1999 News

Islamic Militant Warns Egypt
.c The Associated Press

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - An Egyptian insurgent leader has warned the government that the 1997 tourist massacre in Luxor could be repeated if Egypt does not change its hostile policy against the Islamic movement.

``If the Egyptian authorities do not improve the existing tranquility by getting rid of the reasons that caused the Luxor incident, the incident may happen again,'' Rifai Ahmed Taha wrote in an e-mail published in the Arabic-language newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat on Sunday.

Taha, who is reported to be in Afghanistan, is the leader of the military wing of al-Gamaa al-Islamiya, or Islamic Group, and one of the most wanted militants in Egypt. He is believed to have taken over the group in the absence of Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, who is in prison in the United States for conspiring to blow up New York sites.

Al-Gamaa was responsible for the killing of 58 tourists and four Egyptians at the Temple of Hatshepsut outside the southern city of Luxor in November 1997. The six attackers were also killed.

Since then, leaders of the group imprisoned in Egypt called a halt to the violence, but Taha, among other leaders in exile, was reported to disapprove of the decision.

``The Egyptian government commits a grave mistake if it believes that the Luxor operation is unrepeatable,'' Taha said in Sunday's letter in the London-based newspaper.

He accused the Egyptian government of continuing to oppress the Islamic movement despite the halt of violent acts.

Taha hinted that independent Muslim activists might carry out violent acts when they find Islam is humiliated.

``If al-Gamaa was not able to recruit those who oppose the disgrace, certainly other organizations might succeed and possibly those youths would carry out such operations voluntarily,'' he said.

Al-Gamaa is the most active of the militant Muslim groups trying to overthrow Egypt's secular government and install strict religious rule. More than 1,200 people have died since the insurgency began in 1992.

AP-NY-11-28-99 0821EDT

Persecution of Christians in Maldives

In June 1998, Maldivian police raided the homes of many foreigners, and expelled at least two dozen foreign Christians who had been working in various professions in the country. In addition, they jailed dozens of Maldivians who were accused of either being Christian, or of being friends of Christians.

The foreigners were expelled 'for life', and accused of having broken Maldivian law (the specific law was not mentioned), those who had computers had the computers confiscated and all data read; those who had any Christian books had those confiscated also.

The Maldivians who were imprisoned were kept for up to five months. Many were tortured and beaten and forced to recant their Christian faith at least by signing a written statement. Upon release, they continue to be under surveillance and have been warned not to ever discuss religion with other Maldivians or foreigners, not to pray in Jesus' name, and not to read any religious literature other than that which is distributed by the government, under threat of future imprisonment and torture.

Because of the prayers, letters, and vocal protest by thousands of Christians in many nations, the Maldivian government released the believers, rather than continue their torture. We know from past history that the normal approach used by the Maldivian government toward those who profess faith in Jesus is to torture such a believer to the point of insanity. They attempted often, during the five months, to deny that any persecution or mistreatment was taking place. But because it became obvious that the world knew the truth of what had happened, and was not going to stop watching, they had to relent.

We can summarize the whole incident in a few sentences, but what these believers have suffered is significant and traumatic. Yet, they have experienced the closeness and help of God in the midst of unreasonable and cruel treatment.

The oft-repeated national slogan is that the Republic of Maldives is 100% Muslim, and happy to be so. But now for the first time in history, the Maldivian people have witnessed that Maldivians can believe in Jesus despite the government's attempt to deny them this right. Those who were imprisoned and mistreated are well-known by the whole country now -- and though the government has insisted that they all returned whole-heartedly to Islam, those who live near them can see that they continue in their faith.

The believers no longer have any Scripture available (portions have been translated into the local language, but they had all these taken away from them), and can not meet together, even in their own homes, as pressure is on the population to watch out for any sign of people discussing Jesus or praying together.

Let's pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to use the curiosity that was stirred up by this incident, to cause Maldivians to hunger for the truth. Pray for the believers, as they struggle to make sense out of what they've just been through. Pray for boldness and love, and for them to receive daily the Father's love for them.

Muslims build an Islamic superstate near Russia
by the Editors at ReligionToday.com
November 11, 1999

Islamic fundamentalists are waging war to create a Muslim superstate on Russia's border, sources say. The rebels hope to link with Islamic groups in Dagestan, overthrow the government there, and create a combined Islamic state bordering the Caspian Sea, sources told Religion Today.

...Islamic rebels in Chechnya invaded neighboring Dagestan in August, touching off a war with Russia, their neighbor to the north and a historically Christian nation. Russia's Sept. 5 military offensive incited the rebels to terrorism, and they blew up several apartment buildings in Russian cities, news reports said.

...Middle Eastern nations and Muslim global terrorist Osama bin Laden are supplying the rebels with arms and training, some believe. Muslim leaders Shamil Basayev and Khattab in Chechnya were with bin Laden when he aided the Islamic Taliban in Afghanistan, Prism magazine (see link #1 below) said. The two "are Arabs - born in the Middle East. They are transplants," Sharon Linzey of George Fox University told Religion Today. She
taught sociology and religion at Moscow State University in 1992.

...Basayev has claimed responsibility for the attacks on the apartment buildings, and Chechen rebels who conducted terrorist attacks in neighboring Georgia are believed to have been trained by bin Laden operatives in Pakistan, Prism said. While there is evidence that bin Laden is involved in the conflict, the Russian government may be overstating his influence to justify its strong counterattacks, the magazine said

...Russia has oppressed traditionally Muslim Chechnya for centuries. Religious, ethnic, and racial conflicts are at the heart of the problem, Linzey said. Russians hold Chechens in disdain, regarding them as lawless bandits, she said.

...The republic lies at the "junction of the Christian and Muslim worlds," Prism said. Chechnya is at the northeastern end of the Caucasus Mountains, which stretch from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea separating Christian Europe from the Middle East. The Muslim nations of Turkey, Iran, and Iraq are only a few hundred miles from Grozny, the Chechen capital.

...Islamic nations to the south want the historically Muslim region to return to its roots. "This is happening all along the southern border of the former Soviet Union," Peter Deyneka of Russian Ministries (see link #2 below) told Religion Today. "There is a lot of infiltration from Muslim activists, and that is troublesome for the future."

...An Islamic resurgence in Chechnya began after the fall of the Soviet Union. The atheistic Soviet government persecuted Muslims and Christians, and the traditionally Islamic country lost touch with its Islamic roots, Linzey said. Chechens seeking to re-establish their cultural identity began rediscovering Islam in the early 1990s, she said.

