VOA常速英语2007年-Human Rights Report Says Egypt Violating Religi

By Challiss McDonough
Cairo
12 November 2007

Human rights groups are urging the Egyptian government to lift restrictions¹ on religious freedom that discriminate² against those who do not belong to one of three recognized religions. VOA Correspondent Challiss McDonough has more from Cairo.

Basma Moussa has not had a national ID card since 2004, when Egypt's Interior Ministry³ refused to issue her one unless she changed her religion. Moussa is an Egyptian member of the Baha'i faith, a monotheistic religion that developed in Iran in the 19th century.

Moussa said officials told her they were prohibited from issuing an ID to anyone listing their religion as anything other than one of what he called the three "heavenly" religions: Islam, Christianity or Judaism.

In a new report, two human rights groups say basic services are being denied because of religious affiliation⁵, even though Egypt's constitution guarantees freedom of religion.

Joe Stork⁶ is the deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch, a co-author of the report.

"The law says nothing about it can be only Islam, Christianity or Judaism," said Stork. "Nothing about that. The law in terms of changing information on one's ID just says just file the new information, you don't need the permission of the ministry to do so... including religious affiliation, it makes no exception for that. So according to the letter of the law, there should be no problem."

But in practice, he says, Interior Ministry officials have been using their own interpretation⁷ of Islamic Law. Two groups of people are most severely⁸ affected⁹ - the Baha'i, and people who convert from Islam to another religion, usually Christianity.

"It's rather incredible, officers of the ministry telling individuals, not only refusing to register their actual religious belief, but actually trying to convert them to Islam, or to retaining a Muslim identity using bribery¹¹, using pressure tactics, using intimidation¹²: 'OK, you won't convert? You won't stay a Muslim? We'll just have to bring forgery¹³ charges against you,'" said Stork.

Religion is listed on Egyptian birth certificates and every Egyptian over the age of 16 must also have a national ID card, which lists religious affiliation. In the past, the Baha'i were allowed to state their religion as "other," or just leave the space blank. But for the last several years, officials have been refusing to issue documents to the Baha'i unless they renounce¹⁴ their faith.

The consequences can be severe. Human rights researchers found people who had lost their jobs and apartments and children who had been kept out of school. Moussa says her relatives include five children under the age of six who have been unable to get birth certificates.

Moussa says without birth certificates, the children have not been able to be immunized.

Another Baha'i, Shady Samir, says after a year of trying, his children were able to get birth certificates with the space for religion left blank, but only because he is married to a foreigner, and the ministry created an exception for people with dual¹⁰ nationalities.

"This marriage is not recognized by the government," said Samir. "This is not considered as marriage. So we face problems even recognizing this marriage - we cannot stay in a hotel [together]. My wife cannot have residency in Egypt because we're not [officially] married. She's here on a tourist visa all this time.

This problem could be magnified next year, when computerized ID cards become mandatory¹⁵. Paper IDs with the religious affiliation left blank will no longer be valid¹⁶.

Also affected by the policy are those who have converted from Islam, including those known as "re-converts," who were raised Christian⁴ and now wish to return to their original faith. Officials have refused to allow them to switch back. And when a parent converts to Islam, his or her children are often listed as converts, sometimes without their knowledge. If they try to have their religious affiliation corrected, they say they are treated as if they are trying to convert away from Islam as well, even if they have never actually been Muslims.

A new court case is challenging this policy, and a verdict is expected Saturday. Lawyer Ramses El-Nagar says they are hoping for good news.

He says they want the court to rule that converts have the right to return to their original faith. And he says they also want the existing laws guaranteeing freedom of religion to be enforced.

The human rights groups acknowledge that Islamic Law forbids conversion¹⁷ to another religion. But they say there is no consensus¹⁸ among Muslim scholars about whether there should be a civil or criminal penalty for it. They quote the Grand Mufti of Egypt as saying it is a sin that should be dealt with by God on Judgment¹⁹ Day.

The other author of the new report, Hossam Bahgat of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, said the policy conflicts with the Qur'an's admonishment²⁰ that there must be "no compulsion in religion."

He said, "This policy conflicts not only with Egyptian law and international human rights law, but also with Islamic Law."

