1 ISBN: 978-87-91836-53-4 2 Human Rights Across Cultural Dialogue Conference Proceedings, Copenhagen 15-16, December 2010. Leading editors: Lis Dhundale, Bahey eldin Hassan and Rasmus Alenius Boserup Language proofreading and revision by: Jenifer Evans, Ragab Saad and Ashraf Mikhail Translation by: Ubada Center For Translation Cover design and layout: Karim Mansour. The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies: 21 Abd El-Megid El-Remaly St., 7th Floor, Flat No. 71, Bab El Louk, Cairo Phone: +202 27963757 +202 27963726 + 202 27963 POBox 117 Maglis ElShaab, Cairo Egypt. Email: [email protected] • Website: www.cihrs.org The Danish Institute for Human Rights Wilders Plads 8K | DK-1403 COPENHAGEN K | Denmark Tel: +45 32698888 Fax: +45 32698800 Email: [email protected] • Website: www.humanrights.dk The Danish Egyptian Dialogue Institute 12, Hassan Sabri Street, 11211 Zamalek, Cairo, Egypt Tel: +20 2 27 35 16 21 Fax: +20 2 27 35 18 62 Email: [email protected] • Website: www.dedi.org.eg Disclaimer: This publication does not necessarily reflect the views of the Danish Egyptian Dialogue Institute. The Danish Egyptian Dialogue Institute (DEDI) would like to thank the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) and the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) for organizing the Human Rights Across Cultural Dialogue Conference in Copenhagen, 15-16 with leading experts from both Denmark and Egypt speaking on the topic and assisting with the production of this publication. Special thanks are due to Ashraf Mikhail, Project Manager, DIHR, for his contributions to, and management of, the project and Ragab Saad, CIHRS, for being the organizations’ focal point during the project implementation and publication drafting period. Their involvement proved critical to the successful realization of this project. For that, DEDI is extremely grateful. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Abbreviations 5 2. Preface 6 3. Introduction 8 4. Attempts to Bridge the Gap between the universality of Human Rights and Religious and Cultural Praticularities 14 a) Arab Perspective....by Moataz El Feigy Islamic Sharia and the universality of human rights: Muslim scholars’ schools and approaches 14 b) European Perspective...by Eve Maria Lassen Religious voices and state reactions 36 5. Culture, Politics and Human Rights in the Arab World 44 a) Women’s right in Egypt in the context of the political, religious and cul- tural discourse. By Muzn Hassan 44 b) A Tale of a Torrential Totalitarianism: The Crises of Freedom of Belief and Minorities’ Rights in Egyptian Society...by Adel Guindy 58 c) The alliance of political and religious despotisms...by Helmy Salem 85 6. Cutlure, Politics and Human Rights in Europe 117 a) The representation of minorities in the media...by Andres Jerichow 117 Religious Minorities in Denmark and Europe ...by Bashy Quraishy 126 Women’s Rights in Denmark - Challanges and Opportunities...By Ingrid Stage 134 4 1. Abbreviations ARD Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Broadcaster) BBC British Broadcasting Company CEDAW Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women CIHRS Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies CNN Cable News Network DEDI The Danish-Egyptian Dialogue Institute DIHR The Danish Institute for Human Rights DM The Danish Association of Masters and PhDs DR Danish Broadcasting Company EU European Union EUROMED Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network MB The Muslim Brotherhood MENA The Middle East and North Africa MEP Member of Parliament NGO Non-Governmental Organisation NOKS Northern Women’s Cooperation OIC The Organization of Islamic Conference SOAS School of African and Oriental Studies, London University UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights UK United Kingdom UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Programme 5 2. Preface by Rasmus Boserup In the summer of 2008, the Danish-Egyptian Dialogue Institute decided that the promotion of a human rights culture in Egypt and in Denmark would be one of four strategic aims. The decision reflected the institute’s will to engage actively in what we believed to be a important area for societal development and concern in both countries. In Denmark, the fallout of the so-called “cartoons crisis” continued to accentuate the debate about how small-scale European countries could or should integrate religious minorities – and in particular Muslim minorities. In Egypt, the controversial activism of the Muslim Brotherhood, and not least the group’s publication of the first draft of a political party platform, contributed to stirring up heated debates about religious minorities’ rights and obligations in Egypt. In that context, the institute welcomed the initiative taken by one of the strongest Egyptian human