...Muslim missionaries from the Middle East began arriving in many of the former Soviet republics in Central Asia and the Caucasus region after the fall of communism, Prism said. Arab countries financed the construction of mosques and the printing and distribution of copies of the Koran. "There was a significant difference in the visibility of Islam in a short period of time," a representative of a ministry to Dagestan said.

...Christians have been kidnapped, tortured, and killed in the region. At least three leaders of Grozny Baptist Church were killed in the past year, Compass Direct News said. Other members of the church have been raped and held for ransom, and most have fled from the country, it said. Eight leaders from Grozny Orthodox Church of St. Michael the Archangel were kidnapped in recent months, Compass said.

...Muslim radicals kidnapped American missionary Herbert Gregg in 1998, demanded a ransom, and cut off one of his fingers, Compass said. Gregg, who was released after 230 days of captivity, said his captors often talked of taking him to a "killing camp" in the mountains where Christians are executed.

...Christians continue to minister in the Caucasus region. Two regional church-planting centers sponsored by Russian Ministries are based in the area, and Christians are ministering to refugees from the Chechen war, Deyneka said. A church of about 50 members meets in Dagestan and its leaders recently attended a conference in a "safe area" to learn ministry skills and obtain theological training, the ministry representative to Dagestan said.

Kuwait delays historic women's rights vote
By Ashraf Fouad

KUWAIT, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Some 200 women gathered in the Kuwait parliament on Tuesday to witness an historic vote on granting full political rights for women, but backers of the measure delayed the vote for fear of defeat.

Islamist members of the all-male parliament, who oppose the measure on religious and constitutional grounds, tried but failed to prolong the debate and speed up the agenda to allow a final vote.

The parliament must vote to approve or reject the measure which is contained in a a decree law issued by the Gulf Arab state's Emir, Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah, after he dissolved parliament in May.

Although Emiri decrees are approved or rejected by parliament they have the force of law until they are rejected.

The decree allows women to run for public office and vote in the next municipal and parliamentary elections in 2003, for which they can start registering as voters from next February.

``Look at them, the Islamists want a vote today but we do not have a majority,'' said a leading liberal MP who asked not to be identified. ``Our tactic is to delay and so far we are winning.''

The liberals were content to delay matters since the measure is already in force, but Islamist MP Mubarak al-Duwailah, who opposes granting women the vote, said the issue was expected to top the agenda at parliament's next weekly meeting.

The Sheikh's decree in May surprised the conservative Moslem region. Islamists insist they have the 33 required votes to kill it.

Fearing defeat, some liberal MPs presented a draft law identical to the decree on Tuesday, but it could spend months in committee before a debate in the house, which has foiled several attempts to allow women to vote in its almost 40-year history.

Kuwait is the only Gulf Arab state with an elected parliament and its women are seen as among the most liberated in the conservative region.

Another Islamist MP, Walid al-Tabtabaie, said he feared that supporters of women's rights would try to delay a final vote on the decree until February, when it would allow women to register as voters.

``If they (women) are allowed to do so, it will be very difficult to go back on it,'' said Tabtabaie.

The emiri decree triggered a heated debate in the country of some 800,000 Kuwaitis, half of whom are women, drawing support from several professional societies and liberal political groups. Influential Islamist and tribal groups, and even some women, stand firmly opposed.

``Those women who are calling for political rights have reached menopause and need someone to remind them of God,'' said MP Hussein al-Mutairi at a seminar held on Monday to rally support against the decree.

He said in remarks published by al-Qabas daily that only 10 percent of Kuwaiti women supported the decree.

``They know that they will be exposed to public meetings with men during elections...So how can a husband or a brother allow his wife or sister to run in elections and meet with voters which often also involves private one-on-one sessions?''

List of Appointees to Governor's Positions in Egypt Excluded Copts

As President Mubarak starts his fourth six-year term, there have been much speculation and anticipation for positive changes in the policies of the Egyptian government. The Copts of Egypt also have been hoping that the Egyptian government will at last address their grievances, and take steps to gradually improve their condition. It is sad to report that Coptic hopes has diminished, last Sunday, October 31, 1999, when the new Presidential decree for governors' positions failed to include one single Coptic name.

The list of the new appointees to the governor's job totaled 16 names. This, in addition to 10 previous governors who kept their jobs. All of the governors, old and new, are Muslims, none is a Christian. It is worth noting here that among the governors who lost their positions are the governors of Assiut and El-Minia, who even though were Muslims, but were sensitive to the Copts. On the other hand one of those who kept his job is the governor of Sohag, who played an anti-Christian role in the famous police brutality incidents of Al-Kosheh, last year.

The Copts, Christians of Egypt, a sizable minority of 15% of Egypt's population (10 millions) out of 60 Millions , suffer discrimination in all aspects of their lives including appointments to leading jobs. No Copts are appointed as governors, mayors, university's presidents, colleges' deans, supreme council of police or national security council positions, chiefs of radio and TV or editors of major newspapers. Copts are limited to 1% of judges' positions, and .4% of ambassadors' positions.

Once upon a time, in the not too far away history, a Copt in Egypt by the name of Boutrous Ghali , was capable to be appointed the prime minister of Egypt. At the recent time, his grandson, Boutrous Boutrous Ghali, though was doing the job of a foreign minister of Egypt , he was however denied the honorary title of the job because of his Christian faith. Later, the same man was good enough to become the secretary general of the United Nations.

One must wonder if the Copts in Egypt have developed a sudden case of stupidity, that made them unqualified of occupying leading jobs. Or, is it the new policy of the Egyptian government to marginalize the Coptic presence, and exclude them from participation of running the affairs of their country?

Trial of Famous Lebanese Singer to Begin
Marcel Khalifa Faces Three Years in Prison

(New York, November 2, 1999) -- The criminal prosecution of the internationally known Lebanese singer and composer Marcel Khalifa is a blatant violation of his right to freedom of expression, Human Rights Watch said today. The trial is scheduled to start in Beirut on November 3, before judge Ghada Abu Karroum. Khalifa is accused of "insulting religious values" by including a two-line verse from a chapter of the Koran in his song "I am Yousef, O Father." He faces imprisonment of up to three years if found guilty.

"We hope that the judge will use international human rights law as one basis for rejecting the charges against Marcel Khalifa," said Hanny Megally, executive director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch. "This case is a direct legal challenge to the right to freedom of expression in Lebanon. The court has the opportunity to establish an important legal precedent by issuing a verdict in Khalifa's favor."

