Details of Egyptian Massacre of Christians Revealed

March 9, 2001

   Freedom House's Center for Religious Freedom released on March 6 a detailed 130-page report on last year's massacre of 21 Coptic Christians (the largest religious minority in the Middle East) by Muslim mobs in Al-Kosheh, Egypt.
    It outlines police complicity in the crimes, a state cover-up of the investigation, and religious bias in the trials. All of the murder suspects were acquitted on Feb. 5, 2001.
    The report, Massacre at the Millennium: A Report on the Murder of 21 Christians in Al-Kosheh, Egypt, in January 2000 and the Failure of Justice, also describes the Egyptian government crackdown on local human rights groups that have reported on Al-Kosheh, including prominent Egyptian sociologist Saad Eddin Ibrahim, currently on trial, in part, for exposing religious persecution in Egypt.
    Among the report's other principal findings: Corruption among security forces in Al-Kosheh; government officials giving out wrong information; officials falsely shifting blame for the massacre to unnamed "foreigners;" courts using mass trials for propaganda.
    The report concludes that from the outset, the government of Egypt has pursued a political strategy to conceal the gravity of the religious tensions in Al-Kosheh and to avoid the politically sensitive issue of punishing Muslims for the murder of Christians. The report is based on three fact-finding missions to Egypt and extensive interviews conducted in four countries.

--Used by permission of Religion Today

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Egyptian Authorities Destroy Church Building

March 8, 2001

    It has been learned by The Voice of the Martyrs-Canada that on Feb. 24 a large contingent of Egyptian security officers with armored vehicles and a bulldozer destroyed a building in Shobra El Khaima. Local Coptic Christians planned to use the four-story building for Sunday School classes, daycare and medical facilities, as well as for a place of worship.
    Purchased in 1998 by Bishop Marcos, it was to be used strictly for charitable work and prayer. Only five days earlier, the bishop had requested permission to open the building; the authorities responded by destroying it on the pretext that the building is not properly licensed. However, in August 1998, the property received city authorization to get electric, water and sanitary connections.
    Father Bola, the local priest, was injured as he refused to leave the building as it was being demolished. Authorities would not allow both Christian and Muslim residents to return to their homes, and this has caused resentments to rise against local Christians by Muslims who were forced out of their homes.

--Used by permission of Religion Today