Egypt Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Law === {{Main|Egyptian Civil Code}} [[File:Egyptian High Court of Justice.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|The High Court of Justice in [[Downtown Cairo]]]] The legal system is based on [[Sharia law|Islamic]] and civil law (particularly [[Napoleonic code]]s); and judicial review by a Supreme Court, which accepts compulsory [[International Court of Justice]] jurisdiction only with reservations.<ref name=factbook /> Islamic jurisprudence is the principal source of legislation. Sharia courts and qadis are run and licensed by the [[Ministry of Justice (Egypt)|Ministry of Justice]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7235357.stm |title=Incorporating Sharia into legal systems |work=BBC News |date=8 February 2008 |access-date=18 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130425031043/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7235357.stm |archive-date=25 April 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> The personal status law that regulates matters such as marriage, divorce and child custody is governed by Sharia. In a family court, a woman's testimony is worth half of a man's testimony.<ref>{{cite web|title=Egypt Gender Equality Profile|url=http://www.unicef.org/gender/files/Egypt-Gender-Eqaulity-Profile-2011.pdf|publisher=UNICEF|access-date=20 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181019172446/https://www.unicef.org/gender/files/Egypt-Gender-Eqaulity-Profile-2011.pdf|archive-date=19 October 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> On 26 December 2012, the Muslim Brotherhood attempted to institutionalise a controversial new constitution. It was approved by the public in a [[Egyptian constitutional referendum, 2012|referendum]] held 15–22 December 2012 with 64% support, but with only 33% electorate participation.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Egyptian constitution 'approved' in referendum|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20829911|work=BBC News|date=23 December 2012|access-date=23 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121223022054/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20829911|archive-date=23 December 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> It replaced the [[2011 Provisional Constitution of Egypt]], adopted following the revolution. The Penal code was unique as it contains a "[[Blasphemy law in Egypt|Blasphemy Law]]."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lexadin.nl/wlg/legis/nofr/oeur/lxweegy.htm |title=Legislation Egypt |publisher=Lexadin.nl |access-date=8 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117012239/http://www.lexadin.nl/wlg/legis/nofr/oeur/lxweegy.htm |archive-date=17 January 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> The present court system allows a death penalty including against an absent individual [[tried in absentia|tried ''in absentia'']]. Several Americans and Canadians were sentenced to death in 2012.<ref>{{cite news |title=7 Egyptian Christians, Florida pastor sentenced to death for anti-Islam film |url=http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/11/28/seven-egyptian-christians-sentenced-to-death-for-anti-islam-film/ |publisher=Fox News |date=28 November 2012 |access-date=8 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130131043800/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/11/28/seven-egyptian-christians-sentenced-to-death-for-anti-islam-film/ |archive-date=31 January 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> On 18 January 2014, the interim government successfully institutionalised a more [[Egyptian Constitution of 2014|secular constitution]].<ref name="BBC">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-25796110|title=BBC News – Egypt referendum: '98% back new constitution'|last=BBC|date=18 January 2014|work=[[BBC Online]]|access-date=19 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140118203701/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-25796110|archive-date=18 January 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> The president is elected to a four-year term and may serve 2 terms.<ref name="BBC" /> The parliament may impeach the president.<ref name="BBC" /> Under the constitution, there is a guarantee of gender equality and absolute [[Freedom of Religion|freedom of thought]].<ref name="BBC" /> The military retains the ability to appoint the national Minister of Defence for the next two full presidential terms since the constitution took effect.<ref name="BBC" /> Under the constitution, political parties may not be based on "religion, race, gender or geography".<ref name="BBC" /> ==== Human rights ==== {{Main|Human rights in Egypt}} {{See also|Sudanese refugees in Egypt|August 2013 Rabaa massacre|Persecution of Copts}} In 2003, the government established the National Council for Human Rights.