On October 2, the newly appointed investigating judge, Abdel Rahman Shihab, recommended that prosecutors bring criminal charges against Khalifa for "insulting religious values by using a verse from the chapter of Joseph from the Holy Koran in a song." On October 3, senior Sunni Muslim clerics in Lebanon ruled that singing verses from the Koran was "absolutely banned and not accepted." Under article 473 of Lebanon's penal code, blasphemy in public is punishable by one month to one year in prison. Article 474 of the penal code authorizes imprisonment of six months to three years for publicly insulting a religion.

Khalifa, who is a Christian, recorded a song in his 1995 album "The Arabic Coffee Pot" that was based on a 1992 poem of the prominent Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwish. The poem adapted this verse from the story of Yousef (Joseph) in the Koran: "O my father, I saw eleven stars and the sun and the moon bowing before me in homage."

The highest Sunni Muslim religious authority in Lebanon, Grand Mufti Sheikh Muhamed Rashid Qabbani, has maintained repeatedly that Khalifa is guilty of blasphemy for singing a verse from the Koran. Sheikh Qabbani said on October 21: "There is a limit to freedom of expression. One limit is that it should not infringe on people's religious beliefs." Mahmoud Darwish, whose poem Khalifa set to music, criticized the legal proceedings in an interview with the Lebanese daily newspaper al-Diyar on October 10. "Fundamentalism is in the process of stifling culture and creation in the Arab world," he said. "I say it is shameful. I am ashamed. We should all be ashamed. If Marcel Khalifa is found guilty, it will be an insult to culture."

Human Rights Watch said today that Khalifa's recordings and performances are protected under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), a treaty to which Lebanon is a state party. Article 19 of the ICCPR grants to everyone the right to freedom of expression. It further states that "this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice." As a state party to the ICCPR, Lebanon is obligated to respect and ensure that all individuals in its territory and subject to its jurisdiction enjoy the right to freedom of expression.
The criminal prosecution of the famous performer has caused an uproar among intellectuals and lawyers in Lebanon. At meetings and rallies they have vigorously supported Khalifa's right to freedom of expression.

Egypt Says Men who Killed Priest Must Be Executed

CAIRO, Oct 24 (Reuters)

Egypt's state prosecutor called on Sunday for two Moslem Egyptian brothers who killed a Coptic Christian priest to be given the death penalty, court sources said. Prosecutor Maher Abdel-Wahid said the brothers, sentenced in September to four years of hard labour for shooting Father Aghnatious al-Mahraqi in southern Egypt over a land dispute, were guilty of premeditated murder, punishable by death. He said the court ruling had disregarded the fact that the crime could have been premeditated because the defendants had been subjected to ill treatment and insults by the priest.

Copyright 1999 Reuters.

Pakistan Christians Seek Tolerance
.c The Associated Press

By AMIR ZIA

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - In churches throughout Islamic Pakistan, Christians prayed for tolerance Sunday as they hung black flags on their homes and strung black banners in major cities to protest an attack on a Roman Catholic Church.

``We offered special prayers in all the churches at Sunday Mass for an end to religious violence and terrorism in the country,'' said Shahbaz Bhatti, of the Christian Liberation Front, an organization created to protect the rights of Pakistan's minority Christians.

On Friday, Muslim extremist Ahmed Saeed, 25, tried to burn down the church in Lahore, the capital of eastern Punjab province. Firefighters saved the church, but several Bibles, pictures of Jesus, as well as statues and furniture were destroyed.

Ahmed told police he tried to burn down the church to protest against the United States because it is trying to force Pakistan to stop its support for Islamic militants fighting in Indian-held Kashmir.

Religious minorities in Pakistan, an overwhelmingly Muslim country, often complain of harassment and victimization by extremist religious groups.

Christians, who comprise 5 percent of Pakistan, also want the government to repeal a controversial blasphemy law that imposes the death sentence for insulting Islam or its prophet Mohammed.

``The blasphemy law is discriminatory and being used to victimize the minorities,'' Bhatti said.

Comoros court sentences Christ video owner to jail

MORONI, Oct 8 (Reuters) - A man found in possession of video cassettes on the life of Christ was sentenced to prison in Grand Comore island on Friday for breach of Islam and peace.

A Moroni Court condemned 22-year old Taki Islam to serve 10 months in jail, with another eight months under suspended sentence....

The Dangers of being a Christian in Muslim Turkey

H. Exc. Most Rev. Giuseppe Germano BERNARDINI, O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Izmir

I have been living in Turkey for the past 42 years, a 99.9% Muslim country, and I am the Archbishop of Izmir - Asia Minor- for the past 16 years. The theme of my intervention is therefore obvious: the problem of Islam in Europe today and in the future. I thank Msgr. Pelātre who already spoke about this theme in this prestigious assembly, dispensing me therefore of a long examination and relative interpretations.

My intervention is to make a humble request of the Holy Father, above all. To be brief and clear, first I will mention three cases that, due to their provenance, I believe to be true.

1. During an official meeting on Islamic-Christian dialogue, an authoritative Muslim person, speaking to the Christians participating, at one point said very calmly and assuredly: "Thanks to your democratic laws we will invade you; thanks to our religious laws we will dominate you".
   
   This is to be believed because the "dominion" has already begun with the "petrol-dollars", used not to create work in the poor North African or Middle Eastern countries, but to build mosques and cultural centers in Christian countries with Islamic immigration, including Rome, the center of Christianity. How can we ignore in all of this a clear program of expansion and re-conquest?
2. During another Islamic-Christian meeting, always organized by Christians, a Christian participant publicly asked the Muslims present why they did not organize at least once a meeting of this kind. The Muslim authority present answered the following words: "Why should we? You have nothing to teach us and we have nothing to learn".
   
   A dialogue among deaf persons? It is a fact that terms such as "dialogue", "justice", "reciprocity", or concepts such as "rights of man", "democracy", have a completely different meaning for the Muslim than for us. But I believe this to be recognized and admitted by all, by now.
3. In a Catholic monastery in Jerusalem there was and perhaps still is - a Muslim Arab servant. An honest and gentle person, he was respected greatly by the religious who in turn were respected by him. One day, he sadly told them: "Our chiefs have met and have decided that all the 'infidels' must be killed, but do not fear because I will kill you without making you suffer".
   
   We are all aware that we must distinguish between the fanatic and violent minority from the tranquil and honest majority, but this, at an order given in the name of Allah or the Koran, will always march compact and without hesitations. Anyway, history teaches us that the secure minorities always manage to impose themselves over the renouncing and silent majority.
   
