their true belief.

In Egypt, all Egyptians over 16 must carry Identification card showing religious affiliation. But the Civil Status Department of the Interior Ministry has limited the choice of affiliation to one of the three recognized religions – Islam, Christianity, or Judaism. Even though no Egyptian law gives the officials the power to authorize such requirement, they had acted on their interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia.

Without the Identification card, minorities and converts face enormous problems in everyday life including education and employment. For example, it would deny a person’s ability to conduct transactions as basic as opening a bank account, getting a driver’s license, entering a university, getting a job, or collecting a pension. In addition, it may also affect one’s ability to educate children.

Consequently, the 98-page report highlights many who complained that they have been designated as Muslims against their will. While some just get their identification cards listing them as Muslims, others are intimidated or bribed by Interior Ministry officials to identify themselves as Muslims against their express wishes.

“Ministry of Interior officials apparently believe they have the right to choose someone’s religion when they don’t like the religion that person chooses,” said Human Rights Watch’s Joe Stork. “The Interior Ministry’s policy essentially says: ‘If you lie we’ll give you the documents you need, but if you tell the truth about your religion we’ll make your life miserable by withholding them’,” he said.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Egypt ID cards sentence minorities to non-life – 12 November 2007

Human Rights Watch – Allow citizens to list actual religion on ID cards – 12 November 2007

Reuters – Egypt denies ID papers to Baha’is, converts – 12 November 2007

BBC News – Egypt ‘denies minority beliefs’ – 12 November 2007