Coptic Christians – State Protection – Sexual Assault – Muslims – Police

Refugee Review Tribunal

AUSTRALIA

RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE

Research Response Number: EGY30031 Country: Egypt Date: 31 March 2006

Keywords: Egypt – Coptic Christians – State protection – Sexual assault – Muslims – Police – Business owners

This response was prepared by the Country Research Section of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RRT within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Questions

1. Is there evidence that in recent years individual Muslim extremists and members of extremist Muslim groups have harmed Christians or tried to convert them to Islam? 2. If so, do the police or Egyptian authorities act to protect Christians? Is there evidence that in recent years the Egyptian police have failed to respond to alleged victims of crime/harassment because: 3. the alleged victim is Christian, 4. the alleged perpetrator is Muslim, 5. the crime is the alleged indecent/sexual assault of Christian woman/girl by a Muslim man? 6. Is it considered shameful in Egyptian Coptic culture for woman/girl to go to a police station (to report an alleged crime)? 7. Are the “Secret Police” in Egypt called the “Amen E Dowal” and do they deal with issues between Christians and Muslims? 8. If so, do they treat Muslims and Christians differently? 9. Can Muslims set up a mosque on privately owned land in Egypt and does the owner of the land then lose ownership of that land? 10. Is there evidence that in recent years it has become commonplace for Coptic Christians to be verbally abused by Muslims including police for reasons of their religion (for example, called a stupid unbeliever)? 11. Is there evidence that in recent years government audit officers have targeted Christian business owners and improperly issued fines and confiscated their stock? 12. Does the Coptic Christian religion forbid Coptic Christians from taking oaths? 13. Is Sheik Omar Abdul Rahman the leader of Gamma Islami in Egypt, and has he or someone connected with that group recently issued a fatwa against Christians? 14. Would the reputation of a Coptic Christian girl who was molested in public be affected and her ability to marry within the Coptic community reduced?

RESPONSE 1. Is there evidence that in recent years individual Muslim extremists and members of extremist Muslim groups have harmed Christians or tried to convert them to Islam?

Country information suggests that Muslim extremists and members of extremist Muslim groups have harmed Christians and tried to convert them to Islam. As the following article February 2006 article from the Copts.net website entitled “Egyptian Christian Girl Kidnapped by Muslim Militants, Contacts Family” states:

There was concern Sunday February 26, 2006 when a missing girl, Theresa Ghattas Kamal, contacted her family and said that she was being held captive in an apartment in Cairo and was being forced to convert to Islam. The 19-year old disappeared on January 3, 2006 from El-Saff, about 30 miles south of Cairo. Ms. Kamal was able to briefly contact her aunt and say that she had not succumbed to her captors demands that she convert.

Previous police statements claimed that Ms. Kamal had voluntarily converted and did not wish to see her family again. The call made from her cell phone contradicted these reports and brought more attention to the cause of kidnappings in the region. There were protests and demonstrations demanding Ms. Kamal be returned and were denied before this call was made. According to Compass Direct, Ms. Kamal’s brother investigated further and could not find any records of her conversion. Egyptian law requires paperwork be filed for conversion to any religious group (‘Egyptian Christian girl Kidnapped by Muslim Militants, Contacts Family’ 2006, Copts.net website http://www.copts.net/print.asp?id=899 – Accessed 16 March 2006 – Attachment 1).

An article from February 2006 states that:

A clash between Muslim and Christian residents of a village south of the capital left at least 11 people wounded Monday. The violence erupted when Christians in Ezzbat Wassif, near Ayyat in Giza province, were building an events hall, which angered some Muslims who thought it was a church, residents said. At least seven Muslims and four Christians were injured when both sides fought with stones and sticks, according to residents who asked that their names not be used because of the sensitivity of the issue. (‘Muslims, Christians Clash In Egypt; At Least 11 Injured’ 2006, Dow Jones International News, 20 February - Attachment 2).

According to an article in Compass Direct from May 2005, a Christian-convert was forcibly detained in a Cairo mental hospital and “beaten, whipped and given potentially fatal injections” by mental hospital personnel for apostasy. According to the article:

An Egyptian convert from Islam to Christianity is being held against his will in a Cairo mental hospital, where supervising doctors have told him he must stay unless he recants his faith and returns to Islam.

Gaser Mohammed Mahmoud, 30, was committed to the El-Khanka Hospital for Mental and Neurological Health in early January by his adoptive parents, after they learned he had become a Christian two years earlier.

Since his forced confinement, he reportedly has been beaten, whipped and given potentially fatal injections by hospital personnel.

After a failed escape attempt, Mahmoud was locked into a solitary room for a month by his nurses, who had learned that he was being institutionalized for apostasy. Although he was allowed visitors initially, the hospital has since refused to admit any known Christian acquaintances asking to see him (‘Egyptian Convert locked in mental hospital. Patient must return to Islam to be discharged’ 2005, Compass Direct 13 May, http://www.compassdirect.org/en/newslongen.php?idelement=3816 – Attachment 3).

Country information from 2004 states that “former Muslims who had converted to Christianity were subjected to torture, insults and heavy interrogations…(and that)…one of the detainees former Muslim Issam Abdul Father Mohammed, died while under police custody” (‘Egypt: Security police launch harsh crackdown against converts to Christianity’, 2004, Compass Direct News Summaries, 16 January – Attachment 4).

A 1997 report describes an assault on a Coptic village:

In a bloody spasm of violence and terror, gunmen believed to be Islamic militants, wielding assault rifles and wearing masks and military fatigues, walked into this predominantly Christian hamlet 300 miles south of Cairo around 6:30 p.m. on Thursday and shot everyone in sight. The four-minute assault killed 13 men -- nine of them Copts -- including Mansour and his assistant as well as Hanafi and his four Coptic friends.

The attack was the second of its kind in a month and one of the bloodiest against Egypt's Christian minority since 1991, when Islamic militants launched a violent campaign against the secular, military-backed government of President Hosni Mubarak. On Feb. 12, gunmen killed nine Christians while they attended a youth meeting at a Coptic church in Abu Qurqas, 160 miles to the north.

Although Egyptian security forces have clearly gained the upper hand in their battle against Islamic extremists during the last several years, the spate of recent attacks has reminded Egyptians of the militants' continued capacity for mayhem. In particular, they have reinforced a sense of vulnerability among Christians -- who make up roughly 10 percent of Egypt's 60 million people -- in a predominantly Islamic country where some Muslim militants regard them as heretics and even the government seems to consider them second-class citizens (‘Egypt’s endangered Christians: After Violent Attacks, Ancient Coptic Minority Fears It Has Become the Target of Islamic Militants’ 1997, Washington Post Foreign Service, 18 March – Attachment 5).

2. If so, do the police or Egyptian authorities act to protect Christians?

According to country information from Reuters reported in an article in January 2006, several Muslims were arrested in connection with attacks against Christians:

Egyptian authorities have arrested 22 Muslims suspected of murder, arson and vandalism during sectarian violence which killed a Christian, judicial sources in the southern town of Luxor said on Sunday.

Muslim youths set fire to building materials being used by Christians to turn a house into a church in the southern Egyptian village of el-Udaysaat earlier this month. The man was killed by a missile which hit him on the head.

A security source said the Christians did not have official permission to turn the house into the church.

The group was arrested last week and a court in Luxor on Sunday gave the authorities permission to hold them in custody for a further 15 days (‘Egypt arrests 22 Muslims over religious violence’ 2006, Reuters News Alerts, 29 January http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L29387105.htm – Accessed 16 March 2006 – Attachment 6).

