Recommendations to the Egyptian government

71. In the short term, the EIPR recommends that the Egyptian government immediately implement the following measures:

1. Immediately investigate all incidents of sectarian violence, hold those responsible to account and fairly compensate the victims.

2. Continue to stress the political message contained in the President’s speech on Science Day, in January 2010, and his speech on the Prophet’s birthday, in February 2010. Both speeches stated that there is a problem in our country that we must cooperate to solve and that the state will shoulder the responsibility of applying constitutional provisions on citizenship and equal rights and duties for all citizens without discrimination.

3. Urge the People’s Assembly to appoint a special committee to study the problem of sectarian violence and hold public hearings to discuss the issue that bring in victims, experts, independent civil society groups and experts, and high-level state officials.

4. End the security establishment’s violation of the Constitution and law, which leads to or escalates sectarian tensions; hold those responsible for abuses to account; and guarantee that the security apparatus applies the law in a non-biased fashion and protects the security of all Egyptians.

5. Take action to better the capacities of prosecutors to investigate crimes linked to sectarian violence so that they can identify the perpetrators; issue clear directives against accepting reconciliation for crimes with which it is not permissible; continue investigating incidents in which the Public Prosecutor is entitled to investigate regardless of reconciliation; and take action to refer suspects to trial with sufficient evidence in a timely manner.

6. End undeclared, discriminatory policies against Christians in all public offices; establish hiring criteria on the basis of competence alone; and issue an anti-discrimination and equal opportunity law, as recommended by the National Council for Human Rights and as is consistent with the relevant constitutional principles.

7. Review all Egyptian legislation to ensure that it is free of direct or indirect religious or faith-based discrimination.

72. In the medium and long term, the state must take several measures immediately, although their cumulative impact may take a relatively longer time to be felt in light of the failure to adequately address the issue over the past four decades. These measures include:

1. Mandate an independent research team to undertake a comprehensive study on the historical and substantive root causes of sectarian tension in Egypt and its violent and less violent manifestations. The study should objectively and frankly assess the government’s response over the last decades and explore ways to address the tension while drafting a roadmap that contains clear, specific, measurable and time-bound obligations.

2. Draft a strategy for educational reforms that will make public and private schools national institutions for inculcating the principles of religious tolerance and coexistence among all Egyptians; train teachers capable of leading this reform process; and rectify educational curricula to be capable of implementing this strategy, as part of a broader strategy for integrating human rights values and principles in school and academic curricula.

3. Intensify the state-owned media message around human rights principles and concepts, religious tolerance and coexistence for all Egyptians in one country, and encourage the private and partisan media to participate in serving this message.

4. Start training those responsible for administering and applying the law to respect human rights values, principles and concepts, including the respect of religious difference and non-discrimination on the basis of religion. This training should include judges, prosecutors, policemen, teachers and administrators at every position.

5. Work to integrate young people into state cultural, social and political institutions and take action to devise effective mechanisms for ending the alienation of segments of Christian youth and reintegrate them into society, after examining the reasons for their alienation.
6. Involve the Islamic and Christian religious establishments in a strategy to strengthen the values of religious tolerance and coexistence for all Egyptians.

7. Enable civil society organizations to take up their responsibilities and encourage all individuals, in rural and urban areas, to join the state as it confronts sectarian violence.