6 February 2005

Problems on hold

President Mubarak, one more time: Egypt of the Muslims and Copts

Youssef Sidhom

“The concept of citizenship rights forms the basis of the relationship between the citizen and the State. In this context, it is hoped that the ‘religion’ box [which identifies the holder’s religion on his or her identification documents] would be abolished from official papers.’ The words belong to Dr Mustafa al-Fiqi, head of the foreign affairs committee of the Egyptian Parliament. He made this statement during the opening ceremony last month of the centre for dialogue between Islam and the West, at the Roman Catholic Patriarchate in Cairo. It pains me that this statement was not made—as it should have been—in Parliament, especially after President Mubarak made his now-famous announcement that we should let nothing come between Egypt’s Muslims and its Copts.

It is a self-evident truth though that an Egyptian’s religious identity can—in nine cases out of ten—be easily spotted without resorting to his or her ID. Names alone are a telltale sign. Both Copts and Muslims are generally named after saints of their respective religions. So the objective of abolishment of the religion box from IDs, job application forms, or any other document, is not the mere hiding of one’s religious identity—a next-to-impossible feat, but the confirmation that citizenship rights, competence, and adequate qualifications are not subject to religious identity. It goes without saying that for such a move to be effective, systems of follow-up and accountability should be firmly in place.

I have repeatedly written on the problem so frequently faced by Copts when they apply for the new computerised ID cards. When they apply for the new birth certificate required in the process, many Copts find themselves registered—in the religion box—as Muslims born to Muslim parents. When they attempt to prove that this data is incorrect, by referring to their own and their parents’ original birth certificates, marriage certificates, or death certificates if needs be, they are told that these are insufficient, and are ordered to obtain proof from the National Archives. No matter that the fault is in the first place that of the civil register clerk, and no matter that the entire situation is unreasonable and unjust. The Coptic citizen nonetheless is obliged to waste an incredible amount of effort and time to correct a fault not of his or her own doing. Worse still, no clerk has to date been questioned or held accountable for the errors that result in so much agony by blameless citizens.

It is true that civil servants in Egypt are indeed incompetent. But to date, I know of no Muslim who was registered as Christian despite information to his or her being Muslim born to Muslim parents, as proved by the birth certificates. If, hypothetically speaking, this ever happens, I wonder if such a citizen would be arrogantly penalised by asking him to prove the disputed religious identity which was incorrectly entered by the clerk. Had I known of even one such case, I would have used it to prove that Copts are not the only people wronged by government clerks. But the civil register officials appear adamant in proving that clerks are highly competent at issuing official papers to Muslims, and lose all competence when it comes to Copts. Add to this the absence of orders to clerks to correct such faults, and you are left with a feeling that the only plausible explanation is a deep-rooted intention to harass Copts once they persist in being identified as Christians. It is sad that such cases are all to frequent. And lest anyone accuses me of making up or exaggerating the problem, I will not hesitate in printing any case I know of.

The oral examinations of college students represent another notorious case of flagrant discrimination against Copts because of their religious identity. Coptic students frequently fall prey to fanatic teachers and professors who insist upon giving them low grades in oral exams, where their identity is disclosed. Contrariwise, these same students usually score top grades in written exams, where students are only identified by secret numbers. As though these top-grade Coptic students are suddenly infected with collective ignorance or stupidity when it comes to oral exams.

This flagrant categorisation of Egyptians according to their religious identity, and their consequent division into deserving or non-deserving, accepted or rejected citizens, their rights granted or withheld, constitutes a serious flaw in Egyptian citizenship rights, which no amount of sweet rhetoric can remedy.

+The steering committee of Zurich’s Coptic Symposium+

Last week, I attended the meetings of the steering committee of the Coptic Symposium which convened in Zurich last September. The committee’s task was to follow up on and assess the action taken regarding the symposium’s resolutions.

The committee discussed the structural division of the work groups which will be responsible for activating the symposium’s resolutions, and reviewed the scope of activity of each group, and coordination between them. The committee met the members of the different work groups, and decided with them on the basic axes along which the work was to be conducted. Among these were:

1. Activating the resolutions of the Zurich Symposium of September 2004.

2. Presenting a work plan to the steering committee for revision and approval.

3. Presenting a quarterly report to the steering committee for assessment and discussion of measures to control the work and improve performance.

4. Official communiqués may only be issued by the work groups if they are reviewed and approved by the steering committee.

5. Adopting a peaceful, balanced, non-antagonistic attitude in all talks or writings related to the work of the group.

6. Confirming the spirit of the Zurich symposium, which calls upon all Egyptians—Muslim and Christian—to work together in order to consolidate full and equal citizenship rights for all.

7. Working to build bridges of mutual understanding, respect, and dialogue on the official and civil levels, inside and outside Egypt, with the objective of activating the Zurich symposium resolutions.

8. Avoiding all forms of implication of religions or ridicule of faith, since they only serve to mar the cause of equal citizenship rights, and impair goodwill between citizens.

Your Comments