Monday April 2, 2001

Open Letter to President Bush, congress, and the Untied Nations

President Mubarak, peace and justice should first begin at home

The ethno-religious Coptic people in Egypt are facing constitutional persecution by the Muslim Arab government in Egypt. The second article in the Constitution states that Islam is the state religion and is the source of laws in Egypt. The government requires that all persons write their religion on their identification cards, allowing for the Christians to be identified and persecuted. Therefore, the rights of the Coptic people are jeopardized; specific examples include. A Christian cannot testify in the court against a Muslim. Also the Muslim can kill a Christian with impunity. Any Muslim who converts from Islam to Christianity is tortured and his or her children are taken away from the family. No Christians who are appointed province governor, police commissioner, city manager, or any of their staff; who is a manager of a state controlled company, who is a university president or dean, who is an ambassador of his/her country except in two very insufficient posts. College graduates find it extremely difficult to find employment; they may stay ten years to find a job in the government. The Copts are deprived of promotion to higher positions. There are no Copts in the top 160 positions and they are told that there is no promotion before converting to Islam.

The Copts in Egypt are living in fear of being murdered by Muslim families in collaboration with the Egyptian security forces. Coptic girls are kidnapped and raped by the Muslim groups again with collaboration of the Egyptian security forces. Christians are deprived of building new churches in new towns and districts. It is required that a presidential permit be obtained to build anew church after the satisfaction requirements are met. It may stay many years to secure a presidential permit to build a new church.

These restriction on building new churches were imposed by a deputy minister interior. However, president Mubarak pretends that he cannot remove such restrictions 

The objectives of the Islamic Arab government in Egypt are discrimination of the Coptic community and converting them to Islam. The government forces Coptic leaders to come to Washington to deny and camouflage the plight of the Copts. The American Coptic Association requests that any aid to Egypt should be conditioned with respects to the human rights of its Coptic people.

The American, Australian. Canadian, and European Coptic Association

PO BOX 9119

Jersey City, NJ

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