Introduction

CSW (Christian Solidarity Worldwide) and CSW-Nigeria are a human rights organisations specialising in the right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB).

This submission seeks to draw attention to the situation of FoRB in Egypt ahead of the state’s fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR).

Legal framework

Egypt’s constitution states the right to freedom of belief is ‘absolute’, but limits ‘the freedom of practising religious rituals and establishing places of worship’ to ‘the followers of revealed religions’, i.e., Christianity, Islam and Judaism. As such, other religious and belief groups, including Ahmadis, Atheists, Baha’is, Humanists and Quranists, do not enjoy the same legal and constitutional protections.

Egypt has signed and ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which stipulates the right of everyone ‘to freedom of thought, conscience and religion,’ including the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of one’s choice, and the ‘freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private,’ to manifest one’s religion or belief ‘in worship, observance, practice and teaching.’[1]

During the third cycle of the UPR, Egypt noted recommendations from Brazil and Haiti[2] to remove religious classification from identity cards. All Egyptians are required to carry these cards; however, Christianity, Islam and Judaism are the only available religious designations.

In 2009 the Minister of Interior issued an order allowing authorities to use a ‘dash’ sign in personal documents to indicate that a person belongs to an unrecognised religious or belief group (Order 520); however, these groups still face a raft of difficulties and discrimination, including restrictions on meeting for worship, denial of legal registration of marriages, and denial of burial rights.

Limited advances in freedom of religion or belief

Egypt supported six recommendations relating to FoRB during the third cycle of the UPR, including a recommendation from Malta to ‘Continue efforts aimed at ensuring respect for freedom of religion or belief in law and in practice, in full conformity with international standards.’[3]

It also supported recommendations from Gabon, Qatar and Uganda to combat discrimination,[4] with the former specifically mentioning discrimination ‘based on religion’, and a recommendation from Japan to ‘Continue and strengthen policies to protect and promote the rights of refugees and minorities.’[5]

As has been observed in Egypt over the past decade, there were limited advances in the situation of the right to FoRB during the reporting period.

The Egyptian government has continued to grant legal status to churches and places of worship across the country following the approval of the Church Construction Law (Law No. 80 of 2016) by the Egyptian Parliament on 30 August 2016. As of January 2024, 3160 churches had been granted legal status since the government committee overseeing their legalisation began its mandate in 2017.[6]

      In 2021, Governor Oussama Al-Qadi of Minya Governorate – a state with extremely high levels of sectarian tension which often degenerate into violence – established a special committee to oversee the implementation of the Church Construction Law. The governor encouraged civil servants in Minya to resolve issues related to the construction and renovation of churches speedily, and to increase the level of communication and liaison with church leaders and the local Christian community.

     On 31 August 2023 Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly opened Abraham Ben Ezra Synagogue, one of the oldest Jewish Synagogues in Egypt, after it had been renovated following the government’s 2018 pledge of 1.25 billion Egyptian Pounds towards renovating and preserving Jewish religious and cultural sites in the country.

     On 15 September 2023 the Jewish community in Cairo was able to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, for the first time in 70 years.

        To read the submission in full, you can download the pdf here.