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nchregypt.org/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=1&Itemid=3 |title=Law No. 94 of 2003 Promulgating The National Council for Human Rights |publisher=Nchregypt.org |date=16 February 2010 |access-date=8 February 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117012238/http://www.nchregypt.org/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=1&Itemid=3 |archive-date=17 January 2013 }}</ref> Shortly after its foundation, the council came under heavy criticism by local activists, who contend it was a propaganda tool for the government to excuse its own violations<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eohr.org/PRESS/2003/6-3.HTM |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030701015847/http://www.eohr.org/PRESS/2003/6-3.HTM |archive-date=1 July 2003 |title=Egyptian National Council for Human Rights Against Human Rights NGOs |publisher=EOHR |date=3 June 2003 |access-date=8 February 2013}}</ref> and to give legitimacy to repressive laws such as the Emergency Law.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://anhri.net/en/discussion/2004/ehrc.shtml |title=The Egyptian Human Rights Council: The Apple Falls Close to the Tree |publisher=ANHRI |access-date=8 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150105202323/http://www.anhri.net/en/discussion/2004/ehrc.shtml |archive-date=5 January 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[File:Neither Morsi nor the military - Egypt's Third Square Movement seeks an alternative vision for the future.jpg|thumb|Protesters from the Third Square movement, which supported neither the former Morsi government nor the Armed Forces, 31 July 2013]] The [[Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life]] ranks Egypt as the fifth worst country in the world for religious freedom.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ipsnorthamerica.net/news.php?idnews=2748 |title=Religion: Few States Enjoy Freedom of Faith, Report Says |publisher=Ipsnews.net |date=17 December 2009 |access-date=1 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112201851/http://www.ipsnorthamerica.net/news.php?idnews=2748 |archive-date=12 January 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://pewforum.org/newassets/images/reports/restrictions/restrictionsfullreport.pdf |title=Global Restrictions on Religion|publisher=Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life|date=17 December 2009 |access-date=1 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110206073203/http://pewforum.org/newassets/images/reports/restrictions/restrictionsfullreport.pdf |archive-date= 6 February 2011 }}</ref> The [[United States Commission on International Religious Freedom]], a bipartisan independent agency of the US government, has placed Egypt on its watch list of countries that require close monitoring due to the nature and extent of violations of religious freedom engaged in or tolerated by the government.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uscirf.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1457&Itemid=1 |title=USCIRF Watch List – USCIRF |publisher=Uscirf.gov |access-date=1 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101114131553/http://www.uscirf.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1457&Itemid=1 |archive-date=14 November 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to a 2010 [[Pew Research Center|Pew]] Global Attitudes survey, 84% of Egyptians polled supported the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] for those who [[Apostasy in Islam|leave Islam]]; 77% supported whippings and cutting off of hands for theft and robbery; and 82% support stoning a person who commits adultery.<ref>{{cite web|title=Muslim Publics Divided on Hamas and Hezbollah|date=2 December 2010|url=http://www.pewglobal.org/2010/12/02/muslims-around-the-world-divided-on-hamas-and-hezbollah/|publisher=Pew Global Attitudes Project|access-date=8 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513123330/http://www.pewglobal.org/2010/12/02/muslims-around-the-world-divided-on-hamas-and-hezbollah/|archive-date=13 May 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> <!--reflects Mubarak- and Morsi-era information--> [[Coptic Christians]] face discrimination at multiple levels of the government, ranging from underrepresentation in government ministries to laws that limit their ability to build or repair churches.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/christian-martyrs-victims-radical-islam/story?id=9976549&page=4 |title=Christianity's Modern-Day Martyrs: Victims of Radical Islam – Rising Islamic Extremism Is Putting Pressure on Christians in Muslim Nations |publisher=Abcnews.go.com |date=1 March 2010 |access-date=1 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430080456/https://abcnews.go.com/International/christian-martyrs-victims-radical-islam/story?id=9976549&page=4 |archive-date=30 April 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> Intolerance towards followers of the [[Baháʼí Faith]], and those of the non-orthodox Muslim sects, such as [[Sufism|Sufis]], [[Shia Islam|Shi'a]] and [[Ahmadiyya|Ahmadis]], also remains a problem.<ref name="HRW" /> When the government moved to computerise identification cards, members of religious minorities, such as Baháʼís, could not obtain [[Egyptian identification card controversy|identification documents]].<ref name="International Religious Freedom Report 2008">{{cite web|url= https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2008/108481.htm|title= Egypt, International Religious Freedom Report 2008|date= 19 September 2008|publisher= [[Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor]]|access-date= 24 June 2017|df= dmy-all}}</ref> An Egyptian court ruled in early 2008 that members of other faiths may obtain identity cards without listing their faiths, and without becoming officially recognised.