A/HRC/7/10/Add.1
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circumvented on grounds of freedom of religion or belief as guaranteed by the Constitution.
Since 2004, the Government has not responded to the last three communications concerning the
situation of Bahá'í believers.
85.
The Special Rapporteur would like to recall the concluding observations of the Human
Rights Committee (CCPR/CO/76/EGY, para. 17) where the Committee emphasized that the
“State party must see to it that its legislation and practice are consistent with article 18 of the
Covenant as regards the rights of the Bahai community and reinforce its legislation”. She also
wishes to reiterate her predecessor’s concerns (see E/CN.4/2004/63, paras. 42) that “the mention
of religion on an identity card is a controversial issue and appears to be somewhat at variance
with the freedom of religion or belief that is internationally recognized and protected. Moreover,
even supposing that it was acceptable to mention religion on an identity card, it could only be
claimed that the practice had any legitimacy whatsoever if it was non-discriminatory: to exclude
any mention of religions other than Islam, Christianity or Judaism would appear to be a violation
of international law.” The Special Rapporteur intends to deal with the issue of religion and
citizenship, including the compulsory mentioning of selected religions on official ID cards or
passports, in more detail in one of her future reports.
Communication sent on 31 August 2007 jointly with the Special Rapporteur on
independence of judges and lawyers
86.
The Special Rapporteurs brought to the attention of the Government information they had
received regarding Mr. Amr Tharwat, Mr. Abdel-Latif Mohamed Ahmed and Mr. AbdelHamid Mohamed Abdel-Rahman. Mr. Tharwat, who is a member of the Quranic group (a
movement reportedly advocating for peaceful reform in the Muslim world), was arrested on 30
May 2007 by the State Security officers at his family’s home in the Matrya neighborhood in
Cairo, pursuant to an administrative detention decree issued by the interior minister under the
emergency law. He was accused of “exploiting religion to promote extreme ideas in contempt of
Islamic religion, denying the sunna and considering the Quran to be the main source of
legislation”. Further charges included “rejecting the penalty for apostasy” and “rejecting the
stoning of adulterers”. In addition to Mr. Tharwat, the authorities arrested further people staying
at the house, including Mr. Abdel-Latif Mohamed Ahmed and Mr. Abdel-Hamid Mohamed
Abdel-Rahman.
87.
Allegedly, during their detention, the detainees were not allowed to contact their families
or lawyers until 21 June 2007, four days after their interrogations before the State Security
Prosecution officer began. Reportedly, during the interrogations, questions were confined to the
detainees’ religious views. An appeal was filed against the administrative detention of the
defendants, as they were detained for more than 30 days. On 12 and 14 July 2007, the
Emergency State Security Court ordered the release of the three persons. However, the interior
Ministry appealed their release order. On 7 and 8 August 2007, the court decided to release them
immediately. Despite the release order, the three individuals remained detained in preventive
detention by the State Security Prosecution Office.
Observations
88.
The Special Rapporteur regrets that she has not received a reply from the Government
concerning the above mentioned allegation. She would like to take the opportunity to refer to her
framework for communications, more specifically to the international human rights norms and to