   It would be naive to underestimate or, worse yet, smile on the three cases I have referred to; I feel that their dramatic teaching must be reflected upon.
   
   This is not pessimism on my part, despite the appearance. The Christian cannot be pessimistic because Christ is Risen and Alive; He is God, as opposed to all other prophets or those calling themselves such. The final victory will be Christ's, but God's times may be long, and often are. He is patient and waits for the conversion of sinners: in the meantime He invites the Church to organize herself and to work to quicken the coming of His Kingdom.
   
   And now I would like to make a serious proposal to the Holy Father: to organize as soon as possible, if not a Synod, at least a Symposium of Bishops and operators in the pastoral ministry for immigrants, with particular reference to the Islamic ones, widening the scope to the Reformed and Orthodox Churches. Its organization could be entrusted to the CCEE, which has had a great deal of experience regarding this matter, in collaboration with the KEK.
   
   The symposium could be useful to deepen in a collegial way the problem of the Islamic people in Christian countries, and thus find a common strategy to face it and resolve it in a Christian and objective way. We must agree on the principles, even if their applications will vary depending on the places and the persons. Nothing is worse than disagreement on principles!
   
   I end this exhortation, suggested to me by experience: do not allow the Muslim to ever use a Catholic Church for their cult, because this would be, in their eyes, the certain proof of our apostasy.
   
   [00218-02.03] [is004] [Original text: Italian]

Oct 6, 1999

Adly Shaker's Sentence Has Been Revoked
He Faces Now A New Trial

Egypt's Court of Cassation, on Sunday, October 3,1999, revoked the murder conviction of Adly Shaker and ordered a retrial.

Adly Shaker was sentenced to death by hanging after being accused by the police of killing his parents and his brother and sister. Adly has always maintained his innocence, and belief that the crime was committed by Muslim extremists. Teresa, Adly's sister, was previously abducted by the Muslim extremists and was declared a converted to Islam. As a result of international pressure, the Egyptian Government decided to return the girl to her parents. The crime is seen as a retaliation by Muslim extremists for this decision. The way that Teresa was killed resembles the method of killing that is known to be used by Muslim extremists against those who they accuse of apostasy.

While we welcome this news. We warn against believing that the problem is over. Adly now faces a new trial, and now is the time for the most important part of our work.

We ask freedom loving people and organizations to intervene to the Egyptian Government, on Adly's behalf, to insure his immediate release, and to arrest and convict the real killers.

Here are Egypt's contacts:

Permanent Representative of the Arab Republic of Egypt to the United Nations:
304 East 44th Street, New York, N.Y. 10017 Telephone: 503-0300 Telefax: 949- 5999

United Kingdom:
Egyptian Embassy - 26 South Street London W1Y 6DD Tel: (171) 499-2401, (171)
499- 3304
Egyptian Consulate - London 2 Lowndes Street London SW1 Tel: (171) 235-9777

USA:
Egyptian Embassy 2310 Decatur Place NW Washington D.C. 20008 Tel: (202) 234-3903/4
Egyptian Consulate - New York 1110 2nd Avenue New York, New York 10022
TelL212) 759-7120/1/2
Egyptian Consulate - Chicago - 500 North Michigan Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60611
Tel: (312) 828-9162, Fax: (312) 828-9167
Egyptian Consulate - Houston 2000 West Loop South Houston, Texas 77027
Tel: (713) 961-4915/6, 961-4407
Egyptian Consulate - San Francisco 3001 Pacific Avenue San Francisco,
California 94115 Tel: (415) 346-9700/2

Sept. 27, 1999

The Persecution of Adly Shaker

An Innocent Egyptian Christian Man Is being Used As A Scapegoat He Faces A Death Sentence, On October 3, For A Crime Committed By Muslim Extremists

The tragedy goes back to March 6, 1997. Adly Shaker's sister, 13-year-old Teresa Shaker, was abducted by her teacher, who is believed to be a Muslim extremist, and taken to the police station where they declared her conversion to Islam.

Under the Egyptian law it is illegal for a minor to change religion without the approval of the parents or legal guardians. The family of Teresa went to the police station to protest the illegal act and to demand the return of the girl. When the police station refused to comply, the family contacted human rights organizations, the Coptic Pope, and the office of President Mubarak.  On March 15, 1997, the government decided to release the girl to her family.

On November 30, 1997, Adly Shakir, Teresa's older brother, returned home to discover that his parents and his younger brother Adel had been shot to death. His sister Nadia has been wounded by gunshots. His sister Teresa was also dead, her stomach cut open and disemboweled ( a method of killing that is known to be used by Muslim extremists against those who they accuse of apostasy ).

When Adly Shaker went to report the incident to the police, the police immediately arrested him and accused him of committing the murders. Adly was subjected to torturing to force him to confess , as a result he was paralyzed on one side of his body.

During Adly's trial a number of due process violations occurred, he was denied access to his lawyers, and the eye witness testimony of a neighbor was ignored. Adly was sentenced to death by hanging.

An appeal on his behalf will be looked at by court on October 3, 1999. Will there be justice for Adly this time? This remains to be seen.

The International Coptic Federation believes that Adly Shaker was a victim and not a criminal. It has been the tactic of the Egyptian government to blame crimes committed against Christians to the Christians, to avoid the notion of a sectarian strife. Another example is when they accused Shiboob Arsal (a Christian man) of the murder of the two Christians that lead to the police brutality incidents of El-Kosheh, last year. We ask the immediate release of this innocent man, and the arrest and conviction of the Islamic extremists who committed the crime. We ask freedom loving people and organizations around the world to intervene to the Egyptian government to save Adly Shaker's life.

August 27, 1999

Malaysian Women Fined Over Scarves
.c The Associated Press

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Two dozen women have been fined in an Islamist-run state in northern Malaysia for defying a government edict to wear headscarves, a newspaper reported Friday.

Johari Mohd. Noor, a city official in the state of Kelantan, said the Muslim women flouted the state's dress code despite repeated warnings, the New Straits Times daily reported. The $8 fines were imposed between April and August.

The fundamentalist Parti Islam SeMalaysia, or PAS, has imposed sweeping Islamic social and dress codes since coming to power in Kelantan in 1995. The party's policies have become an issue because the group is Malaysia's largest opposition party and is threatening to challenge Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's hold on power in an upcoming general election.
Johari said state law requires that all Muslim women cover themselves from head to toe, leaving only the hands and face exposed. Non-Muslim women are required to dress modestly.
``Most of them were working at food stalls in town,'' Johari said. ``Female Muslims working in public areas are required to observe the dress code.''
Elsewhere in Malaysia, many Malay Muslim women dress in modest, traditional or Western-style dresses. Kelantan is the only Malaysian state where women are forced to cover their heads and observe strict segregation with men in public.

