HRP: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
IRF: Annual Reports to Congress on International Religious Freedom
BAHÁ'Í COMMUNITY
IRF 2001
Most citizens, approximately 90 percent, are Sunni Muslims.... The number
of Baha'is has been estimated at between several hundred and a few thousand.
FREEDOM OF RELIGION
HRP 1999-2001
IRF 1999-2000
The Constitution provides for freedom of belief and the practice of religious
rites; however, the Government places clear restrictions on this right.
Under the Constitution, Islam is the official state religion and primary
source of legislation. Accordingly, religious practices that conflict with
Islamic law are prohibited....
CONFISCATION OF PROPERTY
HRP 1999-2001
IRF 1999-2001
In 1960, President Gamal Abdel Nasser issued a decree (Law 263 for 1960)
banning Baha'i institutions and community activities. All Baha'i community
properties, including Baha'i centers, libraries, and cemeteries, were confiscated.
This ban has not been rescinded.
IMPRISONMENTS AND EXECUTIONS
HRP 2001
IRF 2001
The Government occasionally prosecutes members of religious groups whose
practices deviate from mainstream Islamic beliefs and whose activities
are believed to jeopardize communal harmony. For example, between January
and April, the Government arrested 18 persons, most of whom were Baha'is
and some of whom were Muslims, in the southern Egyptian city of Sohag,
on suspicion of violating Aricle 98(F) of the Penal Code ("insulting a
heavenly religion") and a 1960 law abolishing Baha'i institutions. Their
detention was renewed several times, but no charges were brought against
them. By mid-October all of the detainees had been released without charge.
IRF 2001
By the end of the period covered by this report, 10 Baha'is remained in
detention without being formally charged.