A report from October 2005 states that riot police stood guard outside a Coptic church in Cairo, after Muslim protestors tried to storm the building:

Riot police forces armed with shotguns guarded a Coptic Christian church here on Saturday, a day after Muslim protesters tried to storm the building in a demonstration that was broken up when security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd. Three people were killed and many more injured in what officials called the worst case of sectarian violence to strike this Mediterranean city in recent memory. The streets remained tense Saturday, and many people warned that foreigners were not welcome. The mood in the city was sour and explosive.

''People are very, very provoked,'' said Ahmed Ali Mahmoud, 25, a pharmacist whose shop is opposite St. George's Coptic Church. ''They are boiling.''

While relations between faiths are often tolerant, if tense, in Egypt, there have been signs recently of growing strain between Egypt's Coptic Christians and Muslims. (‘Egyptian Police Guard Coptic Church Attacked by Muslims’ 2005, New York Times, 23 October – Attachment 7).

Country information also reported in October 2005, states that prosecutors detained “about 100 Muslim hardliners sparking one of Egypt’s worst anti-Christian protests in recent years”:

Thousands of Muslims protested last week over a stage play deemed offensive to Muslims, which had been performed two years earlier inside a Coptic Christian church in the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria.

The protesters were ordered detained for 15 days while being questioned about their role in the demonstrations. They face charges of incitement, arson, destruction and resisting authorities.

The violence sparked clashes with police that killed two rioters and two policemen, police and hospital officials said. At least 90 people were injured.

The violence followed a week of protests over the distribution of a DVD of the play, performed two years ago at St. George's Coptic Church. That was one of the seven churches attacked Friday.

The play, entitled "I Was Blind But Now I Can See," tells the story of a young Christian who converts to Islam and becomes disillusioned. Islamic leaders accused Copts of releasing the DVDs and demanded an apology…

… The violence was the bloodiest since January 2000, when 23 mainly Christians were killed after an argument between a Coptic shopkeeper and a Muslim customer in el-Kusheh, south of Cairo. That fight degenerated into street battles with rifles and other weapons (‘Prosecutors detain 100 Egyptians after Coptic-Muslim violence’ 2005, Associated Press, 23 October – Attachment 8).

Despite action taken by authorities against Muslim protestors, as discussed above, an alternative viewpoint of the level of protection afforded Coptic Christians is offered by Paul Marshall in an from April 2004 article in the National Review Online. Marshall asserts that the Egyptian government has come under criticism for not offering protection for the persecuted Christian minority in Egypt and how perpetrators of a massacre in a Coptic village in 2000 were not brought to justice:

Perhaps as a sop to Islamist sentiment, the government has done little to protect Egypt's ancient Christian community, by far the largest religious minority in the Middle East, and sometimes attacks them itself. No one was punished for the massacre of 21 Copts in the village of El-Kosheh four years ago. On March 23, the Coptic pope, Shenouda III, publicly condemned the escalating forced conversion of Christian girls, a major step since it is arguably illegal for him to criticize the government and he has previously been under house arrest for three years for doing so. In November 2003, security officials arrested 21 converts to Christianity, tortured several of them, and one died in custody. (Marshall, Paul, 2004, ‘Walk like the leader of a free land– Pressuring Egypt to reform’, National Review Online website - http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/marshall200404120842.asp – Accessed 19 September 2005 – Attachment 9)

Magdy Khalil, an Egyptian writer and researcher in an article on the Copts.net website also asserts that the Egyptian authorities have been ineffective when dealing with clashes against Coptic Christians:

The government provides neither preventive security nor the strict legal security to the Copts; therefore it bears the prime responsibility for what is happening to the Copts in Egypt. It is a partner in the crime by its negligence in carrying out its tasks, and also a partner in the crime by its collaboration with the criminal killers and abductors, because its active security system knows a great deal about the crimes being committed against the Copts including the abduction of the Coptic girls and yet it conceals it…

…The government is responsible for its shortcomings and for the collaboration of its security system, and responsible through the involvement of elements of its own security system in the crimes against the Copts. And as it is widely known and circulated, some members of the police took part in the murder crimes committed against the Copts in El Kusheh, and in El Zawya El Hamra where more than a hundred Coptic victims were slain (‘Who is responsible for abducting Coptic girls?’ 2003, Copts.net website, 30 July http://www.copts.net/detail.asp?id=435 – Accessed 17 March 2006 – Attachment 10)

For a comprehensive background on the treatment of Coptic Christians in Egypt, please see the following Research Response:

• RRT Country Research 2005, Research Response EGY23782, 16 December – Attachment 11.

Independent reports such as L P Goodson and S Radwan’s report in Arab Studies Quarterly state that: …freedom of religion exists in name only. In reality, the Egyptian government supports Islam as a de facto state religion (the constitution was amended in 1980 to make the Shari'a the primary source for legislation) while numerous laws and practices make discrimination against the Coptic minority (about 10% of the population) the norm (Goodson, Larry P, Radwan, Soha 1997, ‘Democratization in Egypt in the 1990s: Stagnant, or merely stalled?’, Arab Studies Quarterly, 1 January – Attachment 12).

Human Rights Watch comments that:

Although Egypt’s constitution provides for equal rights without regard to religion, discrimination against Egyptian Christians and intolerance of Baha’is and minority or unorthodox Muslim sects remains a problem. Egyptian law recognizes conversions to Islam but not from Islam to other religions. There are credible reports that Muslims who convert to Christianity sometimes face harassment. Difficulties in getting new identity papers have resulted in the arrest of converts to Christianity for allegedly forging such documents. Baha’i institutions and community activities are prohibited by law (Human Rights Watch 2005, World Report: Egypt (http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/01/13/egypt9802.htm - Accessed 20 December 2005 – Attachment 13).

In his article ‘Egypt Christians Face Discrimination’, Jasper Mortimer lists the two sides of the discriminatory treatment of Christians in Egypt as follow:

The law severely restricts the right of Copts to build churches. Schools ignore Coptic history. Local media give minimal coverage to issues affecting the Coptic community. Copts are underrepresented in politics and the public sector, which employs a third of Egypt's workforce.

Responding to complaints, the government has made it easier to repair, if not build, churches. And the most recent Christmas Mass at Cairo's cathedral was televised live for the first time...

Just over 1 percent of parliament's members are Copts, far below their overall share of Egypt's population - 10 percent, according to the U.S. State Department.

The ruling National Democratic Party did not field a single Copt in the 1995 election...

Fifty-six Copts ran in the election, but all lost. After criticism from the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, President Hosni Mubarak appointed six Coptic legislators.

Just two of the Cabinet's 32 ministers are Copts, and there are no Copts at all among the 26 provincial governors, the 13 state university presidents and the ranks of top military and police commanders...

Judge Edward Ghalib, secretary-general of the leading secular body of Copts, the Maglis el Melli, says discrimination often emerges when a top government position falls vacant.

Senior staffers will keep Copts off the selection list so that when the president or an agency head has to choose a candidate, "he will not see a Copt on the list," Ghalib said.

Such list-fixing does occur, said Saad Eddin Ibrahim, a sociologist at the American University in Cairo and a Muslim. The motive is to "rig the competition" in favor of Muslims, he said.

No Copt has served as prime minister or as minister of foreign affairs, defense, interior and justice since 1952, when Lt. Col. Gamal Abdel Nasser led a coup that toppled King Farouk. Previously, Copts often occupied these posts... Mubarak may feel obliged to promote the government's Muslim credentials. Opposed to Egypt's official secularism and its ties with the West, Islamic radicals have been attacking government officials, Copts, tourists and security officers in an insurgency that has killed 1,200 people in seven years...

