Egypt’s ID Cards and the Baha’i Struggle for Privacy
Jessica Smelser Friday, 11 December 2009
A comic appeared in the Kuwaiti newspaper, Al-Ra'i, on December 16, 2008, depicting an angry father yelling at a police officer and holding his son's notebook. The notebook shows the simple arithmetic function, 2-1=1, with the minus sign in bold. Translated from Arabic, the comic says: "I want to make a [police] report regarding the headmaster of the school of my boy ... they are teaching the boy the Baha'i [religion] Sir!" The cartoon's caption states, "The judiciary forced the Ministry of Interior to place (-) in the religion section of the identification card of the Baha'i."[1]
On March 16, 2009, after a protracted legal battle, the Egyptian Supreme Administrative court granted Baha'is and other religious groups in Egypt the ability to insert a dash in the religious affiliation portion of the national ID card. There are important implications of this court case for the Baha'i community, and there are necessary next steps for the Baha'is, Egypt's government, and Egyptian society.
Baha'ism in Egypt
Baha'ism originated in Persia in the 19th century when a man called Baha'u'llah ("glory of God" in Arabic) proclaimed himself to be the messenger of God with the mission to usher in the next stage of humanity's development—world peace.[2] Several Baha'is were exiled in Persia because Baha'ism was considered an illegitimate offshoot of Islam. In the 1860s, Baha'ism spread to Egypt and was adopted by merchants in Alexandria and Cairo.[3]
In 1956, the Arab nationalist Gamal Abdel Nasser became president and instituted several reforms affecting all aspects of Egyptian society. In 1960, Nasser issued Presidential Decree 263, which called for the closure of all Baha'i institutions and the prohibited Baha'i practice and rituals.[4] The Baha'i community of Egypt has decreased significantly since this ruling; it was estimated to include about 2,000 adherents as of 2009.[5]
Decree 263 has caused much contention in Egypt and in the international community. Groups such as Human Rights Watch and Egypt's own Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) argue that Egypt's constitution prohibits religious discrimination. Egypt is also party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and is thus responsible for respecting and protecting the religious rights of its citizens.[6] The Egyptian government's lawyers who opposed the Baha'i case in 2008 argued that while the Egyptian constitution allows for religious freedom, it also states in Article 2 that sharia, or Islamic law, is the basis of legal interpretation. According to the Egyptian Supreme Administrative Court's interpretation of Shari'a, any person that does not identify as Muslim or with the "People of the Book," (i.e., the Bible), is an apostate.
Religious Identification and Privacy
Egyptian law mandates that at the age of 16, all citizens are required to obtain their ID cards, as they are used for employment, educational enrollment, and access to personal records. In 2004, Egypt began issuing electronic national ID cards to replace the paper forms. Every ID card had a required field for religious affiliation, and the system offered only Muslim, Christian, and Jew as options. This forced Baha'is to either lie about their religion or be refused their card. (Before 2004, "other" was an option.) Several Baha'is brought cases to the Supreme Administrative Court between 2004 and 2008, but these were usually halted by delays and appeals.
Dr. Ra'uf Hindi Halim was one of the first to confront the 2004 national ID law.[7] He opened his case in 2001 when he returned to Egypt from Oman. His two children, ‘Imad and Nancy, were born in Oman and listed as Baha'is on their birth certificates. In order to enroll his children in school, he had to obtain Egyptian birth certificates, and these could not list their religion as Baha'i. Dr. Hindi Halim teamed up with the EIPR director, Hossam Bahgat, and continued the fight. The March 2009 court ruling finally allowed for a dash on the ID card in place of religion.
This marks the first time in post-Nasser Egypt that citizens are allowed to keep their religion private on official documents. This legal change became public and permanent on April 14, 2009 when the Egyptian Gazette featured the decree by the Ministry of the Interior stating that citizens were no longer required to identify their religion on national ID cards.[8] Hossam Baghat said, "There are two ways of looking at this positive court outcome. For Baha'is it is simply a correction of a mistake and finally the government seems to be granting them these documents again. But for the Egyptian legal system, it is a significant step in that this the first time in Egypt's legal history there is an administrative system to deal with Egyptians who do not adhere to one of the three state recognized religions of Islam, Christianity or Judaism."[9]
Implications and Next Steps
The court ruling has several implications for the Baha'i community and for Egypt. First, it represents not only legal progress for the Baha'is; it also implies that they are beginning to educate the public about their religion. Baha'ism is highly misunderstood throughout the world. The 2007 Human Rights Watch report on Egyptian Baha'is recommended that the Baha'is conduct media and public awareness campaigns to promote religious tolerance and equal rights.[10] Ignorance causes fear, so if Baha'is are able to express their true beliefs and demonstrate they are obedient and law-abiding citizens, situations involving persecution are less likely to occur. Contact and involvement with the Muslim-majority society without threats and intimidation will allow groups to dispel rumors and lies about their religions.