AP-NY-08-27-99 0957EDT

U.N. women's rights expert to visit Afghanistan

GENEVA, Aug 27 (Reuters) - A United Nations human rights investigator heads for Afghanistan next week to evaluate alleged discrimination and violence against women by the Islamist Taleban party, a U.N. spokesman said on Friday. The mission follows a resolution by a U.N. body saying Afghan women and girls are cheated of their rights to health, employment, freedom of movement and security and calling on Moslem religious leaders and scholars to help bring Taleban's practices into line with ``the true spirit of Islam.''
Radhika Coomaraswamy, a Sri Lankan lawyer who serves as U.N. Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, will meet Afghan women in Pakistan during her September 1-12 trip as well as visiting Afghanistan.
``She will collect first-hand information from a wide range of sources to better assess the situation of women in Afghanistan,'' spokesman Jose Diaz told a news briefing. ``Her mandate covers discrimination and violence against women.''

Islamist Taleban authorities, who control most of Afghanistan, have been accused of discriminating against women and girls by preventing them from working outside the home, denying them medical care if separate female facilities are not available and beating them for violating a strict dress code.

The Taleban have indicated that they will cooperate with the independent investigator, according to the U.N. spokesman.
The U.N. Sub-Commission on Human Rights adopted a resolution on Wednesday ``condemning violence of the most fundamental rights of women and girls, who were deprived of enjoyment of their civil and political rights.''
The text, adopted without a vote in Geneva, said Afghan women and girls were also cheated of their ``rights to health, employment, freedom of movement and security.''
The body, made up of 26 independent human rights experts, called on ``Moslem religious leaders and scholars to give special attention to the extremely difficult and unprecedented situation of women in Afghanistan and to use their authority and knowledge with a view to bringing the policies and practices of the Taleban into line with the true spirit of Islam and principles of human rights and fundamental freedoms.''
Coomaraswamy reports to a separate body, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, which is composed of 53 member states, the world body's main human rights organ.
Stops are planned in Kabul, Bamiyan, Herat and Faizabad, security permitting, and in Islambad, Peshawar and Lahore.

July 30, 1999

MORE THAN 30 COPTIC YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN WERE KILLED IN A CAR ACCIDENT IN UPPER EGYPT

The reported details of the accident raises more questions than answers.

Two tourist buses carrying 50 young Coptic men and women collided with a truck and trailer, Friday evening, July 23,1999, resulting in the instant killing of over 30 and injuring most of the others. The accident happened on the desert road of Minia-Cairo, as the group were returning from a visit to the virgin Mary monastery in Al-Teir mountain, near Samalout. The group belongs to Mar Girgis church in Heliopolis, Cairo.

The accident was reported two days later in the semi-official news paper Al-Ahram. Two days after that another small article about the accident appeared also in Al-Ahram. The incident was portrayed so far as a normal accident. We don't have solid reasons to conclude that it was otherwise. However, there are serious inconsistency that the detailed report of the accident shows.

Al-Ahram reported two different and contradicting versions of how the accident occurred. The first version said that the truck and the trailer were driving on the proper right side of the road, and when the driver of the truck saw the buses, he stopped suddenly resulting in the trailer separating and moving towards the incoming buses and colliding with them. The second version said that the truck was driving on the wrong side of the road, and when the driver saw the buses coming towards him, he turned suddenly to the right side but was not able to clear the trailer out of the incoming buses in time, resulting on the trailer colliding with the buses .

There are many questions that are waiting answers, here:

1. Why the Egyptian media did not report an accident with this great magnitude as it happened? Why the only newspaper that reported it has to wait 48 hrs before the world would know what was going on?
2. None of the two contradicting versions of the accident, make much sense. If the driver of the truck was driving on the proper side of the road, he didn't need to stop. On the other hand, there is no normal reason to drive on the opposite side of the road, as the road is never busy especially at the time of the accident, according to sources familiar with this road.
3. The way the accident happened resembles in many ways other made-up accidents in the same area, committed by Muslim extremists against Copts in the past. Could it be that this is another accident in this series?. Have the authorities checked the criminal record of the driver, and knew whether he belongs to the Islamic terrorist groups?
4. The way the Egyptian police forces falsified evidence in similar incidents against the Copts in the past, such as what happened last year in the Kosheh, makes us most suspicious.

Would we ever be able to get, from the Egyptian authorities, honest answers to these serious questions? This is another question.

Destruction of four Catholic Churches in Sudan

Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 23:25:13 EDT

We were disturbed to learn today from the Sudanese Human Rights Group that the Minister of Housing and engineering of Khartoum State, Sherif Eldin Bannaga, has ordered the destruction of four schools belonging to the Catholic Church in Sudan. The four schools are Kassala New School, Kassala School, Jongley School and Hilla Gadida School. The destruction of these schools will displace more than 3000 students and threatens to deprive them of their right to education. The destruction also threatens to deprive the students, their families and the Catholic Church, who owns and operates the schools, of their right to the property in the schools.

The Sudanese Human Rights Group is calling upon the Sudanese government to respect the human rights of the students and those operating the schools (as guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) and to ensure that they are adequately compensated for any property that is destroyed and that alternative sites for the schools be made available before destruction begins.

May we ask that you contact the Sudanese embassy concerning this issue?

The address of the Sudanese embassy in Ottawa is: Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan H.E. Abdi Elghani Elnain,
Charg=82 d'Affaires
85 Range Rd., Ste. 507-510
Ottawa, ON, K1N 8J6
Phone: (613) 235-4000
FAX: (613) 235-6880

Because of the large number of international recipients of the P+P Alert, we are unable to supply you with the address of the Sudanese embassy in your country (if you are not Canadian). You may be able to find it, however, by checking out http://www.embpage.org.

Do continue to pray for the Christians of Sudan, as they face tremendous opposition for their faith. I would encourage you to check out our website at http://www.persecution.net/newsbod2.htm for our most recent report on the work of The Voice of the Martyrs in Sudan and the situation faced by our Sudanese brothers and sisters.

Imminent Passage of Controversial NGO Law in Egypt

(New York, May 17, 1999) -- Human Rights Watch today expressed deep concern that Egypt's parliament may swiftly pass a new law regulating nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Egypt without soliciting the views of the NGO community itself. The proposed legislation will replace Law No. 32 of 1964, the much-criticized statute that has been used to deny legal status to NGOs and, in several circumstances, to dissolve organizations.

