Silenced: How Apostasy and Blasphemy Codes Are Choking Freedom Worldwide (77 page)

30
. For background, see “Prohibited Identities”; for discriminatory laws concerning marriage, divorce, child custody, and inheritance, see Law no. 25 of 1920; Law no. 52 of 1929; Law no. 77 of 1943. Though it has not caused any hardship so far because no one has successfully converted from Islam, any convert loses his inheritance. This does not apply to converts to Islam.

31
. “Egypt,” in The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom,
Annual Report 2008
, 224,
http://www.uscirf.gov/images/AR2008/egyptar2008_full%20color.pdf
.

32
. “The International Society for Human Rights nominates Coptic Priest Metaos Wahba as ‘Prisoner of the Month of November 2008,’” December 13, 2008, at Voice of the Copts,
http://voiceofthecopts.org/en/innocent_behind_bars/the_international_society_for_human_rights_nominates_coptic_prie.html
.

33
. “Egypt: Convert Locked into Mental Hospital,”
Compass Direct News
, May 13, 2005,
http://archive.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&idelement=3816&lang=en&length=short&backpage=archives&critere=&countryname=Egypt&rowcur=751
; “Egypt: Convert Released from Mental Hospital,”
Compass Direct News
, June 21, 2005,
http://archive.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&idelement=3860&lang=en&length=short&backpage=archives&critere=&countryname=Egypt&rowcur=75
.

34
. “Egypt: Sheikh Jailed Eight Months Without Charges,”
Compass Direct News
, November 23, 2005,
http://archive.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&idelement=4089&lang=en&length=short&backpage=archives&critere=&countryname=Egypt&rowcur=50
; “Egypt: Christian Convert from Islam Jailed,”
http://archive.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&idelement=4596&lang=en&length=short&backpage=archives&critere=&countryname=Egypt&rowcur=50
; “Egypt: Authorities Release Jailed Christian Convert,”
Compass Direct News
, May 24, 2007,
http://archive.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&idelement=4883&lang=en&length=short&backpage=archives&critere=&countryname=Egypt&rowcur=50
.

35
. “Prohibited Identities”; “Police Detain Convert Who Wedded Christian,”
Compass Direct News
, November 27, 2007,
http://archive.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&idelement=5126&lang=en&length=short&backpage=archives&critere=&countryname=Egypt&rowcur=25
.

36
. “Egypt Copt Jailed 45 Years after Father’s Conversion,”
AFP
, November 22, 2007,
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gWAdeTNMOeMfyPaOwrYpODjNAQJA
; “Egypt: Father’s Brief Conversion Traps Daughters in Islam,”
Compass Direct News
, October 10, 2008,
http://archive.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&idelement=5630&lang=en&length=short&backpage=archives&critere=&countryname=Egypt&rowcur=25
; “Bahiya Detained,” Watani International,
http://www.arabwestreport.info/AWR/article_details.php?article_id=19984&aweek=19&ayear=2008&t=s&char=0
; “Egypt: Christian in Muslim ID Case Wins Right to Appeal,”
Compass Direct News
, December 2, 2008,
http://archive.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&idelement=5708&lang=en&length=short&backpage=archives&critere=&countryname=Egypt&rowcur=0
. HRW/EIPR reports that, as of November 2007, there were at least eighty-nine people struggling to have their religion officially recognized after their parents converted them against their will; see “Prohibited Identities.”

37
. “Egyptian Convert to Christianity Tortured, Raped in Egypt,” Assyrian International News Agency, December 20, 2008,
http://www.aina.org/news/20081219220247.htm
; Voice of the Copts: “Muslim Woman Who Converted to Christianity Arrested at Cairo Airport,”
http://www.aina.org/news/20081216193035.htm
.

38
. “Egypt: Judge Tells of Desire to Kill Christian,”
Compass Direct News
, January 27, 2009,
http://archive.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&idelement=5778&lang=en&length=short&backpage=archives&critere=&countryname=Egypt&rowcur=0
.

