The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) is deeply concerned about the repercussions of the Ismailia Court of Appeal's ruling regarding Saint Catherine's Monastery in South Sinai. While the ruling retained monks' possession of sites “with religious character”, under the court’s newly introduced concept of "religious possession", it fails to adopt a comprehensive understanding of the monastery's special heritage nature and the monastic life that was established in and around it for14 centuries. This life extends beyond  worship and prayer, encompassing land reclamation, well digging, and cooperation between monks and local tribes to manage life in the Saint Catherine  area on the basis of coexistence.

In this regard, EIPR recalls the Québec Declaration (2008) of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) regarding the preservation of the “spirit of place”, which consists of both tangible elements –such as buildings, sites, scenes, paths, etc.– and intangible elements –such as memories, narratives, written documents, rituals, etc. The Declaration affirms  that the "spirit of place is transmitted essentially by people", both materially and spiritually.

Therefore, EIPR asserts that while ensuring the monks’ “religious possession” of the monastery is necessary, it is insufficient. Monks have historically practiced other forms of possession, enabling them to contribute effectively to the sustainability of their presence and the development of their monastery and its surroundings for centuries. Additionally, EIPR stresses the critical need to preserve the infrastructure established by the monks, which contributes to the monastery's self-sufficiency and serves as a testament  to their interaction with, and influence on, their environment.

EIPR condemns the government's handling of the dispute over the ownership of Saint Catherine's Monastery and its lands, starting with government officials' argument, in their original lawsuit filed in 2014, that the monastery's possession of its lands, churches, and buildings was the result of "usurpation", and extending to their demand for a ruling to expel the monks from the monastery and all its lands.

Following a first degree ruling issued in 2020, the Saint Catherine heritage area witnessed significant changes, during the implementation  of the "Great Revelation" project in 2021. In 2023,  UNESCO called for halting this project until a heritage impact assessment (HIA) of its impact on the Saint Catherine area is carried out and a plan is set for its management, including a tourism management plan. It’s important to note that  the UNESCO Advisory Mission was unable to visit the site in 2021.

Based on these developments, EIPR considers the monks' fears that the appeal ruling is a prelude to emptying the monastery of its spiritual, religious, and cultural function as legitimate concerns. Furthermore, EIPR stresses the necessity of not using the guarantee of the right to worship by recognizing "religious possession" based on the practice of religious rites, to deprive Saint Catherine monks of their other rights, such as their right to preserve the nature of the monastery and its surroundings and to maintain their active role in achieving this.

Despite attempts to reach an amicable agreement between the South Sinai Governorate and the monastery before the appeal ruling, an agreement that was intended to preserve the right of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in Sinai to the ownership of the monastery and its lands – according to statements by the monastery presidency, which was not denied by the South Sinai Governorate – the ruling came to the contrary.

The government had previously  recognized the ownership by the Archbishop of Sinai, representing the autonomous Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Sinai, of the monastery and its chapels, gardens, paths and all other structures, in Egypt's request to inscribe the Saint Catherine area on the UNESCO World Heritage List at the beginning of the millennium. This request was made with the approval of the Archbishop of Saint Catherine's Monastery and his contribution to the preparation of the nomination file (p. 38).

A quote from Egypt's file submitted for the inscription of Saint Catherine Monastery on the UNESCO World Heritage List

EIPR also points to the special heritage nature of Saint Catherine's Monastery, a heritage site inhabited by its monks, distinguishing it from many uninhabited sites that are not used for their original purposes. This specificity necessitates  developing legal frameworks for ownership that take into account the special status of the monastery’s monks.

EIPR calls on the government to establish  legal frameworks to guarantee the preservation of the autonomous Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Sinai’s  ownership of Saint Catherine's Monastery and its lands, in order to ensure secure, quiet and stable possession  for its monks now and in the future, as well as their independence in managing their church and its social, religious, cultural and economic activities.

EIPR also recommends the continuation of dialogue among all relevant parties, especially the monastery’s representatives, in order to reach an agreement between the South Sinai Governorate and Saint Catherine monastery, in a way that ensures the monks’ rights and their role in preserving the monastery as a living religious heritage, as well as their right to the monastery’s surroundings where they have been practicing their daily activities for 14 centuries.

Background

On 28 May, the Ismailia Court of Appeal issued rulings on the two appeals filed against the verdict issued on May 30, 2020, in Case No. 24 of 2015. This case was filed by the Governor of South Sinai, the Minister of Antiquities, the head of Saint Catherine municipality, and the Board Chairman of the Environmental Affairs Agency, in their official capacity, against the Archbishop of Saint Catherine's Monastery, in his personal and official capacity, demanding his expulsion from 71 plots of land that include all the monastery’s churches, buildings and agricultural lands.

The court of appeal ruled that the monastery's archbishop shall have "religious possession" over 29 religious sites without holding ownership of their land. It dismissed the lawsuit in respect of 17 plots of land with preliminary sales contracts. The court also ordered the monks to evict the lands that do not have a "religious character" and to hand them over, with their facilities, crops and plantings, to the South Sinai Governorate.

For more information on the dispute and the details of the court ruling, please see this Q&A.