rights organizations, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, to develop a format for an international conference on the topic, aiming to produce fruitful dialogue between human rights defenders, experts, researchers, and decision- makers from Egypt and Denmark. And so, under the title “Bridging the Cultural Divide”, DEDI provided a platform through which the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies in collaboration with a one of its strongest Danish counterparts, the Danish Institute for Human Rights, could develop the idea into a project. In 2009 the institute funded the proposal and in December 2010 the conference was held in Copenhagen, Denmark. As director of the Danish-Egyptian Dialogue Institute during the period from February 2008 to January 2011, I had the opportunity to closely follow the work of the Egyptian- Danish project team as they conceptualized, developed, and consolidated the project. Like the conference, the present publication is the fruit of their ideas, discussions, and decisions. I wholeheartedly thank them for sharing their dedication and insights not only with us at DEDI, and with their peers, colleagues and fellow practitioners who were invited to attend or speak at the conference, but also with a broader public in- and outside the Arab world in the form of the present book. The upheavals that have altered power balances and hastened societal transformation in the Arab world starting in the spring of 2011 have but further accentuated the need 6 to address the topic raised in the conference only a few months earlier. In parallel with the opening of several Arab political systems, and with Egypt at the absolute forefront of this development, the challenge of how to bridge between the universality of human rights and the particularity of cultural and religious traditions and practices has perhaps never been more urgent. Rasmus Alenius Boserup PhD, director of DEDI from February 2008 to January 2011 7 3. Introduction by Bahey El Din and Lis Dhundale The universality and indivisibility of human rights has been questioned by various cultures, individuals and groups across societies. It is with growing concern that we have witnessed such tendencies, and with the conference Human Rights and Cultural Dialogue we wished to contribute to addressing, exploring and shedding light on the diversity of fundamental views and debates surrounding the nexus between human rights, cultural dialogues and religion politics in both Danish and Egyptian, western and Arab/Muslim communities. The two-day conference was held 15-16 December 2010 in the Danish capital of Copenhagen, co-organized by the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies and the Danish Institute for Human Rights in order to address these concerns. The point of departure for the conference was the international human rights instruments. The ambition was to explore contemporary thoughts, view points and experiences on the subject of human rights and religious and cultural divides, assess practices, and through the key themes of women’s rights, religious minorities, and freedom of expression, try to find an explanation of a given state of human rights. Are the challenges we face caused by religion or political will? What are the main obstacles that might prevent the entrenchment of the values and principles of respecting human rights in a specific society? Is it based on the cultural traditions and prevailing religious principles in the society, or does it result from the lack of or availability of political will? For several years these questions have grasped the attention and stirred the interest of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, which has engaged in studying issues that link Islam, the majority religion in Arab societies, to human rights and democracy, which are deteriorating and being violated in those same societies. The Cairo Institute has also contributed through various activities to posing a number of questions which, answered sufficiently, we thought, would help answer that central question: Does the problem of human rights in Arab societies stem from the Islamic constituent of the prevailing culture in the Arab world, or is it the result of an absence of political will on the part of the ruling regimes? 8 The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies has made a number of studies and publications and organized several conferences addressing the relationship between Islam and democracy, and also studied ways for the Arab non-democratic states to benefit from the experiences of non-Arab Muslim democratic states. In addition to workshops and exchange programs exploring the causes of tension between the Arab and Muslim worlds and the West relating to freedom of expression and differences in understanding it, one of the