39
. “Prohibited Identities” says, “Conversion from Islam to Christianity is fraught with legal and social risks.… As a result, the number of persons born Muslim who have converted to Christianity is hard to gauge, but at a minimum it would appear to involve a score or more persons per year, and so cumulatively be in the hundreds if not thousands.” Anecdotal evidence from Egypt suggests the number may be much higher. For further background, see the 2008 annual report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom,
http://www.uscirf.gov/images/AR2008/annual%20report%202008-entire%20document.pdf
. See also “Copts Appeal Religious Identity Ruling,”
Compass Direct News
, June 25, 2007.

40
.
International Religious Freedom Report 2007
; “Egypt Adjourns Muslim Converts’ Appeal”
AFP
, September 2, 2007,
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hs761o2Rs9v4unacJxxtyduI-UDA
.

41
. “Egypt: Converts Win Case but May Face Discrimination,”
Compass Direct News
, February 11, 2008,
http://archive.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&idelement=5233&lang=en&length=short&backpage=archives&critere=&countryname=Egypt&rowcur=25
.

42
. “Penalize ‘Re-conversion’: Egyptian Fatwa Says,”
Al Arabiya
, January 20, 2008,
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2008/01/20/44471.html
; “Egypt: Ex-Muslims Blocked from Declaring Conversion,”
Compass Direct News
, March 26, 2008,
http://archive.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&idelement=5309&lang=en&length=short&backpage=archives&critere=&countryname=Egypt&rowcur=25
; “Egypt: Citizen Wins Rare Legal Victory to Revert to Christianity,”
Compass Direct News
, January 8, 2009,
http://archive.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&idelement=5755&lang=en&length=short&backpage=archives&critere=&countryname=Egypt&rowcur=0
.

43
. “Egyptian Lawyer Files Suit for Rights of Christian Converts,” Assyrian International News Agency, March 16, 2009,
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/egyptian.lawyer.files.suit.for.rights.of.christian.converts/22777.htm
; Voice of the Copts, “The First Ever Lawsuit Filed by an Egyptian Advocacy,” March 12, 2009,
http://voiceofthecopts.org/en/breaking_news/the_first_ever_lawsuit_filed_by_an_egyptian_advocacy.html
. On December 20, 2008, an Alexandrian administrative court ruled that Fathi Labib Yousef, who had converted to Islam from Christianity in 1974, and in 2005 sought to revert to Christianity, could have his Christian status shown on his identity card. “Egypt: Citizen Wins Rare Legal Victory to Revert to Christianity,”
Compass Direct News
.

44
. “Muslim Sues for Right to Convert to Christianity,”
Compass Direct News
, August 7, 2007,
http://archive.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&idelement=4978&lang=en&length=short&backpage=archives&critere=&countryname=Egypt&rowcur=25
; “Islamists Join Case Against Convert to Christianity,”
Compass Direct News
, October 10, 2007,
http://archive.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&idelement=5069&lang=en&length=short&backpage=archives&critere=&countryname=Egypt&rowcur=25
; “In Hiding, Convert Continues Fight for Rights,”
Compass Direct News
, November 15, 2007,
http://archive.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&idelement=5114&lang=en&length=short&backpage=archives&critere=&countryname=Egypt&rowcur=25
; “Egypt: Muslim Authorities Call for Beheading of Convert,” International Society for Human Rights, August 30, 2007,
http://www.ishr.org/index.php?id=697&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=762&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=296&cHash=c51802de6d
; Pierre Loza, “Christian Convert Says He’ll Stay the Course, Despite Threats,”
Daily Star
, August 9, 2007,
http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=8706
; “Egypt, Muslim Convert to Christianity Fears for Life,”
Middle East Times
, August 14, 2007,
http://www.metimes.com/print.php?StoryID=20070814-070417-8160r
. Hegazy published a book of poems called
Sherine’s Laugh
. In one poem, “Ashraf Pasha,” he recalled the abuse he had suffered at the hands of Ashraf Ma’alouf, an SSI officer who reportedly tortured him for converting.

45
. “Tempers Flare into Melee at Convert’s Hearing,”
Compass Direct News
, January 25, 2008,
http://archive.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&idelement=5205&lang=en&length=short&backpage=archives&critere=&countryname=Egypt&rowcur=25
; “Egypt: Court Rules Against Convert.”

46
. “Egypt: Court Rules Against Convert”; “One Egyptian Convert’s Never-Ending Struggle,” Crosswalk.com, September 15, 2008,
http://www.crosswalk.com/news/religiontoday/11581771/print/
; “Egypt—Religious Freedom Profile.”

