A/55/280 While the paper’s management attempted to justify their provocative position on the grounds that they were upholding religious convictions, their real motives appear to have been rooted in an attempt to win electoral support with a view to the prospective legislative elections, in which the Labour Party intends to participate. order to contain and prevent events such as those described above. 20. The Special Rapporteur regrets the lack of effort and care taken over this reply, which is no reply at all, and requests Egypt to communicate its views and comments on the allegations summarized above. 21. According to another communication from the Special Rapporteur, the Supreme Religious Court in Cairo declared the Baha’i faith a dangerous heresy in 1925. In 1960, all Baha’i assemblies were reportedly dissolved, their property and other assets confiscated, and their religious activities prohibited. Nonetheless, Baha’is supposedly remained free, as individuals, to practise their faith, in accordance with the freedom of religion that is guaranteed for all under the Constitution. To this day, however, the Baha’i community is said to be subjected to constant close surveillance. Baha’is are reportedly not allowed to meet in groups, especially for religious observances, and their literature is destroyed. It is alleged that they cannot legally celebrate their marriages, which are deemed to constitute concubinage, while the children born of these unions are regarded as illegitimate. 22. According to a third communication, since May 2000 a hate campaign has been waged in Cairo by extremists against the author Haidar Haidar, who is accused, together with his publishers, the Ministry of Culture and liberal intellectuals, of blasphemy because of his novel A Feast of Seaweed. According to information from a variety of sources, this affair is being politically exploited by Muslim extremists, especially the Muslim Brotherhood, in the context of the coming legislative elections. 23. Egypt has replied: Concerning the campaign against the Minister of Culture and the Syrian author, Haidar Haidar, when the General Assembly of Houses of Culture decided to publish a play entitled A Feast of Seaweed, the newspaper The People (formerly published by the Labour Party, whose activity has been suspended) took advantage of the opportunity to launch a media campaign against Ministry of Culture officials for publishing material that was secular in nature and was also, according to the paper, contrary to religious values and principles. Concerning measures taken to prevent extremists from taking over mosques, Egypt has the following to say: Management of all mosques and shrines has been centralized in the hands of the Ministry of Awqaf (Islamic Endowments). That Ministry now has responsibility for 50,000 mosques and 10,000 shrines; Every person not expressly authorized to do so is prohibited from mounting a mosque pulpit and delivering a sermon, inasmuch as the law requires a statement from the Ministry of Awqaf; There have been various judicial measures aimed at thwarting any attempt to make use of mosques for unlawful purposes. Russian Federation 24. On 11 August 1999, in St. Petersburg, the Jehovah’s Witnesses reportedly applied for a permit to rebuild a religious centre. On 22 November 1999, the Governor’s office allegedly replied that, in the first place, the St. Petersburg Jehovah’s Witnesses had enough religious centres to meet their needs, and in the second place, because of the state of public opinion in the city, it would be “inexpedient” to open an additional centre. 25. The Russian Federation has replied: The matter referred to in the Special Rapporteur’s letter is exclusively technical in nature and is unrelated to the issue of freedom of religion. For the Special Rapporteur’s information, the facts are as follows. Block 3A, at 18 Pogranitchnika Garkovogo Street in St. Petersburg, is a former municipal building, now vacant, that has been acquired by the head office of the congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses. On 15 August 1999, the congregation applied to a number of the city’s subdivisions and administrative services for authorization to 7