Whatever the reason, most Copts are careful not to kick up a public fuss. When they seek redress, they act quietly. Such timidity stems from two factors: the state's intolerance of opposition, and the Copts' fear of alienating the Muslim majority... (‘Egypt Christians Face Discrimination’ 1999, Associated Press, 20 June – Attachment 14)

An article by Imad Boles entitled ‘Egypt – Persecution’ in Middle East Quarterly, dated Winter 2001, also offers further evidence that there have been more than thirty massacres of Coptic Christians during the past two decades and Coptic church leaders have been critical of Egyptian authorities efforts to deal effectively with such incidents:

Since 1981 more than thirty massacres of Copts have taken place, leading to the deaths of more than two hundred persons, as documented by human rights organizations. The attacks continue and are getting worse because they are no longer confined to terrorists. For example, on January 1-3, 2000, Muslim villagers of Al-Kosheh in upper Egypt killed twenty-one Coptic men, women, and children, and wounded scores of others. According to media reports, that violence resulted from a financial dispute between a Muslim and a Christian shopkeeper in the village. Three days of religiously motivated killing, rioting, and looting tore through the predominately Christian village and spread, without challenge from the Egyptian security forces, to nearby hamlets of Dar as-Salam and Awlad Tog Gareb. This police laxity and failure to accept responsibility drew criticism from Bishop Marcos, whom Pope Shenouda had sent to the area to investigate. "The local security forces could have prevented the sectarian violence from spinning out of control if police had acted quickly and decisively when the problem began on Friday (first day of rioting)," he said. The head of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, Hafiz Abu Sa‘da, concurred: "The police ought to have secured the village; instead they left it." (Boles, Imad, 2001, “Egypt – Persecution” Middle East Quarterly, Vol. VIII, No. 1, Winter 2001, http://www.meforum.org/article/23 – Accessed 16 September 2005 – Attachment 15).

3. Is there evidence that in recent years the Egyptian police have failed to respond to alleged victims of crime/harassment because the alleged victim is Christian?

A report from February 2006 states that police complicity with recent incidents of kidnapping is quite widespread:

Reports of kidnappings and the forced conversion of Christian girls are common in Egypt's Coptic community.

Some Christian girls, romanced by young Muslim men, voluntarily leave their families and convert to Islam in order to escape poverty and unhappy family situations…

…Without police cooperation, families find it difficult to verify the motives for each conversion. Unless the convert is under the age of 18, the legal age for conversion, police can refuse to recover the missing woman by claiming she does not want to see her family. (‘Missing woman contacts family for help’ Open Doors website , 24 February http://www.opendoorsuk.org.uk/news/news_archives/001283.php – Accessed 17 March 2006 – Attachment 16).

An article from 2004 on the Copts.net website offers information sourced from the Barnabus Fund and states that Egyptian militants have kidnapped Christian girls with support from police:

The independent Barnabas Fund said the latest incident was part of a development in Egypt where "police have overlooked and sometimes even aided Muslim men in stealing Christian girls from their families and abusing them in the name of Islam." It noted that the girl, whose name was not identified, had been abducted from a district in Cairo on June 2 and that local police are believed to have aided the Muslim abductors. Barnabas Fund's charge of alleged police involvement could not be confirmed independently. The human rights organization, which investigates the situation of persecuted Christians in mainly Islamic nations, described her family as "completely devastated," as they already "endured a horrific ordeal since she was abducted (the first time) in April," after leaving the house with her savings pass book and money…

…"During her initial abduction (April 6) she reports that she was sexually abused and drugged in order to manipulate her. A cross tattoo on her hand was forcibly removed," Barnabas Fund said. Her abductors allegedly tried "to force her to convert to Islam, and one now claims to be her husband," the organization added. Egyptian law specifically forbids the marriage of a girl under 21 without her parents' consent and also makes it illegal to convert a Christian girl under the age of 18, Barnabas Fund said. A Muslim man her parents suspected of involvement in the kidnapping admitted to having her money, but told police she gave it to her. "Throughout the ordeal, the local police were uncooperative with the family, if not abusive. On Wednesday April 7 a number of local Muslim leaders, including a local Member of Parliament, were seen at the police station showing their support for keeping the girl away from her family." Barnabas Fund claimed (‘Egypt militants kidnap Christian girl with support from police’ 2004 Copts.net website http://www.copts.net/detail.asp?id=548 – Accessed 17 March 2006 – Attachment 17).

Police harassment of Christians has also been reported in October 2003, by pro-Christian journal, Christianity Today:

In a late October crackdown, state security police arrested and tortured a Christian couple from a Muslim background. Police also arrested and mistreated 20 other Egyptian citizens, many of whom are Christian converts. Authorities accused them of forging Christian identity papers for former Muslims.

By mid-November, 17 of the 22 were out on bail.

Police arrested the couple in Alexandria on October 18. Two days later, police transferred the two to central Cairo's El-Mosky police station, where they were beaten, denied food, and hung by their arms. Others arrested in October were reportedly beaten, tortured, or raped.

Egypt's constitution guarantees religious freedom. Christian citizens who want to convert to Islam are free to adopt Muslim names and change their official religious identities. But Muslims who become Christians often face arrest, torture, and threats. Islamic law demands that unrepentant apostates be executed. (‘Ex-Muslims harassed in Egypt’ 2003, Christianity Today, January http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/001/15.30.html – Accessed 16 December 2003 – Attachment 18).

Country information from International Christian Concern also states that the response from authorities has been ineffective offering little assistance or protection to Christian converts. As is elaborated:

“While there have been a number of reported cases of violent abuse against converts in an attempt to force them to recant their Christian faith, there is no evidence that the police have offered assistance or protection to converts. ICC discovered that there is widespread fear of Egypt's secret police. Converts are especially sensitive to the watchful eyes of the secret police” (‘Human Rights fact-finding mission to Egypt reveals persecution of Christians’ 1998, International Christian Concern, April 9 http://www.asylumlaw.org/docs/egypt/EGY_1/SEC%201/HR%20Factfinding.pdf – Accessed 21 March 2006 – Attachment 19).

4. Is there evidence that in recent years the Egyptian police have failed to respond to alleged victims of crime/harassment because the alleged perpetrator is Muslim.

Country information available on the pro-Christian Jubilee Campaign website, available at Attachment 20 states that there have been “complaints of inaction on the part of the Egyptian authorities in the face of such practices and refusal to act on behalf of the victims and their families. This has led to a significant change in lifestyle among the Christians of Upper Egypt. There is a growing reluctance to allow girls to attend school, and when girls are allowed out of the house, they are usually accompanied by a male member of the family”(‘Egypt’s persecuted Christians’ No date, Jubilee Campaign website, http://www.jubileecampaign.co.uk/world/egy1.htm – Accessed 20 March 2006 – Attachment 20).

According to an article from the Persecution.org website, a Christian girl was kidnapped on two occasions and it is reported that “throughout the ordeal, the local police were uncooperative with the family, if not abusive. The next day a number of local Muslim leaders, including a Member of Parliament, were seen at the police station showing their support for keeping the girl away from her family”(‘Police conspire with Muslim abductors in kidnap of Christian girl’ 2004 Persecution.org website http://www.persecution.org/newsite/newsdetail.php?newscode=217 – Accessed 17 March 2006 – Attachment 21).

Attachment 17 highlights an incident where police have been reluctant to act on an incident where a Coptic Christian girl was allegedly kidnapped.

An article from October 2003 also asserts that Egyptian police have protected kidnappers and prevented family members in gaining access to young Christian girls. As the following excerpt explains:

Ingy Nagy Edwar, 19, is reportedly being held against her will by a Muslim couple in the Haram district of Giza governate, adjacent to Cairo. State security police officials temporarily detained her father and other male relatives a few days after her disappearance, showing them an alleged declaration of conversion to Islam signed by the girl…

…The girl was last seen by her father, who sent her off from the local bus station to visit an aunt living in Cairo's Heliopolis district. When she never arrived, her family discovered the girl's mobile telephone had been turned off. They began to search for her…

…Finally, on the evening of September 28, Nagy went to report her disappearance at the local police station, where he said he was treated very rudely. The police forced him to wait four hours until they registered his report. Then he was told he had to come back the next day for the official document number.