Second, there is evidence that Egypt's Muslim-majority society is changing. Weeks after the court decision, a Baha'i community in Showranyiah—a village in southern Egypt—was attacked and families were forced to flee the area after Gamel Abdel Rahim, an extremist journalist, called for the murder of Baha'is in Egypt.[11] Yet, a few days after these incidents, Baha'i Egypt reported that over 80 Egyptian newspapers published articles supporting the Baha'is.[12] It is the first time Egyptian media has expressed such widespread support over a minority cause, and this is an indication of the changing climate of religious pluralism. Egyptian society is becoming much more open with the use of social media tools, including blogs and Facebook, and also hosts an increasing amount of independently-owned media outlets, like newspapers and television channels.[13]
A third implication is the government's shifting attitude toward enforcement. Prior to the 2009 court ruling, it was not uncommon to read about unchecked harassment of religious minorities in Egypt. But the arrest of 70 people in August 2009 protesting the relocation of the Showranyiah Baha'is to government housing near their villages shows a more moderate stance from local government.[14] This implies that the Egyptian government realizes that rule of law must remain in place in order to demonstrate to all citizens that everyone is equal under law.
Finally, this case also has implications for Egypt's foreign policy initiatives. When citizens are frequently persecuted, it reflects poorly on a nation's international standing. Egypt's position as mediator in East-West relations is weakened by its treatment of these citizens. Egypt is a key regional ally for the United States, and it is difficult for Egypt to convince the international arena that it is concerned with human rights issues when there are abuses at home. Egypt needs to continue to enforce its laws and eliminate all barriers for minority citizens in order to strengthen the rule of law and uphold its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Nasser's Presidential Decree 263 situated Baha'is as second-class citizens without access to jobs, education, and public life. And while the March 2009 court ruling does indicate a willingness to change policies, Egypt has a long road ahead to overcome prejudice and violence against its minority groups. As the Baha'is and other minority groups begin to educate others about their beliefs and practices, understanding and respect will increase. Egypt's credibility in Middle Eastern and international politics will be bolstered by an improved concern for human rights. Both the Baha'i community and the Egyptian government have responsibilities in moving toward equality.
[1] Al-Ra'i. "Extra Comics." Al-Ra'i Media. December 12, 2008. http://www.alraimedia.com/Alrai/Resources/PdfPages/AlRAI/10757/P19.pdf (accessed September 28, 2009).
[2] Baha'i International Community. The Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh. 2009. http://info.bahai.org/covenant-of-bahaullah.html (accessed September 30 2009).
[3] Baha'i Library. Egypt. 1997. http://bahai-library.com/asia-pacific/country%20files/egypt.htm (accessed October 1, 2009).
[4] Christian Solidarity Worldwide. Briefing: Egypt's Religious Freedom Profile. Research Briefing (London: Christian Solidarity Worldwide, 2009).
[5] U.S. Department of State. "Egypt: International Religious Freedom Report 2009." http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2009/127346.htm (accessed October 26, 2009).
[6] "International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights." United Nations Treaty Collection. March 23, 1976. http://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-4&chapter=4&lang=en (accessed September 28, 2009).
[7] Human Rights Watch. "Egypt: Prohibited Identities." November 2007. http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/egypt1107webwcover.pdf (accessed October 1, 2009).
[8] Baha'í International Community. "Egypt officially changes rules for ID cards." April 17, 2009. http://news.bahai.org/story/707 (accessed October 1, 2009).
[9] Aya Batrawy. "Despite Court Victory, Egypt's Bahais Face Challenges." Voice of America. September 30, 2009. http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-09-30-voa35.cfm (accessed October 15, 2009).
[10] Human Rights Watch. "Egypt: Prohibited Identities." November 2007. http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/egypt1107webwcover.pdf (accessed October 1, 2009).
[11] "Call for Egypt Bahai attack probe." BBC News. April 3, 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7981252.stm (accessed September 28, 2009).
[12] "Unprecedented Flood of Egyptian Press Articles Supporting the Baha'is." Baha'i Faith in Egypt. April 10, 2009. http://www.bahai-egypt.org/2009/04/unprecedented-flood-of-egyptian-press.html#links (accessed September 29 , 2009).
[13] Michael Slackman. "Hints of Pluralism in Egyptian Religious Debates." The New York Times. August 30, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/world/africa/31cairo.html?_r=4&scp=3&sq=baha'i&st=cse (accessed September 25, 2009).
[14] "Egypt arrests protesters against Baha'i neighbours." Reuters. August 27, 2009. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LR112297.htm# (accessed September 25, 2009).