A courtroom decision in Egypt opens the door to the restoration of full rights of citizenship for members of the Baha’i Faith there, a spokesperson for the Australian Baha’i community, Natalie Mobini-Kesheh, said today.
The Court of Administrative Justice in Cairo this week ruled that Baha’is could fill out vital official documents without being required to falsely declare membership of one of three state-accepted religions, Islam, Christianity or Judaism.
“We urge the Egyptian government to quickly implement the court’s decision and allow Baha’is once again to enjoy the full rights of citizenship to which they are entitled,” Dr Mobini-Kesheh said.
“This decision is a victory for religious freedom,” she said.
“The previous policy was obviously at odds with international law and common sense,” she said.
“We will be watching closely to see how the decision is implemented.”
Members of the Baha’i Faith had recently not been permitted to leave the religious affiliation field blank on official documents, including the application form for the all-important national ID card.
The only option given the Baha’is was to lie about their religious affiliation, itself a punishable offence in Egypt and something that Baha’is will not do.
Without national identify cards, Baha’is are deprived of a wide range of citizenship rights, such as access to employment, education, medical and financial services, and marriage and birth certificates.
Lawyers representing Baha’is in cases seeking a change to the policy said their clients were willing to settle for cards or documents on which the religious affiliation field is left blank or filled in, perhaps, as “other.”
This solution, accepted this week by the Court of Administrative Justice, distinguishes these two cases from a lawsuit rejected by the Supreme Administrative Court of Egypt last year.
That court overruled a decision by a lower court that upheld the right of Baha’is to have their religion identified as Baha’i on government documents.
Read a full report from the Baha’i World News Service