interrogation of a 30-year old Christian woman, who has become a symbol of persecution endured by Muslim converts to Christianity.
Mariam Girgis Makar, an ex-Muslim, was reportedly arrested at her Alexandria home by four plain clothes policemen without a warrant on October 21, after helping other Muslim converts to Christianity change their religious affiliation on their identity cards.
She is the only one of 20 tortured Christians from her region who is still in custody. Another convert, Mr. Issam Abdul Fathr, who was suffering from diabetes and at least one other medical condition, died recently while being transferred from a police station to hospital, church sources said.
CSW, a major human rights watchdog, published its findings as news emerged that the Christian husband of another Muslim convert to Christianity was arrested Nov. 28 near the Lybian border while trying to flee Egypt, and held for 12 hours by police forces .
"NOTORIOUSLY CRUEL"
The Barnabus Fund, which assists persecuted Christians in especially Muslim nations, said Bolis Rezek-Allah was again briefly detained this week and deported to the feared Security Police Headquarters in Cairo, known as the Lazghouly Office.
He was held in the custody of a "notoriously cruel and vindictive security official," identified as Hussein Gohar, who threatened to kill his fugitive wife during the interrogation, The Barnabas Fund added in a statement send to BosNewsLife.
"Gohar has threatened Rezek-Allah that he will find his wife Enas (who is still being sought by police) even if she has gone abroad, and that once he has done so he will kill Enas in front of her husband," the organization said.
CANADA EMIGRATION
Rezek-Allah was released but police have said they will continue to block him from leaving the country "despite the fact that he has obtained the correct documentation to leave for Canada," reported The Barnabas Fund.
Because of the pressure, he and his wife decided to emigrate to Canada where Rezek-Allah, who is a pharmacist, hoped to find work. On September 24 Rezek-Allah was pulled off a flight bound for that country where he was due to take qualifying exams, The Barnabas Fund said.
Although police did not detain him at that time, he was reportedly kept under close surveillance, which lead to his latest detention. There is concern he may face the suffering endured by Mrs. Makar and her husband Yusef Samuel Makari, 42.
INTERROGATED AND BEATEN
The couple was transferred to Cairo, interrogated and beaten, human rights workers reported. CSW quoted Makari, who has since been released, as saying that "the conditions were very bad…Sometimes we were badly treated and insulted in front of each other. She was tortured more than me."
Mrs Makar and Mr Makari converted from Islam to Christianity several years ago, adopted Christian identities and moved from Cairo to Alexandria where they have been living openly as Christians with their two young daughters, Marina, 13, and Sara 12.
The oppression has been linked to Egypt’s tough stance toward Muslims becoming Christians. Converts to Islam can get their identity cards changed within 24 hours, but Egyptians wishing to change their religion from Islam to Christianity on these documents have found it to be impossible.
"ALTERNATION ILLEGALLY"
This is "forcing many to make the alteration illegally," said CSW, who has urged the government to change this policy. "The removal of religious affiliation from identity cards would be a major step towards granting this marginalized section of society the freedom they deserve," added CSW’s National Director Stuart Windsor.
CSW is also calling on the Egyptian authorities "to respect and uphold Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights guaranteeing freedom of religion, to which Egypt is a state party," the organization stressed.
The Egyptian government has said it is cracking down against "Muslim extremism," but human rights groups suggest the latest developments seem to contradict these statement and appear part of a wider crackdown against the country’s minority Christians.