Dismayed at the authorities' response, Nagy's father, Edwar Nagy Sedra, went himself to the police to report that his daughter was missing. "But he was treated in a very bad way, given that he is a 65-year-old man," his son said. A retired English teacher and school vice-principal, the father was detained overnight on accusations of trying to interfere with his daughter's conversion to Islam. (‘Egyptian Police Protect Coptic Girl's Kidnappers’ 2003, Project: Open Book website http://www.domini.org/openbook/egy20031027.htm – Accessed 20 March 2006 – Attachment 22).

5. Is there evidence that in recent years the Egyptian police have failed to respond to alleged victims of crime/harassment because the crime is the alleged indecent/sexual assault of Christian woman/girl by a Muslim man?

As the following excerpt from the Jubilee Campaign website explains the practice of raping a Christian girl to coerce her into conversion is becoming more widespread in Egypt. As described in answer to Question four of this Research Response, there is also a growing reluctance to allow girls in the area of Upper Egypt to attend schools and be in public unaccompanied. As the article explains:

In Egyptian society a girl’s virginity is highly valued and its loss through rape is often viewed by her family members as a loss of honour. This leads to their ostracising the victim or even killing her. It is very difficult for a victim of rape to find a marriage partner.

Extremists use rape to pressurise Christian girls to convert. After the girl has been raped the extremists promise that they will arrange her marriage to a Muslim if she will convert to Islam, guaranteeing her a husband who would provide for her.

Conversion offers marriage to a member of the group and "security" to the victim, whereas returning to the family after the rape would result in potentially fatal consequences. This practice is reportedly becoming more widespread.

There have been complaints of inaction on the part of the Egyptian authorities in the face of such practices and refusal to act on behalf of the victims and their families. This has led to a significant change in lifestyle among the Christians of Upper Egypt. There is a growing reluctance to allow girls to attend school, and when girls are allowed out of the house, they are usually accompanied by a male member of the family. (‘Egypt’s persecuted Christians’ No date Jubilee Campaign website http://www.jubileecampaign.co.uk/world/egy1.htm – Accessed 20 March 2006 – Attachment 20).

The Persecution.org website asserts that the government fails to protect and intervene in incidents of abduction and conversion. As the following excerpt states: The Egyptian government continues to refuse to intervene on the behalf of parents whose daughters are abducted and forced to convert to Islam and then married to Muslim men. By doing so, the police fail to uphold two Egyptian laws. One prevents the conversion of any individual under the age of 16. The other prohibits the marriage of a young woman between the ages of 16 and 21 without the approval and presence of her guardians. Police rarely take action to enforce these laws in the case of abductions of Christians (‘Country Report: Egypt’ 2003 Persecution.org website http://www.persecution.org/Countries/egypt.html#Articles – Accessed 21 March 2006 – Attachment 23).

Further commentary on the prevalence of rape as a means of coercion to convert to Islam is provided in the following article from the Dhimmi.com website:

In Egypt, in the cities and in rural areas, young Christian women are being abducted, raped, and married to men not of their choosing. Local officials do nothing to remedy these crimes. What else do these cases, in countries far apart and by women of different faiths, have in common? The perpetrators are young Islamists, carrying on a peculiar form of jihad against dhimmi women…

… What of the young men who perform these acts of jihad on dhimmi women? There seems to be no negative consequences for them. As previously stated, local law enforcement officials—also Muslims—take their side. If these stories reach the media, a common response seems to be that these young women left willingly with their abductors, with plans of marriage, despite the fact that these plans remained unknown to their closest family members. If family members attempt to retrieve these young women, the police, families of the abductor, and the legal system threaten them until they are forced to abandon their efforts to save their daughters and sisters. Presumably, the families of these young jihadists approve of their sons kidnapping and abusing these tormented young women.

After the initial abduction, rape almost always occurs in this form of jihad. Forced conversion to Islam is also a feature of this horrendous crime. Marriage by coercion follows, an act of complete domination of the dhimmi victim of jihad. Days of terror turn into weeks and months of violence, isolation and despair for these young women. Taken from their own families, these jihad victims are thrust into families who regard them with distain and suspicion (‘Marriage Jihad style’ 2003, Dhimmi.com website http://www.dhimmi.com/Marriage--JihadStyle.htm – Accessed 17 March 2006 – Attachment 24).

6. Is it considered shameful in Egyptian Coptic culture for woman/girl to go to a police station (to report an alleged crime)?

While information specific to Coptic Christians reportage of rape is scarce, country information available in The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality – Egypt, states that rape often goes unreported in Egypt as girls often aim to protect their reputations to remain available to marry. As the following excerpt states: Incidents of reported rape are infrequent in Egypt because young girls, especially from middle-class and upper-class families are very protected. They tend to only move in the company of members of their families and they themselves take great care to protect their reputations in order to remain “marriageable.” Girls from poor families who work as domestic servants are at a much greater risk of rape because they have little power to protect themselves from the advances of male family members. These cases tend to go unreported and are not of interest to most members of the society. Also, the surge in an underground drug culture has led to a greater risk for women to be sexually exploited. (‘Egypt’ 2001, The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality – Egypt - http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/IES/egypt.html – Accessed 17 March 2006 – Attachment 25).

According to a report compiled in 2001, entitled ‘Violence against women in Egypt’, “it was reported that women tended to accept marriage to abductor rapists in order to save their honour and to mitigate the shame for their families”. (‘Violence against women in the community’ 2001, in Violence against women in Egypt, The World Organisation Against Torture, Section IV.1, p.27 http://www.omct.org/pdf/vaw/EgyptEng2001.pdf – Accessed 17 March 2006 – Attachment 26). Furthermore, from the same report:

There exists a “widespread attitude that a man’s honour is dependent upon his wife’s virtue. Consequently, his violent reaction to his wife’s adultery becomes excusable, especially if committed in the heat of the moment.

Moreover, although under the penal code, only the husband is “afforded” a lesser sentence for “provocation”, the woman’s family is often given a provocation defence by lenient court officials. (‘Crimes against women committed in the name of honour’ 2001, in Violence against women in Egypt,The World Organisation Against Torture, Section III.3, p.21 http://www.omct.org/pdf/vaw/EgyptEng2001.pdf – Accessed 17 March 2006 – Attachment 26).

Violence against women has occurred in Egypt in order to save a family’s honour and reputation. A case was reported in Egypt where “a woman electrocuted her pregnant daughter because she would not reveal the name of the man who had caused the pregnancy” and as the same source describes:

The concept of ‘honor’ may also be used in attempts to force abortions or “punish” women who refuse them. For example, in Egypt, one woman was murdered by her brother in front of her four children for refusing an abortion; he wanted her to have it to “avoid scandalising her family and husband”(‘Violence, pregnancy and abortion: Issues of women’s rights and public health’ 2003, IPAS website http://www.ipas.org/publications/en/violence_against_women/violence_womens_righ ts_en.pdf – Accessed 17 March 2006 – Attachment 27).

7. Are the “Secret Police” in Egypt called the “Amen E Dowal” and do they deal with issues between Christians and Muslims?

A 2005 article in The New Yorker states that the Egyptian secret police is referred to as the “Mukhabarat” and possess a reputation for brutality. As reported:

The largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid after Israel, Egypt was a key strategic ally, and its secret police force, the Mukhabarat, had a reputation for brutality. Egypt had been frequently cited by the State Department for torture of prisoners. According to a 2002 report, detainees were “stripped and blindfolded; suspended from a ceiling or doorframe with feet just touching the floor; beaten with fists, whips, metal rods, or other objects; subjected to electrical shocks; and doused with cold water [and] sexually assaulted (Mayer, J.‘Outsourcing torture’ 2005, The New Yorker Fact website http://www.newyorker.com/printables/fact/050214fa_fact6 – Accessed 30 March 2006 – Attachment 28).