<ref name="reuters">{{cite news|first=Cynthia |last=Johnston |title= Egypt Baha'is win court fight over identity papers|url=http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL29677385.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080215133731/http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL29677385.html|archive-date=15 February 2008 |work=Reuters |date=29 January 2008 |url-status=dead |access-date=30 January 2008}}</ref> Clashes continued between police and supporters of former President Mohamed Morsi. During violent clashes that ensued as part of the [[August 2013 Egyptian raids|August 2013 sit-in dispersal]], 595 protesters were killed<ref>{{Cite news|author=Mohsen, Manar |url=http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2013/08/16/health-ministry-raises-death-toll-of-wednesdays-clashes-to-638/ |title=Health Ministry raises death toll of Wednesday's clashes to 638 |newspaper=Daily News Egypt |date=16 August 2013 |access-date=19 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130821044205/http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2013/08/16/health-ministry-raises-death-toll-of-wednesdays-clashes-to-638/ |archive-date=21 August 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> with 14 August 2013 becoming the single deadliest day in Egypt's modern history.<ref>"[https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/14/world/middleeast/memory-egypt-mass-killing.html Memory of a Mass Killing Becomes Another Casualty of Egyptian Protests] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170325055057/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/14/world/middleeast/memory-egypt-mass-killing.html |date=25 March 2017 }}". ''The New York Times.'' 13 November 2013.</ref> Egypt actively practices [[capital punishment]]. Egypt's authorities do not release figures on death sentences and executions, despite repeated requests over the years by human rights organisations.<ref name="amnesty.org">{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/news/egypt-more-500-sentenced-death-grotesque-ruling-2014-03-24 |title=Egypt: More than 500 sentenced to death in 'grotesque' ruling – Amnesty International |date=24 March 2014 |work=amnesty.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111055849/http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/egypt-more-500-sentenced-death-grotesque-ruling-2014-03-24 |archive-date=11 November 2014 }}</ref> The United Nations human rights office<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/26/world/middleeast/un-expresses-alarm-over-egyptian-death-sentences.html |work=The New York Times |first=Nick |last=Cumming-Bruce |title=U.N. Expresses Alarm Over Egyptian Death Sentences |date=25 March 2014 |access-date=24 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170718152729/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/26/world/middleeast/un-expresses-alarm-over-egyptian-death-sentences.html |archive-date=18 July 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> and various [[NGO]]s<ref name="amnesty.org" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/03/24/egypt-shocking-death-sentences-follow-sham-trial|title=Egypt: Shocking Death Sentences Follow Sham Trial – Human Rights Watch|work=hrw.org|date=24 March 2014|access-date=4 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170112174616/https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/03/24/egypt-shocking-death-sentences-follow-sham-trial|archive-date=12 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> expressed "deep alarm" after an Egyptian Minya Criminal Court sentenced 529 people to death in a single hearing on 25 March 2014. Sentenced supporters of former President [[Mohamed Morsi]] were to be executed for their alleged role in violence following his [[2013 Egyptian coup d'état|removal]] in July 2013. The judgement was condemned as a violation of [[international law]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Egyptian court sentences nearly 530 to death|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/egypt-sentences-529-morsi-supporters-to-death/2014/03/24/46b21f46-b32c-11e3-bab2-b9602293021d_story.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140325150616/http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/egypt-sentences-529-morsi-supporters-to-death/2014/03/24/46b21f46-b32c-11e3-bab2-b9602293021d_story.html|archive-date=25 March 2014|newspaper=Washington Post|date=24 March 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> By May 2014, approximately 16,000 people (and as high as more than 40,000 by one independent count, according to ''[[The Economist]]''),<ref>[https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21603071-president-abdel-fattah-al-sisi-fails-bring-enough-voters-ballot-box A coronation flop: President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi fails to bring enough voters to the ballot box] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905233107/https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21603071-president-abdel-fattah-al-sisi-fails-bring-enough-voters-ballot-box |date=5 September 2017 }}, economist.com.