Lest you think that Iran is the only country giving Baha’is a hard time, the report on Egypt from the same 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices describes the current situation of Baha’is being denied national ID cards, birth certificates, and marriage licenses:

The government continued to deny civil documents, including ID cards, birth certificates, and marriage licenses, to members of the Baha’i community. Law 263 of 1960, still in force, bans Baha’i institutions and community activities, and a 1961 Presidential decree stripped Baha’is of legal recognition. The problems of Baha’is, who number fewer than 2,000 persons, have been compounded since the Ministry of Interior began to upgrade its automation of civil records, including national identity cards. The government asserted that its new software requires all citizens to be categorized as Muslims, Christians, or Jews, although some Baha’is initially received identity cards that listed their religion as “other.” During the year, Baha’is and members of other religious groups were compelled either to misrepresent themselves as Muslim, Christian or Jewish, or go without valid identity documents. Most Baha’is have chosen the latter course. The government’s unwillingness to issue Baha’is identity cards and other necessary documents made it increasingly difficult for Baha’is to register their children in school, to open bank accounts, and to register businesses. At the end of 2004, some Baha’is reported that government representatives had offered them passports but no other documents. Police, often on public buses, conduct random inspections of identity papers, and anyone without an ID card risks arrest and detention until the document is provided to the police. Some Baha’is, unable to receive identity cards, choose to stay home to avoid possible arrest.

Further details are provided in the International Religious Freedom Report 2005, which was released on November 8, 2005, including the fact that in 2003 Al-Azhar’s Islamic Research Center issued a fatwa, or legal opinion, in December 2003 condemning Baha’is as apostates. The report also goes on to outline what the US is doing about all of this:

The subject of religious freedom is an important part of the bilateral dialogue. The subject has been raised with senior Egyptian government officials by all levels of the U.S. Government, including by the Secretary of State, Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, the Ambassador, and other Embassy officials. The Embassy maintains formal contacts with the Office of Human Rights at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Embassy also discusses religious freedom issues regularly in contacts with other government officials, including governors and Members of Parliament. The Ambassador has made public statements supporting interfaith understanding and efforts toward harmony and equality among citizens of all faiths. Specifically, the Embassy has raised its concerns about official discrimination against Baha’is with the Government.

And finally a more in-depth article published by The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRINFO) calling for the Egyptian government to ‘respect its religious impartiality by passing laws that consolidate the freedom of belief as stated in the Egyptian constitution and the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights’ and to eliminate the religion sections in official documents. It also calls on The Al-Azhar Islamic Research Academy (those ‘unwitting champions of the Cause of Baha’u’llah’) to top issuing fatwas against religions.

I know a lot of this has been covered before, but I thought it important to check in again.

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