While no information was located that confirmed the existence of a secret police that holds the title “Amen E Dowal”, several reports did portray the involvement of the Egyptian secret police in issues between Christians and Muslims. Attachment 30 states that “an Egyptian Christian Bolis Rezek-Allah was pulled off an international flight this afternoon in Cairo, Egypt, and is being held by Egyptian secret police”(‘Egypt: Christian held by secret police’ 2003, Come and See website http://www.comeandsee.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=491 , 29 September – Accessed 21 March 2006 – Attachment 30).

A 1998 article from The Oregonian states that Egypt's Christian converts risk abuse from the secret police:

Egyptians who convert to Christianity may incur wrath of secret police…

…Muslims who change their religion risk harassment, arrest and torture by the secret police. Although some point to the existence of an openly evangelical church such as Kasr el-Dobara as evidence of Egypt's tolerance, the U.S. State Department and rights organizations such as Amnesty International cite instances of arrest and torture of converts in Egypt. In addition, they allege that Christians are underrepresented in Egypt's government, discriminated against in education and business, and increasingly targeted by terrorists (‘Egypt’s Christian converts risk abuse’ 1998, The Oregonian, 28 October – Accessed 15 September 2000 – Attachment 31).

A 1998 report from the International Christian Concern organisation entitled Human Rights fact-finding mission to Egypt reveals persecution of Christians, asserts that the Egyptian government is increasingly using the secret police to monitor church activities and act as an intelligence arm of the government. As the report elaborates:

In the past few years, the Egyptian government has change (sic), their tactics in dealing with converts. Instead of arresting them and using brute force in an attempt to get them to return to Islam, the Egyptian security forces, or secret police, now serve as an intelligence arm of the government. The secret police monitor church activities by using informants to gather information on Muslims who convert to Christianity. Since 1990, there has (sic) been at least 2,000 converts to Christianity. Those converts who become known to the secret police are called in for questioning and then turned over to their families or the local Muslim clerics.

In many instances, the converts experience harsher treatment at the hands of the family and Muslim leaders than by the police. While there have been a number of reported cases of violent abuse against converts in an attempt to force them to recant their Christian faith, there is no evidence that the police have offered assistance or protection to converts. ICC discovered that there is widespread fear of Egypt's secret police. Converts are especially sensitive to the watchful eyes of the secret police. The secret police use informants to monitor church activities and are especially interested in gathering information on converts. Converts are wary of being seen with foreigners in being detained and "interrogated" by the police. (Human Rights fact-finding mission to Egypt reveals persecution of Christians, 1998, International Christian Concern, April 9 http://www.asylumlaw.org/docs/egypt/EGY_1/SEC%201/HR%20Factfinding.pdf – Accessed 21 March 2006 – Attachment 19).

8. If so, do they treat Muslims and Christians differently? A 2003 article from Christianity Today provides information relating to the verdict in a court case that saw only two of 95 Muslims defendants charged from riots that took place over three days in January, 2000, involving around 5,000 people and resulted in the death of 21 Christians. As a result of this verdict, many Christians accused the police and courts of being biased. As the article elaborates:

After the initial destruction, angry Muslims solicited help from Muslims in neighboring villages. An estimated 5,000 people took part in days of riots that followed. On January 2, 2000, rioters killed 21 people. Some were brutally murdered in their homes or in the fields. After the rioting ended, local Muslims and Christians were quick to hurl accusations at each other for responsibility in the carnage that made international news and dominated the news in Egypt for months.

Police, court bias alleged Christians and others widely accused the police being conspicuously absent during the first two days of the conflict. According to the American Egypt Country Report on Human Rights Practices, the government never investigated alleged misconduct of police.

On February 5, 2001, the Criminal Court of Sohag sentenced only four of the defendants—not for murder, but for carrying weapons and participating in the riots. Christians were shocked that even people they had accused of murder were acquitted. This sentence caused an outcry from Coptic Orthodox Church leaders. Judge Muhammad Afifi examined the case for the first ruling and explained that the mob fighting made it impossible to sentence specific people.

"The crime was brutal, inhumane, and against morals and laws," he told as-Sharq al- Awsat, a Suadi newspaper. "The legal rule is nevertheless that the accused is innocent till proven guilty. Convictions in criminal cases are based on clear-cut evidence." Witnesses contradicted each other and often did not match the laboratory findings.

Relatives of the victims, villagers, and Coptic Orthodox church leaders rejected this new verdict. The verdict meant that most of the accused killers were still at large. Many Christians in al-Kosheh claim to know with certainty who those killers are, causing fear that more killing will occur.

The U.S. Copts Association responded that Egypt's courts "continue to issue politically dictated rulings that merely cater to the fanatical elements of Egyptian society." Hafez Abu Se'ada, general-secretary of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, disagrees with the accusation. "This decision was taken by a [civilian] court. Civil courts are, unlike military and security courts, politically independent."…

…Egyptian human-rights activists and church leaders do not blame the court but rather the police. Abu Se'ada accuses the police of "starting to collect evidence three days after the killings. Police reports were made that [seem to have] inaccurately reflected the plaintiffs' statements."

Mamdouh Nakhla, one of the lawyers defending the Christians of al-Kosheh, spoke of police negligence and complicity, accusing them of "withholding vital evidence during the trials." (‘Muslims Convicted After 2000 Fatal Attack on Copts’ 2003, Christianity Today http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/109/11.0.html – Accessed 22 March 2006 – Attachment 32).

A 1998 article in Family World News states that the secret police often gather information on Muslims who convert to Christianity, questioning them and then turning them over to Muslim clerics and their own families. Furthermore, “In many instances the converts experience harsher treatment from their families and Muslim leaders than at the hands of police. Converts also say that the police don't carry out their "dirty work" themselves, but hire thugs to harass, beat, rob and make life difficult for them…Muslim kidnappings of Christian girls have become more common. The government neglects the rights and safety of Christians doing little to prevent attacks on them. At least 32 Christians have been killed in Upper Egypt in the past year. (‘Persecution of Christians’ 1998, Family World News, August Vol 5 No. 8 p.9 – Attachment 33).

Information that refers to the treatment of Christians at the hand of the secret police is available at Attachment 19. (‘Human Rights fact-finding mission to Egypt reveals persecution of Christians’ 1998, International Christian Concern, April 9 http://www.asylumlaw.org/docs/egypt/EGY_1/SEC%201/HR%20Factfinding.pdf – Accessed 21 March 2006 – Attachment 19).

9. Can Muslims set up a mosque on privately owned land in Egypt and does the owner of the land then lose ownership of that land?

Information regarding the setting up of mosques on privately owned land in Egypt is scarce. However, information from the US Department of State report for 2005, stipulates that a decree from February 2004 placed mosques in private homes under government control. As elaborated in the report:

All mosques must be licensed, and the government attempted to supervise them closely for the stated purpose of combating extremists. The government appoints and pays the salaries of the imams who lead prayers in mosques, and it monitors their sermons; however, it does not contribute to the funding of Christian churches. During the year, the Minister of Awqaf announced that of the more than 92,500 mosques in the country, the government administratively controlled 74,500 regular mosques and 18,000 zawaya (smaller mosques located in private buildings). The government annexes new mosques every year, but the process did not keep pace with new mosque construction; however, a February 2004 decree from the Minister of Awqaf deprived governors of unilaterally issuing permits to build mosques and placed mosques in private homes under Awqaf administrative control. (US Department of State 2006, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2005 – Egypt, March – Attachment 34).