"Members of parliament should hear the voices of NGOs before voting on legislation," said Hanny Megally, executive director of the Middle East and North Africa Division of Human Rights Watch. "It is the NGOs themselves that can describe how the law will unreasonably restrict their activities. It will be a terribly disappointing setback for freedom of association if parliament rubber-stamps this law without listening to those who will be most affected by its passage."

The proposed new law generated vocal opposition from Egyptian NGOs and international human rights organizations when it first surfaced last year in draft form. That draft prohibited NGOs from carrying out "political activities,"and any other activities that "threaten national unity or violate public order or moral codes." It gave the state the power to veto candidates for boards of directors; appoint government representatives to boards of directors; and dissolve groups for not accomplishing their purposes. It also required NGOs to obtain the government's approval before receiving funds from abroad.

The draft law that was presented today to parliament was kept tightly under wraps, according to information that Human Rights Watch received, and NGOs were not invited to analyze and comment on its contents.

Four leading Egyptian human rights organizations issued a joint statement on May 14, 1999, expressing alarm about the imminent passage of the law: "When placed in the current political context, [the proposed law] is merely a reflection of the government's general intention to restrict further any form of independent association, be it political parties, unions, professional syndicates, or NGOs."

Human Rights Watch wrote to President Hosni Mubarak on June 5, 1998, and Minister of Social Affairs Mervat el-Tellawi on August 6, 1998, raising concerns about an earlier draft of the associations law. The organization did not receive a reply to either letter

Christians Detained in China

3 May 1999

BEIJING (AP) - Police busted up a church service at a rural home and detained all 25 worshipers in the latest raid on Protestants worshiping outside state control in China, a human rights group reported today. The dozen police confiscated all the Bibles found at the home in Sui county in central Henan province. Eight days after the April 25 raid, 15 worshipers remained in detention, the Hong Kong-based Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China reported. Many rural Christians in China meet in homes because of a lack of clergy and churches. Some of the gatherings are registered as part of the official church, but many others fail to meet the government's criteria for registration or refuse to submit to its control over all religious activity. The government's control has included limits on evangelizing and restrictions on ties with overseas churches. The Information Center also said local police have been known to detain and fine house church members as a way of getting cash. The raid in Sui county was at least the fifth police have conducted in Henan, a center of activity for the underground Protestant church, since October. Police have detained 225 other Christians, the Information Center
said. The total includes 40 people detained on Christmas in the area of Shangqiu city, it said. Police are still holding 13 of them and threatened to send them to labor camps if they did not pay $240 each, nearly as much as the average rural resident makes in a year.

Comments from the Religious Liberty Commission's China correspondent:
"The arrests in Sui and Shangqiu Counties [above] are a continuation of the periodic arbitrary crackdown by the police on unregistered house churches in Henan, which number several million Christians. The fines are also typical as the police regard the Christians as fair game for making some extra income.

Concerning: Aziz Tawfik Rizk Allah

Age: 55

Store owner in Mahala Al Kubra in the Gharbiya Province, Egypt. Father of three daughters

Aziz Tawfik Rizk Allah was summoned to by an officer of the security police on Wednesday 14 April, 1999 in Mahala Al Kubra. This was the second summons in a period of one year. He was blind-folded so as not to see his torturer. Means of torture included beating, various sorts of verbal abuse, accusations, death threats and banishment of Aziz's dependents.

Brother Aziz Tawfik is the vice president of the Light of the Gospel Society in Al Mahala Al Kubra. He is accused of sending letters to non-Christians for the purpose of evangelizing them. He has not participated in such activities.

A little over a year ago Brother Aziz Tawfik was astonished by a summons from State Security Police officer Muhammad Aisa. He was taken by surprise as he was subjected to inhumane torture by electric shock, being Stripped of all clothing, pouring of dirty water over his body, beating and verbal abuse of all sorts. In addition he was threatened with the loss of life

and banishment. The torture continued from 10:00am until after 1:00am. It is noteworthy that Mr. Aziz Tawfik suffers from diabetes.

Upon arrival at the office of the State Security Police, Mr. Aziz left his car parked in front of the office. When the family and church leaders asked the police about his whereabouts, they were told that he was not inside. Also, they did not find the car which resulted in a state of trauma for the family. When a priest contacted the police, he was informed that I would be released after one hour. Upon release my car was found parked in from of the Security Police Headquarters.

It is noteworthy that an informant by the name of El Said Muhammad Hassanayn is the source of information obtained by the Police officers. All such information is mere fabrication. The informant received twenty Egyptian pounds upon my release and the re-issuing of my personal effects. It seems he wishes to continue receiving financial remuneration and other favors.

The name of one of the police officers if "Atef" (family name unknown).

After the first interrogation, Mr. Aziz preferred not to publicize the incident. He only resorted to publication after the second incident which took place in El Mahala El Kubra.

He wishes to inform interested Parties who might play a role in the cessation of such foolish proceedings. If such incidents are not halted, the result will be to terrify Christian young people in the area especially given that all the accusations are fabrications.

Aziz Tawfik

PS: After the completion of this letter Mr. Aziz was summoned a second time on Sunday 18 April, 1999. He was threatened by a Security Police officer named "Yasir" (family name unknown). Currently the family is in a state of terror due to the threats of the police.

Saudi Arabia's Top Cleric Dies

.c The Associated Press

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Saudi Arabia's top cleric, whose rulings ranged from sanctioning Viagra for Muslim men to banning short veils for women, died of cancer Thursday at a military hospital in Riyadh.

Sheik Abdul-Aziz bin Baz was in his 80s. At age 15, he contracted a disease that left him blind for the rest of his life.

Bin Baz, head of the Council of Senior Islamic Scholars, was a highly influential scholar whose pronouncements reflected the official point of view.

Bin Baz had been suffering from cancer for some time, but he refused an offer by the government to be sent to the United States for treatment, according to sources who spoke on the customary condition of anonymity.

His pronouncements about what was allowed and forbidden in Islam often carried the weight of law.

Two years ago on Bin Baz's advice, the government banned the import and production of veils that failed to completely cover a woman's face. Women in Saudi Arabia generally don't appear in public without a black cloak and a head scarf.

He also ruled that consulting fortune tellers and practicing witchcraft was forbidden in Islam, and equated death by reckless driving tantamount to committing suicide. Islam condemns suicide.

Last year, Bin Baz ruled that Muslim men may use the anti-impotence drug Viagra if it does not contain any intoxicating substances.