47
. “Another Convert Tries to Change Religious Identification,”
Compass Direct News
, August 7, 2008; Magdy Samaan, “Convert to Christianity Takes His Case to Court,”
Daily News Egypt
, August 13, 2008,
http://www.thedailynewsegypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=15722
;
BBC News
: “Egyptian Christian’s Recognition Struggle,” February 13, 2009,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7888193.stm
; “Egypt: Judge Ejects Lawyer for Christian from Court,”
Compass Direct News
, January 13, 2009,
http://archive.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&idelement=5759&lang=en&length=short&backpage=archives&critere=&countryname=Egypt&rowcur=0
; “Egypt: Ruling on Bid for Christian ID Expected Soon,”
Compass Direct News
, February 10, 2009,
http://archive.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&idelement=5804&lang=en&length=short&backpage=archives&critere=&countryname=Egypt&rowcur=0
.

48
. “Egypt: Islamic Lawyers Urge Death Sentence for Egyptian Convert,”
Compass Direct News
, February 27, 2009,
http://archive.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&idelement=5826&lang=en&length=short&backpage=archives&critere=&countryname=Egypt&rowcur=0
; “Egypt: Citizen Wins Rare Legal Victory”
Compass Direct News
(n. 42 above); “Egypt May Remove Religion from ID Cards,”
Al Arabiya
, March 25, 2009,
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2009/03/25/69227.html
.

49
. “Egypt Church Issues First Conversion Certificate,”
Compass Direct News
, April 14, 2009,
http://archive.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&idelement=5879&lang=en&length=short&backpage=archives&critere=&countryname=Egypt&rowcur=0
; “Egypt: Convert’s Religious Rights Case Threatens Islamists,”
Compass Direct News
, May 12, 2009,
http://archive.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&idelement=5917&lang=en&length=short&backpage=archives&critere=&countryname=Egypt&rowcur=0
.

50
. “Egypt: Court Denies Right to Convert to Second Christian,”
Compass Direct News
, June 16, 2009,
http://archive.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&idelement=5964&lang=en&length=short&backpage=archives&critere=&countryname=Egypt&rowcur=0
.

51
. “Muslim Egyptian Girl Who Converted to Christianity Subjected to Acid Attack,”
AINA News Service
, April 17, 2010,
http://www.aina.org/news/20100416201043.htm
.

52
. Zyed Krichen, “Censorship and Persecution in the Name of Islam,” R,Bli T No. 1072, July 13–19, 2006, excerpted by Assyrian International News Agency, January 9, 2007,
http://www.aina.org/news/20070108191217.htm
.

53
. Warr, “The State of Freedom of Expression in Egypt”; Pakinam Amer, “Censorship of Literary Work Remains Unchallenged in Egypt,” February 12, 2007,
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/features/article_1262896.php/Censorship_of_literary_work_remains_unchallenged_in_Egypt
;
International Religious Freedom Report 2005
, U.S. State Department, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor,
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2005/51598.htm
; Azza Khattab, “All God’s Children,”
Egypt Today
, September 2004,
http://www.egypttoday.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=2257
.

54
. Zyed Krichen, “Censorship and Persecution in the Name of Islam.” In April 2010, a group of lawyers mounted a
hisba
case to get
One Thousand and One Nights
banned again, to try the government officials who allowed it to be published under Article 178 of the penal code, for publishing something that “offends the public decency”; see Mohamed Abdel Salam, “Egypt Lawyers Call for 1001 Nights to Be Banned,”
Bikya Masr
, April 27, 2010,
http://bikyamasr.com/?p=12152
; Steve Negus, “Brother of Another Color,”
http://www.mafhoum.com/press2/77S26.htm
; “World Press Freedom Review 1998,”
http://www.freemedia.at/cms/ipi/freedom_detail.html?country=/KW0001/KW0004/KW0091/&year=1998
; Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), “Ongoing Government Harassment of
Cairo Times
Magazine,” June 5, 1998,
http://www.ifex.org/fr/content/view/full/6418/
.

55
. Max Rodenbeck, “Witch Hunt in Egypt,”
New York Review of Books
, November 16, 2000.