10. Is there evidence that in recent years it has become commonplace for Coptic Christians to be verbally abused by Muslims including police for reasons of their religion (for example, called a stupid unbeliever)?

According to information provided on the Middle East Reformed Fellowship (MERF) website, there is widespread discrimination of Christians in Egypt, including verbal abuse and discrimination in employment. As elaborated:

Egyptian Christians are exposed to pressures that the average westerners cannot imagine. Corruption of government officials, the prevalence of bribery, dishonesty in the work place…(and)… religious hypocrisy are all common daily experiences. The culture is dominated by a very un-Christian world and life view. Most of the laws which apply to Muslims citizens affect local Christians. Moreover, Christians are at all times bombarded by verbal attacks on their beliefs even over public radio and TV. Neither are they allowed the freedom to defend their beliefs. Christians are often discriminated against in job appointments and/or promotions. There is also the pressure of being identified with the moral and social decadence of the "Christian" West (‘The Gospel in Egypt’ No date, Middle East Reformed Fellowship website http://merf.woh.gospelcom.net/articles/egypt.html – Accessed 22 March 2006 – Attachment 35).

Comments in Telegraph.co.uk, provided by Nonie Darwish, a freelance writer specialising in Mid-east culture and politics, provides a perspective of the verbal attacks that Christians are subjected to in Egypt:

I was born and raised as a Muslim in Cairo, Egypt and in the Gaza Strip…

…Criticism and questioning were forbidden. When I did either of these, I was told: "Muslims cannot love the enemies of God, and those who do will get no mercy in hell." As a young woman, I visited a Christian friend in Cairo during Friday prayers, and we both heard the verbal attacks on Christians and Jews from the loudspeakers outside the mosque. They said: "May God destroy the infidels and the Jews, the enemies of God. We are not to befriend them or make treaties with them." We heard worshippers respond "Amen". (‘We were brought up to hate - and we do’ 2006, Telegraph.co.uk, 12 February http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/02/12/do1205.x ml&sSheet=/opinion/2006/02/12/ixop.html – Accessed 22 March 2006 – Attachment 36).

Country information available at Attachment 32 states that “Christians in al-Kosheh are not strong enough to retaliate with violence, but Christians and Muslims level accusations at each other like verbal vendettas” (‘Muslims Convicted After 2000 Fatal Attack on Copts’ 2003, Christianity Today http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/109/11.0.html – Accessed 22 March 2006 – Attachment 32).

11. Is there evidence that in recent years, government audit officers have targeted Christian business owners and improperly issued fines and confiscated their stock?

No information was found in the sources consulted, making reference to the imposition of fines or confiscation of stock from Christian business owners by government audit officers. However, information was found in reference to Muslims extorting Christian businesses in the form of the charging Christians Jizya. As elaborated in a report on the Persecution.org website:

A common act in rural Egypt is for Muslims to extort money from Christian businesses. This practiced is often justified by the Koranic injunction to charge Christians Jizya, a tax levied on non-Muslims. Extremist groups often use this practice to fund their operations (‘Country Report: Egypt’ 2003 Persecution.org website http://www.persecution.org/Countries/egypt.html#Articles – Accessed 21 March 2006 – Attachment 23).

Further evidence provided in a 2003 report by The Wall Street Journal Europe states that Islamic extremists force Copts to pay the Jizya. Furthermore authorities do not act to stop the practice. As the report elaborates:

Much of the 20th century, however, has not been kind to the Copts, who have seen their distinct identity denied and their faith assailed. Copts face severe discrimination in the public sector, as there are currently no Christian governors, mayors, or police chiefs, and they are substantially underrepresented in national politics. They likewise face educational discrimination, ranging from the lack of school curriculum on Coptic history to being barred from attending the state-funded al-Azhar University. Copts also face hostility from local officials when they complain about harassment and violence from Islamic extremists who continue to force Copts to pay the jizya under the nose of the local police. (‘The Coptic Path’ 2003, The Wall Street Journal Europe 23 A6, 31 December – Attachment 37)

A report on the British Orthodox Church website describes the attacks on businesses that led to violent riots involving 5,000 Muslims and Christians in the village of Mankateen village in Minya:

On 3 December several hundred youths from outside the village, belonging to ‘Al- Gam'eiah Al Shar'iah' began attacking Coptic businesses. They attacked and robbed two chemist shops belonging to Dr. Reda Morgan and Dr. Osama Ghali, the former of which was completely burnt. They also set alight cars belonging to Copts and went on to attack and rob Youssef Henein's house (next to the Coptic Association), Zakarea Ghattas' clothes shops and some grocery stores owned by Ishaq Tadros. During all these incidents the police took no action, but only later intervened and arrested some of the attackers. (‘Violence against Copts’ 2003, British Orthodox Church website http://www.britishorthodox.org/111d.php – Accessed 17 March 2006 – Attachment 38).

12. Does the Coptic Christian religion forbid Coptic Christians from taking oaths?

Information on whether the Coptic Christian religion forbids followers from taking oaths was not found in the available Tribunal resources.

On 23 March 2006, an e-mail, available at Attachment 39, was sent to Bishop Daniel, the leader of the Coptic Church in Sydney, requesting expert information on whether Coptic Christians are prevented from taking oaths. At the time of finalising this request, no information had been forthcoming in reply to this request. (RRT Country Research 2006, ‘Request for expert information regarding Copts in Egypt’ 23 March – Attachment 39)

Information regarding the sacraments and practices of the Coptic Christian religion’s Sacraments is available in the following excerpt:

Copts observe seven canonical sacraments: Baptism, Christmation (Confirmation), Eucharist, Confession (Penance), Orders, Matrimony, and Unction of the sick. Baptism is performed few weeks after birth by immersing the whole body of the newborn into especially consecrated water three times. Confirmation is performed immediately after Baptism. Regular confession with a personal priest, called the father of confession, is necessary to receive the Eucharist. It is customary for a whole family to pick the same priest as a father of confession, thus, making of that priest a family counselor. Of all seven sacraments, only Matrimony cannot be performed during a fasting season.

Polygamy is illegal, even if recognized by the civil law of the land. Divorce is not allowed except in the case of adultery, annulment due to bigamy, or other extreme circumstances, which must be reviewed by a special council of Bishops. Divorce can be requested by either husband or wife. Civil divorce is not recognized by the Church. The Coptic Orthodox Church does not have and does not mind any civil law of the land as long as it does not interfere with the Church's sacraments.

The Church does not have (and actually refuses to canonize) an official position vis- a-vis some controversial issues (e.g. abortion). While the church has clear teachings about such matters (e.g. abortion interferes with God's will), it is the position of the Church that such matters are better resolved on a case-by-case basis by the father of confession, as opposed to having a blanket canon that makes a sin of such practices (Iskander, L and Dunn, J, 2003, ‘An overview of the Coptic Christians of Egypt’ Tour Egypt website http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/copticchristians.htm – Accessed 22 March 2006 – Attachment 40).

13. Is Sheik Omar Abdul Rahman the leader of Gamma Islami in Egypt, and has he or someone connected with that group recently issued a fatwa against Christians?

Country information located on Wikipedia confirms that Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman is the leader of Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya, also known as The Islamic Group, which is considered a terrorist group by the United States and Egyptian governments. As Wikipedia states:

Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman (b. May 3, 1938) is a blind Egyptian Muslim cleric who is currently serving a life sentence at the Federal Administrative Maximum Penitentiary hospital in Florence, Colorado, United States.

