[honeyweill]

The Honorable George W. Bush
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500

May 18, 2005

Dear Mr. President:


The international Coptic community commends you on your continued support of democratic development in the Arabic-speaking world. As members of an endangered native religious and cultural minority, Egypt’s Coptic Christians request you relay to Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif the U.S.’s concern over the discrimination and persecution suffered by Egypt’s indigenous Copts.



Egypt’s native Christian Copts—numbering around 12 million people and constituting approximately 15-20% of Egypt’s population—have long been targeted by the predominantly Muslim Egyptian government, and continue to suffer discrimination and persecution in their native country. Employment discrimination and exclusion from public office are among the more mild examples of Coptic persecution, which routinely escalates to police-sanctioned hate crimes such as church destruction, the kidnapping and rape of young Coptic women, and murder. These conditions are consequences of irresponsible legislation, poor and often prejudiced enforcement of the law, and a general environment of social intolerance propagated by State-owned media and educational systems.



Coptic Christians of all denominations continue to struggle for reform, democracy, and basic human and religious rights in their homeland. Despite the censure of the U.S. State Department, United Nations, NGOs such as Amnesty International, and members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, the Egyptian government—led by President Hosni Mubarak—remains impervious to legitimate Coptic grievances. Thus far, Copts have not reaped the benefits of limited reforms proposed by President Mubarak; the international Coptic community believes that to effectively and seriously address Egyptian Christians’ concerns, Egypt needs to implement the following resolutions, assembled by an internationally-recognized panel of scholars at the 2004 Zurich International Coptic Symposium.

1- Instituting a total separation of religion and state through constitutional reforms, and the removal of emphasis on religion and its role in government institutions, emphasizing the secular nature of the State.

2- Denouncing the Hamayoni Decree as unconstitutional in order to establish the equal rights of all Egyptians to build and maintain places of worship.

3-Allocating a proportionate and just percentage (estimated between 10-15%) of government appointed positions to Copts, to guarantee appropriate participation.

4-Allocating a proportionate and just percentage (estimated between 10-15%) of parliamentary seats for Copts, thereby, encouraging political participation and guaranteeing adequate representation in the Electoral Bodies.

5-Removing religious identification from every government issued document, form, or application.

6-Enforcing the constitution in order to guarantee the freedom and protection of religious beliefs of all Egyptians, free from all coercion.

7-Ending the practice of treating all Coptic issues, including their struggle to attain equal rights, as ‘State Security Matters’ and removing what is known as the “Coptic File” from the grip of the State Security Intelligence Apparatus, with the aim of restoring equality between all Egyptians under rule of law.

8-Reforming school curriculum and the media to remove all demeaning references to non-Muslims, and introducing an educational curriculum teaching tolerance, acceptance of others, respect for human rights, and religious freedom.



In light of the United States’ commitment to the promotion of democracy, human rights, and religious freedom in the Middle East, we respectfully request your intervention with Prime Minister Nazif to guarantee equal rights for Copts by ensuring the implementation of the above resolutions.

Sincerely,


Michael Meunier

President

U.S. Copts Association

http://www.copts.net/print.asp?id=704