June 06 issue

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The Government and the Brotherhood Ally Against Minority Rights
Maria Dayton and Mark Aziz

The Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian government finally proved, despite many doubts, that they could work effectively together in the parliament. Unfortunately, their alliance did nothing to address the myriad of real problems facing the average Egyptian, but instead rallied their collective strength against the April 4th Lower Court ruling giving followers of the Baha’i faith the right to have their religion officially acknowledged. The initial ruling was hailed as an unexpected victory for minorities when a Baha’i couple from Alexandria won the right to have their religion recognized on their official documents including their national ID cards. Heated debates in parliament ensued and both NDP and Muslim Brotherhood MPs united against the Baha’i using inflammatory language and calling for a government appeal of the ruling. They were joined by the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy as well as various other imams and members of the state-run media. The ruling was condemned on the grounds that the Baha’i faith is not considered one of the “revealed” Abrahamaic religions recognized by Islam, which includes only Judaism and Christianity.

In response to this pressure, on May 7th the Interior Ministry filed an appeal at the Supreme Administrative Court and despite a 1929 ruling that recognized the distinctiveness of the Baha’i faith, the high court ignored legal precedent and suspended the lower court’s ruling.

This ruling was made before the defense team was able to submit any written briefs or present oral arguments in response to the government’s appeal. Additionally, defense requests for a postponement of the decision to allow time for adequate study and response to the legal arguments submitted by the government was also denied. In a further miscarriage of justice, the defense counsel was constantly interrupted and threatened by the audience throughout the hearing, and afterwards verbally and physically abused by the crowd while exiting.

A statement released by the Arabic Human Rights Information Network (HRInfo), declared that the alliance between the Muslim Brothers and the government against the Baha’i amounted to, “hateful instigation against other citizens for no other reason than their belonging to another religion.” Hossam Bahgat, Director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), an organization represented on the defense team, stressed the role of the government even over that of the Muslim Brotherhood in this affair. He stated that the government’s actions are fueling a “fear campaign that amounts to violence against Baha’i citizens,” adding that EIPR has brought these complaints to the National Council for Human Rights and that he is very disturbed by comments from Al Alzhar, members of Parliament, state owned media, and the Muslim Brotherhood calling the Baha’i “infidels” and encouraging their expulsion. Overall, activists are unanimous in their support of this case because they see it as a clear test of how the NDP and the Muslim Brotherhood will treat minorities in the future. According to HRInfo the current position of the government and the Muslim brotherhood, “threatens not only Egyptian Baha’is, but also all other citizens belonging to religions other than Islam, as well as secularists.” Bahgat agreed, stating that the outcome will have a large effect on freedom of religion in Egypt, as well as upon the ability of citizens to choose their religious beliefs without interference from the state or society.

The final merits of the case were to be decided during a June 19th Supreme Administrative Court hearing, but that hearing was pushed back to September 16th due to the late submission of the Court Commissioner’s advisory report. Efforts are currently being made by numerous human rights organizations and members of Egyptian civil society to ensure an unbiased ruling by the Supreme Court in this case. The eventual ruling in September will indicate not only the effectiveness of civil society in eliciting liberal change but will also serve as an indicator of the independence of the judiciary and the future of minority rights in Egypt.