Formerly a resident of New York City, Abdel-Rahman and nine others were convicted of "Seditious Conspiracy," which requires only that a crime be planned, not that it necessarily be attempted. His prosecution grew out of investigations of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Rahman is the leader of Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya (also known as The Islamic Group), a militant Islamist movement in Egypt that is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and Egyptian governments. The group is responsible for many acts of violence, including the November 1997 Luxor massacre, in which 58 foreign tourists and four Egyptians were killed. (‘Omar Abdel-Rahman’ 2006, Wikipedia website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheik_Omar_Abdel-Rahman – Accessed 23 March 2006 – Attachment 41).(NOTE: Wikipedia is a Web-based free-content encyclopaedia which is written collaboratively by volunteers via a wiki application which allows for the creation of Wikipedia articles, and for the editing of the majority of Wikipedia’s existing articles, by anyone with access to a web browser.)

The Congressional Research Service report entitled “Foreign terrorist Organizations” dated February 2006, describes The Islamic Group’s goals and objectives as “aim(ing) to overthrow the secular Egyptian government and replace it with an Islamic state, governed by Shari’a law and devoid of “un-Islamic” influences”…(and furthermore)…the organization has targeted people and interests that they believe obstruct its vision of an Islamic state, including government personnel, police officers…(and)…Coptic Christians”(‘Foreign Terrorist Organizations’ 2006 Congressional Research Service, 6 February p.24 http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/29722.pdf - Accessed 28 March 2006 – Attachment 42).

In relation to whether Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman recently issued a fatwa against Christians, country information only confirms that there has been a fatwa issued by Sheik Rahman encouraging acts of violence against the United States military. Wikipedia elaborates: After the first World Trading Center bombing in 1993, the FBI began to investigate Rahman and his followers more closely. With the assistance of an Egyptian informant wearing a listening device, the FBI managed to record Rahman issuing a fatwa encouraging acts of violence against US military targets. The most startling plan, the government charged, was to set off five bombs in 10 minutes, blowing up the United Nations, the Lincoln and Holland tunnels, the George Washington Bridge and a federal building housing the FBI.

Government prosecutors showed videotapes of defendants mixing bomb ingredients in a garage before their arrest in 1993. Rahman was arrested in 1993 along with nine of his followers. In October 1995 he was convicted of seditious conspiracy and was sentenced to life in prison. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheik_Omar_Abdel-Rahman (‘Omar Abdel-Rahman’ 2006, Wikipedia website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheik_Omar_Abdel-Rahman – Accessed 23 March 2006 – Attachment 41).(NOTE: Wikipedia is a Web-based free-content encyclopaedia which is written collaboratively by volunteers via a wiki application which allows for the creation of Wikipedia articles, and for the editing of the majority of Wikipedia’s existing articles, by anyone with access to a web browser.)

Country information from June 2003 states that “In past years, Coptic Christians have been the objects of occasional violent assaults by the Islamic Group al-Jama’at al-Islamiyya and other terrorists. However, there have been no reports of terrorist attacks against Christians since 1998” (‘Christians in a Muslim state: The Copts of Egypt’ Country Issues Brief Protection Decision Support Section, DIMIA – Accessed 8 July 2003 – Attachment 43).

14. Would the reputation of a Coptic Christian girl who was molested in public (her breast and body groped) be affected and her ability to marry within the Coptic community reduced?

On 23 March 2006, an e-mail, available at Attachment 34 was sent to Bishop Daniel, the leader of the Coptic Church in Sydney, requesting expert information on whether a Coptic Christian girl’s reputation and ability to marry within the Coptic community would be greatly affected by an incident of molestation. At the time of finalising this request, no information had been forthcoming in reply to this request. (RRT Country Research 2006, ‘Request for expert information regarding Copts in Egypt’, 23 March – Attachment 34).

Specific information regarding the reputation of Coptic Christian girls after being victimised by molestation is quite scarce. However, country information suggests that due to the considerable emphasis placed on the purity of Coptic Christian girls by the Coptic Church, it may be anticipated that the molestation of a Coptic Christian girl in public may affect her ability to marry within the Coptic community. Country information available at Attachment 20 supports this by stating that “In Egyptian society a girl’s virginity is highly valued and its loss through rape is often viewed by her family members as a loss of honour. This leads to their ostracising the victim or even killing her. It is very difficult for a victim of rape to find a marriage partner.” (‘Egypt’s persecuted Christians’ No date, Jubilee Campaign website, http://www.jubileecampaign.co.uk/world/egy1.htm – Accessed 20 March 2006 – Attachment 20).

Qualities such as purity and the guarding of one’s virtue are a crucial aspect of a young Coptic woman’s “virginal reputation” according to a paper by Febe Armanios entitled ‘The ‘Virtuous Woman’: Images of Gender in Modern Coptic Society’. Establishing a close relationship with one’s priest who can vouch for their purity and virtue is of paramount importance and as “‘safe keepers’ of the Coptic nation and identity…(girls)…are expected to live up to the dogmatic and binding standards upheld by clergy and laymen”. (Armanios, F. 2002, ‘The ‘Virtuous Woman’: Images of Gender in Modern Coptic Society’ in Middle Eastern Studies, 1 January – Attachment 44).

Armanios elaborates:

Having a social life that depends on a small circle of friends and acquaintances means that a young Coptic woman must constantly guard her virginal reputation. There is a pervasive awareness, thanks in no small part to the abundance of hagiographic models existent in Coptic traditions, of the kinds of signals which the unmarried need to convey in order to establish their standing as ‘nice girls’. Being a volunteer (khadima), whether as a Sunday School teacher or as someone who serves the poor and the orphaned, is a favourite strategy. More importantly, it has become crucial for a young woman to establish a close relationship with her local priest; his vouching for her purity and virtue is often a decisive factor in the finalizing of a marriage (Armanios, F. 2002, ‘The ‘Virtuous Woman’: Images of Gender in Modern Coptic Society’ in Middle Eastern Studies, 1 January – Attachment 44).

The Coptic Church places immense importance on educating young women to guard their virginity, “recognizing only two manifestations of female sexual identity: a woman can be a wife/mother or a perpetual virgin. But noteworthy here is the Church’s explicit expectation of virginity, conveyed in particular to its youngest members through instruction in hagiographic texts in the forum of its Sunday Schools. In recent years and in the interest of rediscovering the Coptic past, much attention has been paid to rewriting, publishing and teaching…(and)…a specific fascination with the retelling of the hagiographies of female virgin-saints/martyrs”. (Armanios, F. 2002, ‘The ‘Virtuous Woman’: Images of Gender in Modern Coptic Society’ in Middle Eastern Studies, 1 January – Attachment 44).

List of Sources Consulted

Internet Sources: Government Information & Reports Foreign Press Centre http://fpc.state.gov Centre for Defense Information http://www.cdi.org/ United Nations (UN) UNHCR http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home Non-Government Organisations IPAS website http://www.ipas.org World Organisation against torture http://www.omct.org Jubilee Campaign http://www.jubileecampaign.co.uk Asylum Law.org http://www.asylumlaw.org/ International Christian Concern http://www.persecution.org/newsite/index.php Open Doors UK website http://www.opendoorsuk.org.uk International News & Politics The Telegraph UK website http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main Reuters News Alerts http://www.alertnet.org Region Specific Links Compass Direct http://www.compassdirect.org Topic Specific Links Tour Egypt website http://www.touregypt.net British Orthodox Church website http://www.britishorthodox.org Middle East Reformed Fellowship website http://merf.woh.gospelcom.net Come and See website http://www.comeandsee.com International Encyclopedia of Sexuality http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/IES Dhimmi.com http://www.dhimmi.com Project: Open Book website http://www.domini.org/openbook Jubilee Campaign http://www.jubileecampaign.co.uk Christianity Today http://www.christianitytoday.com Copts.net website http://www.copts.net Institute on Religion and Policy http://www.religionandpolicy.org/index.php Search Engines Google search engine http://www.google.com.au/ Online Subscription Services Wikipedia website http://en.wikipedia.org Middle East Quarterly http://www.meforum.org National Review Online http://www.nationalreview.com Library Networks State Library of New South Wales http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/ University of Sydney Library http://www.library.usyd.edu.au/Home.html University Sites University of Sydney http://www.usyd.edu.au/

Databases: Public FACTIVA Reuters Business Briefing DIMIA BACIS Country Information REFINFO IRBDC Research Responses (Canada) RRT ISYS RRT Country Research database, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, US Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. RRT Library FIRST RRT Library Catalogue

List of Attachments

1. ‘Egyptian Christian girl Kidnapped by Muslim Militants, contacts family’ 2006, Copts.net website http://www.copts.net/print.asp?id=899 – Accessed 16 March 2006.