AP-NY-05-13-99 0615EDT

Copyright 1998 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press.

EGYPT EXONERATES POLICE IN TORTURE CASE OF CHRISTIANS

Freedom House Protests Dropping of Charges

For further information contact Joseph Assad, Research Director, at (202) 296-5101.

WASHINGTON, D.C& Despite overwhelming evidence that police investigators arrested and tortured nearly 1200 Christians last fall in the village of el-Kosheh, in Upper Egypt, charges against the police officers were dropped and the case was closed on May 9, as reported in the Egyptian press. The four police officers accused of brutality and torture were given cash rewards of 1,000 Egyptian pounds each by the Interior Ministry for undergoing the investigation. The Center for Religious Freedom of Freedom House confirmed today from sources in Egypt that Attorney General Osama al-Rashidi decided to close the case because of contradicting accounts of the 15 people who pressed charges.

The Center for Religious Freedom has recently obtained from reliable sources in Egypt a list that contains the names of 604 of the approximately 1200 Christian men, women and children who were arrested and tortured last fall by police in el-Kosheh. The list describes in detail the types of torture, including, beatings and electric shock that were used by police. (This list is available at Freedom House upon request.) Coptic Orthodox Bishop Wissa, of al-Baliana diocese in Upper Egypt, was arrested in October1998, and charged with criminal offenses for reporting the el-Kosheh incident to Egyptian human rights organizations and the press. He and two Coptic priests were charged with "damaging national unity," "insulting the government," and other crimes that could bring the death penalty or lengthy sentences at hard labor. In a letter today to Egypt s ambassador to Washington, Freedom House protested the government s suppression of the evidence establishing that police investigators tortured and persecuted Christians in el-Kosheh and the closing of the case.

Dr. Paul Marshall, Senior Fellow of the Center for Religious Freedom and author of the Center s report, Egypt s Endangered Christians, wrote: "This is an outrageous flaunting of basic international human rights standards. Meticulous and detailed documentation showing systematic police torture and brutality of hundreds of Christians compiled by an esteemed bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church, and the secular Egyptian Organization for Human Rights has been tragically ignored. Justice has been denied."

Last month the Center issued a 125-page report, Egypt' s Endangered Christians, based on two 1998 fact finding trips to Egypt. The Center's report finds that Egypt's ancient Coptic Christians are undergoing persecution by radical Islamic groups and by local police and security officials. The Government of Egypt has also placed restrictions on Copts' freedom to worship.

International Coptic Federation
1718 M Street NW, Suite 140, Washington, DC 20036
E-Mail: CopticFed@aol.com

May 11,1999

El-Kosheh Police Brutality Officers Have Been Acquitted, Rewarded !

Four officers responsible of mass detention and torture of over 1000 Christians in el-Kosheh village in Upper Egypt have been acquitted of all wrong doing by Egypt's General prosecutor, on may 8, 1999, and rewarded by the Ministry of Interior on May 10, 1999.

Samir Ragab, chief editor of "Al Gomhoria" daily newspaper, reported in his daily column "Khotoot Fasela", on May 10, 1999, that The General prosecutor found no evidence of guilt against Officers Abu El-Fadle Thabet, Hani Gamal, Ashraf Kadry, and Islam Mohammed. Accordingly the prosecutor ordered closing the investigation. "I call upon General Habib al-Adly, Minister of Interior, to compensate the four officers, who suffered injustice for a period of more than 3 months, with a generous reward that will give them back their reputation, dignity, and self respect," Ragab added. On May 11, 1999, Al Gomhoria reported that the Ministry of Interior, responding to Ragab's call, has decided to reward each of the four officers with a ˜ 1000

The incidents go back to Aug. 15 through Sept. 17, 1998, in the village of El-Kosheh , Governorate of Sohag, Upper Egypt. It started after the bodies of two murdered Christians were found. The police officers in their attempt to dismiss the notion of a sectarian strife as a cause , sought linking the murder to the Christians of the village. To extract confessions of guilt from the Christians, the officers started rounding up the Christians, ten at the time, men, women, young and old, even little boys and girls. The total reached over 1000 people. During the detention Christians were subjected to verbal, physical, and psychological abuse. It ranged from slapping the face, name calling, cursing the Cross, cursing the Pope, insulting the religion, and it went up to whipping, applying electric shocks to their genitals, and hanging children from a ceiling fan. Some people were detained for as little as few hours, others for as much as three weeks.

The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) issued a detailed report of these incidents. World media and international human rights organization picked up these outrageous news in an unprecedented way. To defuse this mounting international bad publicity, the Egyptian Interior Ministry sought the help of H.H. Pope Shenoude to issue a press release to calm down the situation. The Pope, however, refused to do so, unless certain conditions were met, including punishment of the officers responsible for torturing. After much maneuvering the Ministry agreed to transfer the officers to administrative positions and to conduct an investigation with them.

Now, we have the long awaited results of the investigation. The abusers are hailed as heroes. There will be no punishment; the four officers have been rewarded. Only the Egyptian justice system is capable of performing such miracles!

The International Coptic Federation, calls upon Freedom-loving people and organizations all over the world to protest this flagrant miscarriage of Justice, to the Egyptian Government. The rights of those simple Christian villagers must not be violated this way, and go unaccounted for.

Bin Laden May Have Financed Luxor
.c The Associated Press
By BASSEM MROUE

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- A November 1997 terror attack that killed 62 people in the southern city of Luxor appears to have been financed by Saudi millionaire Osama bin Laden, a top Swiss security official said Thursday.

A three-member Swiss delegation has been in Cairo since Tuesday to discuss the investigation with Egyptian officials. Thirty-five Swiss citizens were among the 58 tourists killed in the attack at the temple of Queen Hatshepsut. Four Egyptians also were killed.

The attack has been blamed on al-Gamaa al-Islamiya, or the Islamic Group, which has campaigned since 1992 to unseat Egypt's secular government and turn the country into an Islamic republic. More than 1,200 people have died since the group's campaign began.

Urs von Daeniken, head of the Swiss Federal Police, told reporters that evidence indicated al-Gamaa member Mustafa Hamza -- one of Egypt's most wanted men -- had ordered the attack, and that Hamza had been financed by bin Laden.

Hamza is believed to be in Afghanistan.

Thursday's comments marked the first time bin Laden has been linked to the Luxor massacre. U.S. authorities have accused him of bankrolling last year's deadly bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that left 224 people, including 12 Americans, dead.

