A/HRC/16/53/Add.1 108. According to the information received, on 15 November 2010, some Muslim inhabitants of the village of Elnawahed launched a rumour that a 19-year-old Coptic Christian had raped a 17-year-old Muslim girl. In the wake of that rumour, Muslim villagers, allegedly instigated by the village mayor, arranged an attack on the houses of the Coptic Christians and subsequently set twenty-two of their houses on fire. Before detonating propane cylinders and burning them, the Muslim inhabitants reportedly looted most of the properties of the houses belonging to the Christians, such as furniture, livestock and farm animals. The local police only arrived after the twenty-two houses were completely looted and set on fire. In addition, the chief prosecutor refused to listen to any of the Coptic victims or to register the names of the accused Muslims. State Security officers reportedly forced thirteen Coptic families to sign papers stating that the fires came about haphazardly as an “act of fate”. The local authorities also claimed that the Christians had caused the fire themselves and that the Muslims had cooperated in putting the fire out. 109. Subsequently, the Muslim girl was examined clinically and it was confirmed that she had never been raped. The Coptic Bishop of Nag Hammadi decried that once there is the rumour of a relationship between a Coptic man and a Muslim girl, the whole Coptic community has to pay the price, referring to a similar case in Farshout district in November 2009 (see A/HRC/13/40/Add.1, paras. 80-85). 110. The Special Procedures mandate holders recalled the rights of the above mentioned members of the Coptic Christian community to all their human rights, including freedom of religion or belief, in accordance with articles 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Special Procedures mandate holders requested the Government to provide the details and where available, the results, of any judicial investigation, or any criminal charges and other inquiries carried out in relation to this case. Furthermore, the Government was asked to provide information regarding any measures put in place to protect the security and human rights of members of the Coptic Christian community living in Abu Tisht district and in Egypt in general. (b) Response from the Government dated 20 December 2010 111. In its preliminary response of 20 December 2010, the Government of Egypt indicated that the Office of the Public Prosecutor is currently conducting investigations into the attacks against the homes of a number of Christians in the Abu Tisht district of Qina governorate in November 2010. 112. On 16 November 2010, the Office of the Public Prosecutor received a report from the District Commissioner of Abu Tisht that a number of Muslim youths had gathered in Al-Nawahid, a village in the Abu Tisht district, and gone to the homes of a number of Christians. They had thrown stones and bundles of burning rags at the Christian homes, setting them on fire. These incidents had occurred in response to rumours of a romantic relationship between a Christian youth and a Muslim girl. 113. The Office of the Public Prosecutor launched the investigations by questioning those whose homes had been attacked. In their statements, they said that they had not seen the perpetrators. 114. The Office of the Public Prosecutor inspected 15 properties and found fire damage to the internal and external walls, in addition to damage to some moveable property inside the properties, with the exception of one property that had sustained damage but showed no evidence of fire damage. The Office of the Public Prosecutor also found the charred remains of two animals in one of the homes that it inspected, in addition to damage and fire damage. 24