2. ‘Muslims, Christians Clash In Egypt; At Least 11 Injured’ 2006, Dow Jones International News, 20 February. (FACTIVA)

3. ‘Egyptian convert locked in mental hospital. Patient must return to Islam to be discharged’ 2005, Compass Direct 13 May, http://www.compassdirect.org/en/newslongen.php?idelement=3816 .

4. ‘Egypt: Security police launch harsh crackdown against converts to Christianity’, 2004, Compass Direct News Summaries, 16 January. (CISNET Egypt CX88033) 5. ‘Egypt’s endangered Christians: After Violent Attacks, Ancient Coptic Minority Fears It Has Become the Target of Islamic Militants, 1997, Washington Post Foreign Service, 18 March. (FACTIVA)

6. ‘Egypt arrests 22 Muslims over religious violence’ 2006, Reuters News Alerts, 29 January http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L29387105.htm – Accessed 16 March 2006.

7. ‘Egyptian Police Guard Coptic Church Attacked by Muslims’ 2005, New York Times, 23 October. (FACTIVA)

8. ‘Prosecutors detain 100 Egyptians after Coptic-Muslim violence’ 2005, Associated Press, 23 October. (FACTIVA)

9. Marshall, Paul, 2004, ‘Walk like the leader of a free land – Pressuring Egypt to reform’, National Review Online website - http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/marshall200404120842.asp – Accessed 19 September 2005.

10. Who is responsible for abducting Coptic girls?’ 2003, Copts.net website, 30 July http://www.copts.net/detail.asp?id=435 – Accessed 17 March 2006.

11. RRT Country Research 2005, Research Response EGY23782, 16 December.

12. Goodson, Larry P, Radwan, Soha 1997, ‘Democratization in Egypt in the 1990s: Stagnant, or merely stalled?’, Arab Studies Quarterly, 1 January.

13. Human Rights Watch 2005, World Report: Egypt http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/01/13/egypt9802.htm - Accessed 20 December 2005.

14. ‘Egypt Christians Face Discrimination’ 1999, Associated Press, 20 June.

15. Boles, Imad, 2001, ‘Egypt – Persecution’ Middle East Quarterly, Vol. VIII, No. 1, Winter 2001, http://www.meforum.org/article/23 – Accessed 16 September 2005.

16. ‘Missing woman contacts family for help’ Open Doors website , 24 February http://www.opendoorsuk.org.uk/news/news_archives/001283.php – Accessed 17 March 2006.

17. ‘Egypt militants kidnap Christian girl with support from police’ 2004, Copts.net website http://www.copts.net/detail.asp?id=548 – Accessed 17 March 2006.

18. ‘Ex-Muslims harassed in Egypt’ 2003, Christianity Today, January http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/001/15.30.html – Accessed 16 December 2003.

19. ‘Human Rights fact-finding mission to Egypt reveals persecution of Christians’ 1998, International Christian Concern, April 9 http://www.asylumlaw.org/docs/egypt/EGY_1/SEC%201/HR%20Factfinding.pdf – Accessed 21 March 2006. 20. ‘Egypt’s persecuted Christians’ No date, Jubilee Campaign website, http://www.jubileecampaign.co.uk/world/egy1.htm – Accessed 20 March 2006.

21. ‘Police conspire with Muslim abductors in kidnap of Christian girl’ 2004, Persecution.org website http://www.persecution.org/newsite/newsdetail.php?newscode=217 – Accessed 17 March 2006.

22. ‘Egyptian Police Protect Coptic Girl's Kidnappers’ 2003, Project: Open Book website http://www.domini.org/openbook/egy20031027.htm – Accessed 20 March 2006.

23. ‘Country Report: Egypt’ 2003, Persecution.org website http://www.persecution.org/Countries/egypt.html#Articles – Accessed 21 March 2006.

24. ‘Marriage Jihad style’ 2003, Dhimmi.com website http://www.dhimmi.com/Marriage- -JihadStyle.htm – Accessed 17 March 2006.

25. ‘Egypt’ 2001, The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality – Egypt - http://www2.hu- berlin.de/sexology/IES/egypt.html – Accessed 17 March 2006.

26. ‘Violence against women in Egypt’ 2001, The World Organisation Against Torture, http://www.omct.org/pdf/vaw/EgyptEng2001.pdf – Accessed 17 March 2006.

27. ‘Violence, pregnancy and abortion: Issues of women’s rights and public health’ 2003, IPAS website http://www.ipas.org/publications/en/violence_against_women/violence_womens_righ ts_en.pdf – Accessed 17 March 2006.

28. Mayer, J ‘Outsourcing torture’ 2005, The New Yorker Fact website http://www.newyorker.com/printables/fact/050214fa_fact6 – Accessed 30 March 2006.

29. ‘Egypt: Christian held by secret police’ 2003, Come and See website http://www.comeandsee.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=491 , 29 September – Accessed 21 March 2006.

30. ‘Egypt’s Christian converts risk abuse’ 1998, The Oregonian, 28 October – Accessed 15 September 2000. (CISNET - Egypt CX44590)

31. ‘Muslims Convicted After 2000 Fatal Attack on Copts’ 2003, Christianity Today http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/109/11.0.html – Accessed 22 March 2006.

32. ‘Persecution of Christians’ 1998, Family World News, August Vol 5 No. 8 p.9. (CISNET – Egypt – CX32137) 33. US Department of State 2006, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2005 – Egypt, March.

34. ‘The Gospel in Egypt’ No date, Middle East Reformed Fellowship website http://merf.woh.gospelcom.net/articles/egypt.html Accessed 22 March 2006.

35. ‘We were brought up to hate - and we do’ 2006, Telegraph.co.uk, 12 February http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/02/12/do1205.xm l&sSheet=/opinion/2006/02/12/ixop.html – Accessed 22 March 2006.

36. ‘The Coptic Path’ 2003, The Wall Street Journal Europe 23 A6, 31 December. (FACTIVA)

37. ‘Violence against Copts’ 2003, British Orthodox Church website http://www.britishorthodox.org/111d.php – Accessed 17 March 2006.

38. RRT Country Research 2006, ‘Request for expert information regarding Copts in Egypt’ 23 March.

39. Iskander, L and Dunn, J, 2003, ‘An overview of the Coptic Christians of Egypt’ Tour Egypt website http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/copticchristians.htm – Accessed 22 March 2006.

40. ‘Omar Abdel-Rahman’ 2006, Wikipedia website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheik_Omar_Abdel-Rahman – Accessed 23 March 2006.

41. ‘Foreign Terrorist Organizations’ 2006 Congressional Research Service, 6 February p.24 http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/29722.pdf - Accessed 28 March 2006.

42. ‘Christians in a Muslim state: The Copts of Egypt’ Country Issues Brief Protection Decision Support Section, DIMIA – Accessed 8 July 2003. (CISNET – Egypt – CX81295)

43. Armanios, F. 2002, ‘The ‘Virtuous Woman’: Images of Gender in Modern Coptic Society’ in Middle Eastern Studies, 1 January.