</ref> mostly Brotherhood members or supporters, have been imprisoned after Morsi's removal<ref>"[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/24/egypt-death-sentence-529-morsi-supporters Egypt sentences to death 529 supporters of Mohamed Morsi] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225205950/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/24/egypt-death-sentence-529-morsi-supporters |date=25 February 2017 }}". ''The Guardian''. 24 March 2014.</ref> after the [[Muslim Brotherhood]] was labelled as [[terrorist organisation]] by the post-Morsi interim Egyptian government.<ref>{{cite news|title=Egypt's interim Cabinet officially labels Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2013/12/25/world/africa/egypt-muslim-brotherhood-terrorism/|newspaper=CNN|access-date=30 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726123339/http://edition.cnn.com/2013/12/25/world/africa/egypt-muslim-brotherhood-terrorism/|archive-date=26 July 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> According to human rights groups there are some 60,000 political prisoners in Egypt.<ref>{{cite news |title=My brother is one of Egypt's 60,000 political prisoners – and Trump is happy to let him rot in jail |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/moustafa-kassem-abdel-fattah-el-sisi-trump-egypt-us-prisoner-a9288401.html |work=The Independent |date=17 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=No political prisoners freed as Egypt pardons thousands on Eid |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/5/24/no-political-prisoners-freed-as-egypt-pardons-thousands-on-eid |work=Al-Jazeera |date=24 May 2020}}</ref> [[File:Alaa Abd El-Fatah speaking to aljazeera.jpg|thumb|Prominent Egyptian dissident [[Alaa Abd El-Fattah]] was sentenced to five years of imprisonment in December 2021.<ref>{{cite news |title=Alaa Abdel Fattah: Leading Egyptian activist jailed for five years |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-59730354 |work=BBC News |date=20 December 2021}}</ref>]] [[LGBT rights in Egypt|Homosexuality]] is illegal in Egypt.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/06/13/here-are-the-10-countries-where-homosexuality-may-be-punished-by-death-2/ |title=Here are the 10 countries where homosexuality may be punished by death |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=16 June 2016 |access-date=13 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161111064457/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/06/13/here-are-the-10-countries-where-homosexuality-may-be-punished-by-death-2/ |archive-date=11 November 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to a 2013 survey by the [[Pew Research Center]], 95% of Egyptians believe that [[homosexuality]] should not be accepted by society.<ref name="pewglobal.org">[http://www.pewglobal.org/2013/06/04/the-global-divide-on-homosexuality/ "The Global Divide on Homosexuality."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103034522/http://www.pewglobal.org/2013/06/04/the-global-divide-on-homosexuality/ |date=3 November 2013 }} ''pewglobal''. 4 June 2013. 4 June 2013.</ref> In 2017, Cairo was voted the most dangerous megacity for women with more than 10 million inhabitants in a poll by [[Thomson Reuters Foundation]]. Sexual harassment was described as occurring on a daily basis.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://poll2017.trust.org/|publisher=Thomson Reuters Foundation|title=The world's most dangerous megacities for women 2017|work=poll2017.trust.org|access-date=24 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171025024053/http://poll2017.trust.org/ |archive-date=25 October 2017}}</ref> ==== Freedom of the press ==== [[Reporters Without Borders]] ranked Egypt in their 2017 [[Press Freedom Index|World Press Freedom Index]] at {{abbr|No.|Number}} 160 out of 180 nations. At least 18 journalists were imprisoned in Egypt, {{as of|2015|August|lc=y}}. A new anti-terror law was enacted in August 2015 that threatens members of the media with fines ranging from about US$25,000 to $60,000 for the distribution of wrong information on acts of terror inside the country "that differ from official declarations of the Egyptian Department of Defense".<ref>Gehlen, M. (2015) [http://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2015-08/aegypten-al-dschasira-journalisten-haft Al-Dschasira-Journalisten zu drei Jahren Haft verurteilt] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150830030511/http://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2015-08/aegypten-al-dschasira-journalisten-haft |date=30 August 2015 }}, Zeit Online, 29 August 2015</ref> Some critics of the government have been [[Misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic#Efforts to combat misinformation|arrested]] for allegedly spreading [[false information]] about the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Egypt]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Reporting on the coronavirus: Egypt muzzles critical journalists |url=https://www.dw.com/en/reporting-on-the-coronavirus-egypt-muzzles-critical-journalists/a-53009293 |work=Deutsche Welle |date=3 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Egypt is more concerned with controlling information than containing the coronavirus |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-egypt-is-more-concerned-with-controlling-information-than-containing/ |work=The Globe and Mail |date=3 April 2020}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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