The quasi-official National Council for Human Rights has called for removing religion from the national ID card, and has promised to draft an anti-discrimination law to enforce the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom.

Joe Stork from Human Rights Watch says those would be welcome steps, but the government also needs to ensure that Egyptians are able to have their real religious affiliations²¹ reflected in state records.

"We think that if the government just does the right thing by simply complying with existing Egyptian law on these matters, it will set an example of tolerance²², as opposed to an example of intolerance, and will be one step - one constructive²³ step, albeit²⁴ a small step - towards addressing those larger social prejudices," said Stork.

The report on religious freedom was the product of two years of work, and the authors say they made repeated requests for meetings with officials from the Interior Ministry without receiving a reply. But they said Monday that they have finally been granted a meeting with a senior ministry official, scheduled for later this week. They are hoping for a positive outcome.

1 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

2 discriminate   

v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待

参考例句：

• You must learn to discriminate between facts and opinions.你必须学会把事实和看法区分出来。
• They can discriminate hundreds of colours.他们能分辨上百种颜色。

3 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

4 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

5 affiliation   

n.联系，联合

参考例句：

• There is no affiliation between our organization and theirs,even though our names are similar.尽管两个组织的名称相似，但我们之间并没有关系。
• The kidnappers had no affiliation with any militant group.这些绑架者与任何军事组织都没有紧密联系。

6 stork   

n.鹳

参考例句：

• A Fox invited a long-beaked Stork to have dinner with him.狐狸请长嘴鹳同他一起吃饭。
• He is very glad that his wife's going to get a visit from the stork.他为她的妻子将获得参观鹳鸟的机会感到非常高兴。

7 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

8 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

9 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

10 dual   

adj.双的；二重的，二元的

参考例句：

• The people's Republic of China does not recognize dual nationality for any Chinese national.中华人民共和国不承认中国公民具有双重国籍。
• He has dual role as composer and conductor.他兼作曲家及指挥的双重身分。

11 bribery   

n.贿络行为，行贿，受贿

参考例句：

• FBI found out that the senator committed bribery.美国联邦调查局查明这个参议员有受贿行为。
• He was charged with bribery.他被指控受贿。

12 intimidation   

n.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• The Opposition alleged voter intimidation by the army.反对党声称投票者受到军方的恐吓。
• The gang silenced witnesses by intimidation.恶帮用恐吓的手段使得证人不敢说话。

13 forgery   

n.伪造的文件等，赝品，伪造（行为）

参考例句：

• The painting was a forgery.这张画是赝品。
• He was sent to prison for forgery.他因伪造罪而被关进监狱。

14 renounce   

v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系

参考例句：

• She decided to renounce the world and enter a convent.她决定弃绝尘世去当修女。
• It was painful for him to renounce his son.宣布与儿子脱离关系对他来说是很痛苦的。

15 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

16 valid   

adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的

参考例句：

• His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
• Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？

17 conversion   

n.转化，转换，转变

参考例句：

• He underwent quite a conversion.他彻底变了。
• Waste conversion is a part of the production process.废物处理是生产过程的一个组成部分。

18 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

19 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

20 admonishment   

n.警告

参考例句：

• Moreover, but also has some taunts and the admonishment sound. 另外，还有一些嘲讽和规劝的声音。 来自互联网
• He chains them together with the admonishment as for the first woman. 他把他们锁在一起想警告第一个女士那样警告了他们。 来自互联网

21 affiliations   

n.联系( affiliation的名词复数 )；附属机构；亲和性；接纳

参考例句：

• She had affiliations of her own in every capital. 她原以为自己在欧洲各国首府都有熟人。 来自辞典例句
• The society has many affiliations throughout the country. 这个社团在全国有很多关系。 来自辞典例句

22 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

23 constructive   

adj.建设的，建设性的

参考例句：

• We welcome constructive criticism.我们乐意接受有建设性的批评。
• He is beginning to deal with his anger in a constructive way.他开始用建设性的方法处理自己的怒气。

24 albeit   

conj.即使；纵使；虽然

参考例句：

• Albeit fictional,she seemed to have resolved the problem.虽然是虚构的，但是在她看来好象是解决了问题。
• Albeit he has failed twice,he is not discouraged.虽然失败了两次，但他并没有气馁。