AP-NY-05-13-99 1848EDT

Copyright 1998 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Christian Copts of California
P.O. Box 661335, Los Angeles, CA 90066
Phone (310) 641-3387 Fax (310) 641-3388

January 31, 1999

Press Release

This message, in its original Arabic, was recently received by fax from a reliable source inside Egypt. The following is a literal translation of the message in English.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The blood of the innocent cries out; who will render justice on their behalf ? who will impose the truth ?

The true details of the incidents in the village of Rowyeheb, Province of Sohag, Egypt.

The subject can be outlined as follows:

1. The family of Abdel Mawjood seeks dominating the Christians and imposing extortion monies on them. An elder Christian man named Fayez Massoud Sorour was murdered about 20 years ago by individuals from Abdel Mawjood family. In fact the killers were arrested but the police released them after conducting investigations, although they were the real killers.
2. Dr. Bahaa Bernaba ( a Christian) is accustomed that after he finishes examining his patients in the village of Rowyeheb, he returns (the same day) to his home in Sohag. Because of his friendship to the village's youths, they usually accompany him from the clinic to the train station, then they return to their homes. The village is about 1 - 11/2 kilometers from the military road.
3. On Sunday night, January 3, 1999, there were in the company of the doctor: Magdy Fawzy Massoud (27 years) and Karam Adly Kheir (18 years), the streetwere lit. after seeing the doctor to the station, they returned back to find that the lights of the streets were turned off. As they were walking, four people fired at them several rounds which lead to the instant killing of Magdi Fawzi Massoud, and Karam Adli Kheir was taken to the hospital in a very serious condition.
4. The criminals were arrested along with the crime's weapon. They confessed to the crime and demonstrated to the prosecutors how they committed the crime. The killers names are:
   1. Hassan Rashad Hussein Abdel Mawjoud
   2. Yasser Lotfi Abdel Mawjoud.
   3. Samir Lotfi Abdel Mawjoud.
   4. Jalal Jad Hussein Abdel Mawjoud.
5. The real reason for the killing was because Abdel Zaher Hussein (the father of the killer Yasser) tried taking merchandise from Fawzi Massoud (the father of the murdered Magdi) without paying for it, acting as a bully. When Fawzi Massoud refused to give him the merchandize, he concealed evil in his mind and harbored vindictive feelings against him, then he incited his son and others to commit the murder.
6. The reason which the police alleges is that the two victims had sinful relationship with a Muslim girl& Thus the crime can not be substantiated, because according to this logic it was defending the honor?! The criminals will not be punished for such a crime. They will go free to commit more crimes as long as there is no restraining but encouragement.
7. At the same time why was doctor Bahaa called by the office of Investigation for National Security and was ordered not to talk with anyone about this crime? Why his phone line is under surveillance? Why his movements are being controlled and was ordered not to tell anybody especially the clergy about what took place?
8. Is it conceivable that there will be in the company of the physician, on a daily basis, those who are ethically corrupt?, unless the physician himself was ethically corrupt, something the investigators never accused him of, because he is truly a man of good ethics.
9. It is well known fact about the murdered young man that he was a deacon and active in the church. The church doesn't harbor corrupt people, but it converts them to be pure and ethical people. Nobody who is proven to be unethical can be accepted to be a deacon or a servant in the church. This rebut the false accusation that the two victims were ethically corrupt. And, where is that woman that was allegedly attacked, can the police or the court call her and examine her in an honest way? Were both the two victims ethically corrupt and both banded together to commit their evil act? Is it possible that there is more than one party to this sin? Was the alleged victim ethically corrupt and she was the one that entices young men to sin with her? If so, where is the police? This is also an evidence that the victims don't know such corrupted woman because they are deacons and people of good character.

Where is security (the police)? Where is justice (The court)? Where is conscience and humanity?
 

The International Coptic Federation
American Coptic Assoc.(South Carolina), California Copts, Canadian Coptic Assoc.,
British Coptic Assoc. French Coptic Assoc., German Coptic Assoc., Australian Coptic Assoc.

For more info. Contact, Phone: (310) 641-3387 Fax: (310) 641-3388 e-mail:coptic@home.com

Press Release

THE EGYPTIAN AUTHORITIES ARREST HUMAN RIGHTS' ACTIVIST FOR REPORTING AL-KOSHEH INCIDENTS

Another attempt was made by the Egyptian authorities, to silence one of the few voices left in Egypt that monitor human rights abuses. Hafez Abu Seda, secretary-general of the Egyptian Organization for Human rights ( EOHR ), was arrested on Dec.1, 1998, and was detained for a period of 15 days pending investigation. Abu Seda is being accused of accepting a $ 25,000.00 bribe from a foreign country, namely the United Kingdom, for the purpose of harming the Egyptian national interest and for distributing exciting propaganda and false rumors, according to the Egyptian semi-official newspaper Al-Ahram.

The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights was the first to issue a detailed report about the mass arrests and torture by the Egyptian security forces of more than a 1000 Coptic Christians in the village of El-Kosheh during August and September of this year. EOHR was seen as the initial cause behind the negative publicity that the Egyptian government has received , and a retaliatory measure against the organization be the Egyptian government was expected.

The International Coptic Federation, strongly condemns this blatant aggression against the human rights activist Hafez Abu Seda . This inhumane action by the Egyptian government contradicts all recognized norms of decency among civilized nations in this age of human rights and at the turn of the 21^st century. The Egyptian government knows well that this is not a case about receiving a bribe. Mr. Abu Seda never took the money for his personal use, rather it was funds that went to the organization to keep it operating, just the same as the funds it receives from the Egyptian government. The truth behind Mr. Abu Seda's arrest is that the Egyptian government was looking for a reason to punish Abu Seda for his report, and now they think that they have found it. The accusation that Mr. Abu Seda's report on El-Kosheh has harmed the national interest is preposterous. Instead of punishing those who committed the crime, the Egyptian government is now trying to punish the one who has reported it. It is worth noting here, after the initial denial of any wrong-doings in the El-Kosheh incident, and in the face of the strong evidence presented, the Egyptian government has been forced now to acknowledge that police abuses did take place. However, the Egyptian government never forgot the action of Mr. Abu Seda and others, who put them in this awkward position. Mr. Abu Seda faces now charges that could put him in prison for the rest of his life. His crime was that he was the one that blew the whistle on the torture that took place in El-Kosheh in upper Egypt.

The International Coptic Federation calls on all freedom-loving people and organizations around the world to condemn this act, and to contact the Egyptian government or its representatives abroad for the immediate release of Mr. Abu Seda, and to drop all charges against him..

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